Are the Humanities a Waste of Time & Money?

Are the humanities useless in today’s job-driven world, or do they offer something deeper? In this episode, we explore the real value of studying philosophy, history, and literature—not just for careers, but for life. While industries change, the ability to think critically, question power, and understand the human experience remains essential. Whether you're a student, a lifelong learner, or just curious, discover why the humanities still matter in a world that prioritizes profit over meaning.

Humanities education, the value of philosophy, critical thinking skills, history and literature, why study humanities, job skills vs. education, the importance of liberal arts, career benefits of humanities, lifelong learning, questioning power.

Transcript

Did you know that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, older millennials, that is, people born between 1980 and 1984, held an average of nine jobs from the ages of 18 to 36. That's a lot of job changes before middle age really sets it in. Now, people with higher education degrees tend to change jobs a little less frequently than those without one, according to Pew research, but only a little. And almost everyone switches careers, not just jobs, but the entire industry that they work in at least once in their lifetime. If all of this is true, then we need to think about what really are the most valuable aspects of our education. Think about it. If you're going to spend your life adapting to new roles, new industries, and new challenges, then what kind of education really prepares you for that? Do any parts of your education really go with you all the way throughout your life? And if so, what are they? Because those are the most valuable classes you'll ever take. Welcome back to American Socrates. I'm your host, Charles M. Rupert. Today, we're tackling a big question. Are the humanities worth it? Or are they as many in the working class believe, just a way for colleges and universities to charge more money? In a world that seems laser-focused on job-ready skills, we see education shifting more and more towards SEM and so-called practical degrees and even trade certificates. All of these are aimed at quick and cheat paths to careers. In this world, the humanities have been routed and are in full retreat. But I believe there's something of practical and realistic value here that many of us are missing If the humanities are really so worthless, then why did we value them so highly for millennia? I believe they give us something deeper, a foundation for individual contentment that job training alone just can't provide. Even Ronald Reagan, who was certainly no friend of higher education, said in 1985, I deplore the tendency in some institutions to go directly toward training for a trade or profession or something and ignoring the liberal arts. It is the foundation of education. So let's look at how a background in the humanities can make us more adaptable, more engaged, and more equipped to handle life's unexpected twists and turns. Whether you're a student or just someone curious about education's role in our lives, stick around for a discussion on what humanity's education might really have to offer individuals, no matter how much money you make. I was raised in a Midwestern working-class family. When I recall the values of my family and my friends' families, I think most of us considered college and, you know, really all of our education solely in terms of jobs. For us, if you went to school, it was strictly so that you could get a degree that led to a higher-paying job. I didn't realize then that this view of education was not only deficient, but made college a kind of job training that one pays for oneself, all in the hopes of attracting employers with some kind of sexy resume. It was all transactional in that way. And it made college merely a matter of a cost-benefit analysis. Now, this point of view is not really our fault, you know, the working class. Having never received anything from our educational institutions that wasn't pure indoctrination, designed for the sole purpose of kind of disciplining us into a compliant and useful workforce, we simply are unaware that schooling could be anything else. None of us knew what an education in the humanities could mean for us or for our kids. There was a resistance to this, too. When one of us got an education and started making a better life for themselves, there was a tendency to call them brainwashed. The whole, there's a liberal agenda out there, especially among cultural Marxist professors. You know, that's a favorite theory of people who simply haven't experienced an education in their whole lives. Instead, they look at numbers like this. On average, the trades pay about $68,000 a year, which is comparable to a bachelor's degree majoring in the humanities. The difference, of course, is that trade schools are significantly cheaper in their tuition and other costs, unless you want to count, you know, student loan forgiveness or grants or other incentives. So that at the end of the day, a history teacher and an auto mechanic will probably make about the same amount of money. The mechanic's tuition, however, will be much less. That is, until the history teacher have their loans forgiven after 10 years of public service. At best, they break about even. Of course, all of the other bachelor's degrees pay about 10 to 20% higher than those found in the humanities, but are less likely to have their loans forgiven before 20 years.. The logic assumes that everything about your education is for your employer's benefit. None of it is meant for you. So, beyond the myth that college just isn't worth it anymore, is the much more widely accepted belief that the humanities are a waste of money, especially for working-class kids who don't have the money or the connections to start with. So even those working-class students who do find themselves interested and value going to college, they too often believe that it is the better part of wisdom to reduce costs by skipping any classes not directly tied to their career or their major. If it doesn't look good on a resume, why bother spending the money? That's the mindset of the poor brain wisdom that's being employed here. I know it all too well because that was exactly my mindset when I went to college. But these students, like myself, never really considered that college was meant for them to grow, to prosper, and that their primary and secondary education was supposed to prepare them for this. The working class are mostly public school-trained, as I was. And that system, in order to save money, fails to take the time and energy to help their students develop their own interests. Rather, these schools prepare them with skills that they would need to serve the interests of future employers, who no doubt really enjoy that system