Oftentimes, you may hear family, friends or the internet praising science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) majors and why you should choose that pathway in college. People often overlook or downplay humanities students because they are seen as “really easy” or “not important.” This stereotype is because STEM majors tend to have a perceived heavy workload, such as difficult labs, heavy scientific research or challenging exams.
This is a damaging stereotype because research shows that many people choose STEM majors over the humanities due to familial pressures. By giving up their true passion for a more “stable” career, these individuals are more prone to looking back at their past choices with immense regret.
As a society, we are making a huge mistake in seeing humanities majors as something to look down upon. It’s possible to acknowledge the value of STEM without downplaying other majors. In fact, humanities majors matter just as much as STEM because they keep our ethics alive and light the flame for our creativity.
The “human” aspect of humanities is very important in our society. The students who study history, political science, sociology and more keep our ethics alive. Ethics, or “what is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong,” is analyzed by humanities majors who study our past. Without ethics, we would have chaos and anarchy, which is something STEM majors may not be able to prevent, but humanities majors can.
These students develop skills in critical thinking, close reading and in-depth research that help them understand society’s past — from world wars to laws to political leaders — and the choices humans have made. By studying these subjects, we learn how to guide society toward better decisions. For example, humanities majors can trace how the U.S. has systemically discriminated against African Americans, leading to intergenerational poverty. Crucial work in the humanities helps hold the government accountable for its actions, both past and present.
In addition, we can look at how the humanities have helped keep our ethics alive in the medical industry. History can demonstrate how there have been unethical experiments on patients, discrimination and coercion in the medical field, which have caused significant damage to people.
African Americans have long faced medical abuse and neglect. Enslaved people were subjected to forced experimentation over the decades, and throughout the 20th century many endured forced sterilizations at the hands of those who were supposed to assist in their health. A method used to cull the population as a broader action taken by the eugenics movement of the time, displaying their racism and xenophobia. It was not until the movement of “medical humanities,” which “includes the humanities, social arts and the arts and their application to medical education practice,” that these practices would cease.
As humans, being morally grounded in justice, empathy and activism is essential. We use the discipline of humanities to spread awareness on foundational issues in today’s world through thought-provoking arguments and artistic creations. For example, documentaries, books and other pieces of media allow us to learn through various perspectives on a variety of subjects, such as history and culture. These things are what makes us human as we learn about empathy.
With the takeover of artificial intelligence (AI), our true, authentic creativity is rapidly being overshadowed. Humanities majors are one of the only things that are keeping the flame of creativity alive because they foster originality in a world that is increasingly becoming an echo chamber.
Music, drawings and poetry generated by AI are not authentic; they’re counterfeit. When we invest so much in AI rather than the humanities, we then face the consequences of people losing job opportunities. For example, Coca-Cola’s annual Christmas commercials for the past couple of years have been solely AI-generated. Rather than a billion-dollar company hiring talented and creative artists for this advertisement, they instead used AI for its cheaper cost.
In Hollywood, AI is also becoming more and more prevalent. “The Diary of Sisyphus,” an Italian film that tackles existential crises and psychological dilemmas, is another example of how AI is infiltrating our media, as the entire script is AI-generated. Writers and artists are becoming more reliant on AI for ideas, which threatens the value of human creativity and originality.
STEM majors are vital for our society because, through important innovations like medicine and technology, our world can be a better place. But we can appreciate the hard work and dedication it takes to be a STEM major without downplaying the importance of the humanities.
If you see value in a major in the humanities that others may not see, you should still follow your own dreams without someone making you feel guilty about it.
