Informal Writing #7

Belinda Parmar:

I believe that studying humanities in college is not a wise investment for your future.  I majored in French and Spanish, but was always asked about what technical skills I could bring to the table at job interviews.  My degrees were never enough.  Therefore, I think that students, specifically girls who tend to be socially pressured into these areas of study, should be discouraged to study the humanities so as to not make finding a job after college more of a challenge than it already is.

A survey conducted on the best-paid jobs for women were found to all be in the technology sector (Pharmacist, Chief Executive, and Lawyer).  Why wouldn’t they be?  Technology is so prevalent in our everyday lives that one would expect to have the highest paying jobs in technology.  It only makes sense.

Gordon Hutner:                  

               I agree with you that statistically speaking, a humanities degree does not alone guarantee you a high paying job, but I believe that they are necessary for a higher end thinking.  I think that the humanities are very pertinent to a lawyer and a chief executive, because what is going to make one CEO standout from another is going to be his or her ability to be the most efficient, and sometimes the most graceful.  When I say graceful I mean charming, well-rounded, looking like they got everything other control, and also having the power to persuade others.  These things can all be emphasized and practiced through the study of humanities.  A CEO and a lawyer can make a better persuasive case using rhetorical appeals that he learned in his English class.  A CEO could use what he or she knows about other nations to be able to connect with international customers.  A lawyer could use what he or she knows about how people tend to act in groups from his or her sociology class to help strengthen his or her case against his or her opponent. 

No a humanities degree may not make the next new technology out there, however, it will be necessary to ponder the things in this society that govern so much of our society: politics, religion, philosophy, and even civics.  Without the humanities, there would be no meaning in life other than to continue to progress technology, which is a very empty lifestyle.  Looking into the humanities such as religion, can provide a sense of higher purpose, and establish a set of morals that technology cannot provide by itself.  These morals can further be transposed into civics, which can be used to gain voters in political debates for office.  Therefore, I believe that having a degree or background in the humanities could be used to one’s advantage.

Belinda Parmar:

               Interest in technology is growing a lot faster than an interest in the humanities, which is a direct correlation of how much technology is becoming a part of our everyday lives.  “Anybody can learn to code and these days it’s as important as reading and writing…. Not being able to code limits your impact on the world far more than an ignorance of great literature.”  Why bother learning something that we cannot actually use?

Gordon Hutner:

               Because “knowledge is power.” The more you know, the more you have the ability to manipulate others and the more qualified you will be to perform tasks that involve any kind of social interaction.  Another reason why we should learn the humanities even though you say we cannot use them, they keep other jobs and majors that are in the technical sector more privileged and less populated.  If the humanities are taken from public colleges, then there will be an overwhelming amount of people learning to become doctors, dentists, surgeons, and optometrists (etc.).  Not only that, but colleges will have to lower standards of performance in these areas so that more students will succeed, thereby continuing a similar income that colleges are used to with the addition of humanities programs.  This lowering of standards will ultimately make the technical jobs less skilled and prestigious.  A doctorate will mean less and an undergraduate degree would be even less significant. 

               In short, the humanities are a vital part to our society.  Without them, our world would be so dim; it would be focused on coming up with the next new thing.  Things like love and faith would be a thing in the past.  Society would eventually evolve into robots.  I don’t mean that people will start to develop circuitry in their bodies, I just mean that they will be like a giant assembly line, working to make the world a more technologically advanced place.  The humanities keep us in touch with who we as humans are.  It tells a story about what humans are all about.  Without them, our society, in the moral turmoil that it is already in, will begin to crumble into insanity and chaos pulling all those holding on to the humanities with them.