Current Events > Telling people the humanities are worthless is propaganda by the elite

(+) Yeah! (+)

We all know the jokes, Hurr, have fun flipping burgers with your BA.

The humanities teach you a new way of thinking, they make you think critically and to question.

Its been a concerted effort by the elite and specifically the right to stamp out this way of thinking which is why education is ridiculed.

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lol the humanities teach you a lot of very old ways of thinking
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Seriously tho do you think jeff bezos meets with bill gates and george soros in a volcano lair somewhere and they talk about what college majors to ridicule

What does a "concerted effort" mean to you in this context
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People really act like increasing the overall education level of the populace doesn't coincide with an increase in living conditions.

Whether education causes that increase, or is caused by it is debatable, but the link is always there.

The elites wanna keep people dumb and pliant.

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I think it is needed for a well rounded education but not everyone needs or wants that. Seems like most people just attend college as a stepping stone to a career which is fine.

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We need artists and writers and poets and musicians. But its difficult to be the very best in those fields, and only the very best or the very lucky are successful.

Most people are just mediocre. But we need them too.

The world would not be as nice if everyone were a STEMer.

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I have never considered it, but socialism is really appealing to a philosopher simply because thinking produces nothing you can really market.
So the government taking care of all your needs is like the ideal life situation of a philosopher, artist, writer and even sometimes musician.
I know the latter 2 can make big bucks but usually to compromise what they want to make.

They have a vested interest in keeping people solely as worker bees
They'd ban any classes not directly correlated with you making them money if they could

humanity is worthless

Do you really think the "elite" doesn't appreciate the humanities? They sure have more art to appreciate than the non-elite.

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Humanities were always my favorite classes to take in college. They were so interesting imo.

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There may not have been a lot of job opportunities in the field of feminist basket weaving but I stand by my decision.

It made me the man I am today.

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DeadBankerDream posted...

Do you really think the "elite" doesn't appreciate the humanities? They sure have more art to appreciate than the non-elite.

his point was that they want us peasants to be kept dumb and go into stem or medical to learn to keep them alive and build their war machines and surveillance state and not think about philosophy, history, etc. not that they just detest art.

I think people in STEM or business courses could really benefit from taking more humanities, just like people people in the humanities could benefit from taking more STEM or business courses.

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fuming posted...

his point was that they want us peasants to be kept dumb and go into stem or medical to learn to keep them alive and build their war machines and surveillance state and not think about philosophy, history, etc. not that they just detest art.

Are non-elites unable to form their own culture absent of an evil elite trickling down their deceiving ways to get the most gains out of cultural formation in the lower stratas? Laughing at more abstract educational ventures among groups of people who work solely on number crunching, or who might not even have a higher education, doesn't seem to me to be something that requires the guiding hand of a societal elite.

I also am confused about the reason such an elite would instill such emotional responses towards the humanities. Do they think that every person who studies religion is. as exampled, a lost burger flipper? I feel like they can get others to fill that role just fine.

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I feel like this STEM vs humanities antagonism comes almost exclusively from students.

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It's sad how so many people on the right and the middle class in general have very little intellectual curiosity and consider the purpose of education to be something to help you make more money. Going to college solely to make more money and then spending the rest of your life cycling between work and mindless entertainment sounds like a horrible way to live one's life.

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Shadowplay posted...

It's sad how so many people on the right and the middle class in general have very little intellectual curiosity and consider the purpose of education to be something to help you make more money. Going to college solely to make more money and then spending the rest of your life cycling between work and mindless entertainment sounds like a horrible way to live one's life.

honestly think thats a big part of it, people naturally look down on liberal arts and the humanities because those who pursue them are intellectually curious and not just self interested skill seekers looking to make bank. Americans are sold a hustle mentality, not a curious one.

Yeah people talk shit on humanities but a degree, any sort of degree in any subject (from a reputable institution) even if it's not warp space engineering shows a pretty decent baseline of intellectual competence and work ethic in a person.

If I was an employer I'd definitely prioritize people with a bachelor's over those without one.

Amazon got big by selling books. And yet writing and English are looked down on by those people who keep pushing the idea that only STEM and Business matters.

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g980 posted...

lol the humanities teach you a lot of very old ways of thinking

Mathematics was invented in 600 BC LOL why do we need to learn that old shit?

Tag for when I get home

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That's why they're good to SUPPLEMENT an education based in functional knowledge of something. So you can learn the hows and whys of a system, then think of something better. Without the base knowledge you get people great at telling you what they think would be better, but have so little knowledge of connected systems and needs they risk breaking 10 things for the one they fixed.

Frankly I think those elites love the humanities. They produce a lot of people that will never be a real threat to their empires because none of them will ever try to build a competing company or show the skills they could do a better job. They'll just take their degree and fight for living wages to serve burgers.

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Teens and twenty-somethings fomented dissent to enact massive societal change in the 1960s and 1970s = civics education in high school being disparaged

Teens and twenty-somethings fomented dissent to (sort of try to) enact tepid societal change in the 00s = college is dumb and bad. Go into the trades or certain mercantile, uncritical, cutthroat STEM fields and you'll tooooootally make loooooots of money.

The trades to have value, but this trades/STEM backlash is absolutely part of an anti-education campaign. The wealthy don't want to fix their own pipes or vents and therefore create false dichotomies of "trade" versus "humanities." For instance, lower class people are more likely to be welders, while a wealthier person is more likely to become a Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in Metal Sculpture.

