importance of humanities essay

importance of humanities essay

The Importance of Humanities Education

1. Introduction

Let us take a closer look at what has happened in modern science. In the past several decades, many scientists have discarded the study of human behavior because it did not seem scientific enough and they could not find the straight and clear-cut answer. This is the world we know. But this approach has yielded disastrous results. In the same example, anthropologists warned that a mission to the moon would have adverse effects on the human world, and today we are faced with an abundance of lunar weaponry and an earth quite different from what was expected. The study of humanities is the study of man and his world. The scientists have abandoned their attempt to improve the world because they do not understand it. This recent history has demonstrated this, and due to demonstrated consequences, this is a new clear-cut science. Understanding this will enable man of any discipline to better affect the future.

We advocate the study of humanities to those whose future occupations may seem far from humanities. We are biologists, engineers, mathematicians, and we too need to understand the world we are living in. The study of humanities is the story of how the world got to be where it is, and why it is the way it is. Let us take a very familiar example, the science student’s dislike of having to take humanities courses. This can be due to their intolerance for ambiguity and desire for clear-cut answers. They want to study the world we know, and the study of the past to them is often theory because it cannot be proven, and this is the reason why we are making such a terrible mistake.

Humans are the most fascinating creatures in the universe. Has anything ever so greatly engaged your mind than our current state of humanity; from our past, to our present, and of course dreaming of the future? Yes, it is the nature of humanity that is the most captivating subject of all. But as a college education is becoming more and more trade school-like, the necessity of humanities education is becoming less and less valued. The relevance of humanities education to a general education is a long-debated subject. The advocates of humanities education are seeking to prove that the study of the humanities is relevant to a modern man regardless of the popular or current opinion.

2. Section One: The Role of Humanities in Cultivating Critical Thinking

As well as teaching the theory of critical thinking, humanities subjects also instill the habit of critical thinking. This is done through an assessment-heavy system where continuous essay writing and the undertaking of independent research projects are common. Writing essays can improve the quality of a person’s thought by forcing them to think straight through an issue and to clarify confusing terms and assertions. When you are producing a written assignment, it is also easy to use printed resources to check the veracity of your claims. This habit of questioning whether a claim is true is the essence of critical thinking, and the humanist’s insistence on it as a prerequisite for an essay suggests this.

Humanities inculcates critical thinking since it prompts one to think, teach how to ask questions, and develop understanding from the available data. Coming up with a sound theory or data interpretation is an essential tool when criticism is carried out, right through to peer review of empirical work. “Socratic method,” often used in teaching humanities subjects, is a powerful tool for developing critical thinking. In Socratic style, a teacher will ask students to prove a claim and will continue to ask questions in response to the evidence provided. This not only teaches students to always have evidence behind their claims, but it also demonstrates the importance of continually questioning one’s understanding of an issue.

3. Section Two: Humanities and Empathy Development

Empathy is the process through which we essentially understand the emotions, thoughts, and feelings of others other than ourselves, empathizing with them when we come to similar feelings or thoughts. One of the ways in which empathy is developed is through learning about other peoples and societies. In today’s multicultural world, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to empathize with people from differing societies and cultures to prevent the sense of global alienation. To effectively empathize with other cultures and societies, one must have some understanding of them. This understanding can be in the form of history, tradition, or customs, which are often studied by humanities-based subjects. A study by Eisenberg et al. has shown that taking the perspective of others predicted increased empathy, and this was attributed to understanding the others’ feelings and point of view. Understanding is an underlying theme in empathy and invariably leads to more empathy.

Empathy was first defined as a way of understanding and coming to terms with the emotions and feelings of someone else in the seventeenth century. However, the idea of empathy has been mentioned as early as in the philosophical texts of ancient Greece. Nevertheless, it is not until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that the idea of empathy began to play a big part in Western philosophy, art, and other humanities. The idea of empathy bears enormous significance to certain areas in the study of humanities, and it is in these areas that the highest positive correlation between humanities-based education and increased empathy can be found.

4. Section Three: The Influence of Humanities on Cultural Awareness

The humanities are also important because they help us understand the world. It is also about understanding the complex ideas and beliefs of other people. This is most important in the world today. There is no better way to understand a different culture than to explore that culture’s literature, religion, art, etc. Linguists all agree that the best way to know a language or culture is to understand the peculiarities of the language, the subtle distinctions in the way it is used. And comparing a culture’s idioms and sayings to another’s provides tantalizing glimpses of its thought processes, and thus a tantalizingly different way of viewing the world. Art often imitates life, and this is what gives it its value. Through different forms of art, man has documented his struggles, his victories, and his losses. The values and cultures surrounding different groups can often be extracted from these expressions. But of course, the humanities’ field of cultural study isn’t tied down solely to the arts. The anthropological and archaeological sciences have long allowed us to explore cultural activities and production taking place over the entire span of human history. As we come to a better understanding of ourselves, it becomes increasingly clear that human nature is to play out the same general range of behaviors in wildly differing times and places. The study of humanities, both in its pursuit and its comprehension, helps history on that noblest of projects.

5. Conclusion: The Value of Humanities Education in Society

The claim that vocational and technical training in isolation will make the world a better place is no more credible today than it was in Sputnik-era USSR. It is not enough to train our students to provide technological solutions to narrowly conceived problems. We also need to help them decide what kinds of problems are worth working on, and what constitutes a solution. How will our students and citizens exercise the moral and intellectual leadership that the future will almost certainly demand? We cannot hope to address these questions without the insights provided by the humanities. As the world grows ever more complex, and every more connected, the humane and social sciences will only become more important. Now is not the time to give up on our commitment to humanistic education; rather it is the time to reaffirm and defend it.

At the global level, a continued and expanding American presence in international industry and politics makes it imperative that we understand other cultures. In today’s complex and troubled world, our diplomats and foreign policy makers need the kind of deep understanding of other cultures, values, and history that can only come from humanistic training. Scientists and businessmen need to understand the social, ethical, and philosophical implications of their work.

This essay has focused on the value of the humanities at the undergraduate level, but the same is true for humanities training at the secondary and primary levels, and inside the university. Public talk about the perceived decline in student writing ability has centered on the sciences, business, and engineering, but studies conducted by the Conference Board show that 87% of employers rate communication and thinking skills as highly important, and only 17% are satisfied with the ability of recent college graduates to write effectively. And despite a continuing decline in humanities course requirements at many schools, the critical thinking and reading skills of traditional humanistic training are now being imported back into the sciences through writing intensive history and philosophy of science courses, and through a reemphasis on the importance of verbal and written communication.