because most future employers believe they're paying for it through the taxes that they pay. But such a system leaves students with the impression that school isn't for them. And they're not wrong. It's not for them. So many take this lesson to heart and believe that colleges and universities, which are and should be for them, are somehow not. So they don't enroll. They don't go. And colleges are facing this decreased enrollment year after year after year. Look, I'm not trying to blame your elementary school teachers here, even the school administrators. My goal is not to attack public schools. Many of these people they came up in the same system themselves, and they just believe this is the way that things work. This is overall a systemic problem, meaning that each group here, teachers, administrators, government officials, parents, students, even the philosophers and academics in the colleges, all contribute to this problem in their own special way. The point is that working-class education is geared towards the creation of worker-bee/ consumer drones, not citizens, not individuals, or even scholars interested in just knowing more about their world. We make people dumb by indoctrinating them with skills and knowledges that never reach beyond what their employer needs of them. We never educate them with their own goals, their own purpose, their own sense of being human. The humanities in college resist this impulse to turn working-class kids into entirely into tools for industry profit. They offer something that goes beyond career building. Unlike fields solely focused on job-specific skills, the humanities aim to connect people with timeless ideas and questions like, like what makes life meaningful? Or how can we live together in peace? Or, you know, how do I have a loving and good relationship? Philosophy, history, and literature, these subjects bring students face to face with our human nature and our place in the world. They focus on developing curiosity, empathy, and the critical thinking skills that serve us in every part of our lives. Of course, this develops in students a sense of independence and autonomy. And it is, for that reason, that people without this sort of education believe in that they've been brainwashed. It's a little ironic that this same ability to think for oneself, you know, without having to be told how to get started or what to do or what to prioritize or, you know, what constitutes a completed task. That is the very thing that is most greatly desired by employers. Bosses, you know, it turns out, don't just want skills. They want autonomy in their employees so that they don't have to sit there and tell them how to do their job every minute of every day. To give an example of what I mean, imagine you're in a philosophy class reading about Aristotle's concept of eudaemonia, which is the idea of flourishing as a human being. This is about you reaching your full potential as a person, right? Being the quintessentially best version of yourself that you can be. You're not really learning a job skill here. You're exploring what it means to have a fulfilling life, how to be a benefit to your society. And, of course, you know, how to earn a good paycheck. When we study the humanities, we learn to value our humanity as much as our productivity. And as philosopher Martha Nousbaum argues, this kind of education builds democratic citizens who come to understand not just how to succeed, but how to contribute meaningfully to the world and to the society they call home. And if that sounds too abstract to you, it really just means that this is the sort of education that makes you someone your friends and family can depend on for more than just a source of income. It's not hard to picture a world where career landscapes shift almost as quickly as technology advances, making it harder and harder to predict what skills will be in demand to, let alone five, 10, or 20 years from now. In this uncertain environment, humanity's enriched education offers something unique to its students: adaptability. The humanities teach us how to analyze problems from different angles, develop and communicate our ideas effectively, and empathize with others. Also ,skills that are transferable across jobs and careers, regardless of how industries ultimately change. The skills the humanities teach are for humans broadly. And as long as finance, business, and industry serve those human interests, these skills will be applicable to them. I'll take philosophy as an example. Philosophy trains students in critical thinking, argument analysis, ethical reasoning, all skills that remain relevant, whether you're navigating a legal system, interpreting policy somewhere or even just leading in business, right? They would even be useful if you were scrounging for food while living on the streets. Employers in diverse fields are increasingly recognizing the importance of these so-called soft skills, which a 2018 LinkedIn study identified as more desirable than technical skills alone. And it's not just philosophy, right? History, literature, and art all cultivate an understanding of human nature that goes beyond any single skill set. Let's say characters from literature, for example, Charles Dickens' classic characters, offer us rich insights into human nature. Scrooge's transformation in A Christmas Carol from a cold-hearted miser to a man who embraces compassion reminds us of our human power for empathy and personal change. Pip, in Great Expectations, learns hard truths about loyalty and humility as he navigates his ambition, his love, his regrets. Through these characters, Dickens helps us see ourselves and others, as like us, but bringing us closer to people that we might not otherwise understand at all. This teaches us tolerance. In fact, Aristotle was once to asked what he learned the most by studying philosophy, and he replied, to do without bidding what others do by threat of punishment. That is, Aristotle learned why we follow certain laws, certain rules, even when they don't seem to be of any benefit to us, directly anyway. Being able to understand those who are different from us, is a soft skill that helps you in business, in politics, in every kind of relation, because it is, at the end of the day, human. And all you have to do to get those sorts of skills are read literature, survey art, enjoy a play, you know, learn the story of humanity and all of these and maybe a hundred other disciplines. These disciplines speak to how we relate to other people. What motivates us and what we could and should value. A humanities education prepares us, not for a particular career, but for a meaningful and adaptable life. And there is something of an ointment for our ever-present anxiety in this. With these skills, you know you'll be okay. As long as we are human, the questions and insights from these disciplines will be relevant. In