Also, if everyone moves into the trades, their value will decrease, obviously. There should always be a balance between trades, STEM, humanities and their differences should be less worshipped --- they all have more overlapping applicability than absolute distinction.

EDIT: For full disclosure, I have a BA and master's in linguistics and am currently getting certified in HVAC to hedge my bets in the next (or the next after that) once-in-a-lifetime recession.

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ArianaGrandSlam posted...

wow its a good thing we live in a miracle world where college doesnt cost a small fortune that takes many people decades to pay back, and that we can all afford to satisfy our intellectual curiosity in that avenue

its totally unbelievable that people want a means to make money at the end of it

literally nobody was saying it was unbelievable, I in fact said that it was the most common and believable mindset.

so i take it you couldn't even get a humanities degree since there was no critical thought within this topic?

the student loan debt crisis also conflicts with your anti-education conspiracy theory. But again, critical thought doesn't exist here.

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TC what are your credentials or track record? Why should anyone take your point of view as their own? The smartest and most productive people I ever met so far all had a working knowledge of the humanities yet they still are big on STEM or trades or business as the focus of work/school.

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g980 posted...

What does a "concerted effort" mean to you in this context

@KiwiTerraRizing
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Human manatees are worth it

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true, I did not have any debt from college because I got a scholarship

g980 posted...

lol the humanities teach you a lot of very old ways of thinking

The humanities, broadly speaking, teach you a survey of ways of human thought over the centuries, as well as instill critical thinking abilities different ways of viewing the human experience.

Ratchetrockon posted...

I think it is needed for a well rounded education but not everyone needs or wants that. Seems like most people just attend college as a stepping stone to a career which is fine.

I'd disagree. A well-rounded general education curriculum is key to an informed citizenry, and part of higher ed's job is creating that citizenry.

WingsOfGood posted...

I have never considered it, but socialism is really appealing to a philosopher simply because thinking produces nothing you can really market.
So the government taking care of all your needs is like the ideal life situation of a philosopher, artist, writer and even sometimes musician.
I know the latter 2 can make big bucks but usually to compromise what they want to make.

This has literally nothing to do with the topic.

COVxy posted...

I feel like this STEM vs humanities antagonism comes almost exclusively from students.

You work in the academy, you're fully aware of where funding and prioritization comes down from above on this issue. Don't play dumb here.

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ImAMarvel posted...

However, unless you play your cards right and/or get lucky, you're probably not going to make much money doing it.

This actually doesn't hold up under scrutiny if you look at real job statistics across the majors.

VanananaHeyHey posted...

Teens and twenty-somethings fomented dissent to enact massive societal change in the 1960s and 1970s = civics education in high school being disparaged

Teens and twenty-somethings fomented dissent to (sort of try to) enact tepid societal change in the 00s = college is dumb and bad. Go into the trades or certain mercantile, uncritical, cutthroat STEM fields and you'll tooooootally make loooooots of money.

The trades to have value, but this trades/STEM backlash is absolutely part of an anti-education campaign.

Very well said

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g980 posted...

lol the humanities teach you a lot of very old ways of thinking

What does this mean exactly?

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COVxy posted...

I feel like this STEM vs humanities antagonism comes almost exclusively from students.

Probably.
"Why the fuck do I have to learn about Chaucer to be a bridge engineer?"
"Why the fuck do I have to take pre-calc to be a sociologist?"

lightwarrior78 posted...

They produce a lot of people that will never be a real threat to their empires because none of them will ever try to build a competing company or show the skills they could do a better job. They'll just take their degree and fight for living wages to serve burgers.

In addition to, as I mentioned before, the concept of "hurr humanities majors are flipping burgers" not holding up under even the slightest scrutiny, I'm pretty sure those with a background in thinking critically and deconstructing the world around them are going to present more of a threat then those in STEM who often hold regressive tendencies and tend to worship those with power in their fields.

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/07/06/cultural-implications-myth-english-majors-end-working-permanently-starbucks-essay

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Questionmarktarius posted...

Probably.
"Why the fuck do I have to learn about Chaucer to be a bridge engineer?"
"Why the fuck do I have to take pre-calc to be a sociologist?"

Neither Chaucer nor pre-cal is part of general ed curriculum.

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SothaSil posted...

Neither Chaucer nor pre-cal is part of general ed curriculum.

Don't let facts and logic get in the way of good hyperbole.

ArianaGrandSlam posted...

wow its a good thing we live in a miracle world where college doesnt cost a small fortune that takes many people decades to pay back, and that we can all afford to satisfy our intellectual curiosity in that avenue

its totally unbelievable that people want a means to make money at the end of it

Yeah, I agree that we should abolish capitalism and make all education free for everyone!

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wiiking96 posted...

Yeah, I agree that we should abolish capitalism and make all education free for everyone!

Education being free has nothing to do with capitalism. But yes, higher ed should be publicly funded.

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SothaSil posted...

You work in the academy, you're fully aware of where funding and prioritization comes down from above on this issue. Don't play dumb here.

I mean, those situations are not really comparable, if you're talking about universities giving the axe to certain departments.

Science departments bring in funding, which not only funds their own positions often (and importantly their research), but also provides the university with the equivalent income.

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A key part of business success is marketing, which has a strong root in humanities. It's to rich folks benefit to make you willingly give them your money.

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Capitalists don't value the humanities because humanity is in opposition to capitalism.

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