short, do humanities make us thoughtful, interesting individuals, engaged in civil citizens, good parents, good partners, and good friends. People who can navigate the world's shifts with a sense of perspective and purpose, no matter what shit the world throws at us. And that sort of stability is worth a few thousand intuition dollars. Unfortunately, since the 2008 financial crisis, interest in the humanities as a major has dropped significantly, owing mostly to economic concerns and job market competitiveness, there seems to be a false assumption that making lots of money is somehow the path to happiness. Capitalist competition is never going to allow for that. Research has shown that no matter what your income is, people always feel like they could do better with about 20% more money. So that lady who makes $50,000 a year feels like $60,000. is the sweet spot. And that dude over there making $5 million a year also feels that if he could just get to six mil, he'd finally be happy. Of course, if both of them were to get there, then they would find that they were just 20% shy of being truly happy. I believe this is what our grandparents, or great-grandparents, used to mockingly call the rat race. The point here is that no career path will get you to that stable economic situation.. And for the person who has nothing else in life, they're almost guaranteed to be miserable at any income level. And this is probably the bitterest pill to swallow for the the working class, because the really meaningful jobs, those jobs that really matter, the ones that make a difference, you know, regardless of how much money they bring in, you know, jobs like being a journnalist and explaining, you know, the news and why things matter, being a polic maker, a decision maker, you know, a CEO, or even the arts, like being a filmmaker or, you know, some sort of celebrity artist or even scholarship, like, like becoming a, you know, Harvard professor in something. Jobs like that are generally reserved for the students who go to those high-end schools, those elite, you know, Ivy League schools. And those schools tend to select for wealth rather rather than, say, smarts. So to live for meaning rather than money seems like a privilege of the upper classes to people who, you know, have to stock shelves and drive freight or cut grass or patch roads. But still, the value in the humanities is that's the hardest to quantify in job terms remains our most significant contribution to a good life. And that is the ability to reflect on and to challenge our own beliefs. Let's take history this time as an example. A careful study of history teaches us more than just a list of dates and events. It teaches us how to understand and interpret complex, social, and political dynamics in their own context, what other people have tried, what worked for them, what didn't work for them, and what why. History students learned to appreciate cause and effect, to recognize patterns, and to think critically about how societies evolve, prosper, and ultimately disintegrate. This type of learning encourages a richer, more informed worldview, which can enhance civil engagement, personal relig, relationships, and even mental well-being. It helps us avoid the pitfalls of an overly simplistic view that tends to kill creativity and make it difficult for us to adapt or change or grow and to prosper. None of this directly leads you to a job, of course, but it could help you and say, realizing that your job is going nowhere and that maybe now is the time to leave. Those are directly beneficial to you, if not to your employer. That said, once you're in the workplace, this quality is also highly valuable, because employers increasingly value adaptability, critical thinking and innovation. qualities that thrive on the ability to question and reassess beliefs. When employees can approach challenges with an open mind, they're more likely to find creative solutions, or consider diverse perspectives, and they tend to collaborate more efficiently. So when we think only about job readiness, we risk shortchanging ourselves on the full benefits of an education that encourages us to grow into well-rounded and ethical people. And of course, if we discourage that in others, we lose the benefit of a society, of smart, caring people. And instead, we have to try to live and to work amongst hard-hearted and mean-minded, petty little fools who, through either ill will or sheer ignorance, will thwart our every desire. In many ways, this speaks to the larger role of education in our society. If education is only about filling job requirements, then we risk becoming overly utilitarian in our approach to learning, focusing only on what's marketable. While we think about our value only in terms of employability, we think of ourselves only as cogs in someone else's great machine. So what can we conclude about the relevance of the humanities? It seems to me that the humanities only appear irrelevant today, especially for the working class, when actually they might be more relevant than ever. Our political, social, and economic problems require the sort of deep thinking, human-oriented reflection that is often overlooked in the SEM fields. I often tell my students that as careers come and go, the classes they take in the humanities and the arts might be the only ones that stick with them throughout their lives. So, as Mark Twain once quipped, there's gold in them there. their heels. If the idea of a humanities education resonates with you, here's a challenge. Next time you're making a decision or grappling with a tough situation, stop and think about how you're approaching it. Are you drawing on empathy, critical thinking, or a sense of history or tradition? The more you notice how often you employ the tools a humanities education provides, the more relevant they will appear, both in your career and beyond it. And if you're a student, think about weaving a humanities course or even a minor into your studies. College should be about you, not your future employer. Consider picking up a philosophy, history, or literature course. Take an art class, act, sing, and paint. Do not allow yourself to graduate college without taking a class for no other reason and it just sounded cool. And if you're in a position to influence education, whether as a parent, teacher, or advisor, think about advocating for this kind of education. By supporting the humanities in people's lives, you can enrich their experience in profound ways, filling the world with more interesting, kind, and fulfilled people. Thanks for listening to American Socrates. If you found today's episode interesting, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone you think might also love a little wisdom in their life. Join us next week as we explore the fickle and furious world of opinions by examining the question, is that like just your opinion, man?