Are the humanities worthless if we're all dead in ten years?

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<p>I'm nearing the half-way point of my undergraduate years, and I need to decide which of two directions I want to go in my life: a) a PhD program in some area of the humanities with the hopes of entering some sort of scholarly profession, or b) some more 'pragmatic' area, probably law and/or public policy.</p>

<p>I'm not good science by any means, and I don't have a head for math, either. So I long ago despaired of going to medical school. In high school, my favorite subjects were History followed by English. Right now, I'm attempting to major in History, Classics, and Philosophy, three of the most useless areas of inquiry when it comes to sustaining society from a strictly survivalist point of view. If I had it my way, I would have been smart enough to go into biomedical engineering, or physical chemistry research, or agricultural chemistry and food science, any number of areas that make a real difference in the lives of billions of people around the world. But it didn't turn out that way. My friends who are majoring in chemistry get to go to medical school and make a difference in the world. I get to translate Plato and fear that I might actually be wasting my life while the world goes to hell all around me. </p>

<p>We live in troubled times. I made the mistake of reading the newspaper today, and what did I find? A weak Dollar, the Fed putting out an even bleaker economic forecast, threats of war with Iran, global warming (it's 75 degrees where I am and it's the week of Thanksgiving!), religious and political instability all over the world, oil prices approaching $100 a barrel. I could go on, but I won't. My country is becoming a laughing-stock throughout the world, and we are reviled by more people than ever before. Oh, and I forgot to mention those certain people whose life goal it is to blow themselves up inside any number of shopping malls or football stadiums in America. I can't help but feel that the country and life that I love is rapidly approaching the point of no return, and I can't just sit by idly and watch it. </p>

<p>More and more I feel like a provincial 4th Century Roman watching as his storied empire, with all its past glories and triumphs, be swallowed up by outside forces. I don't to just sit and watch my world be destroyed by 21st century Vandals and Ostrogoths. I wish there was something I could do.</p>

<p>These are dark times. Do I really want to spend my life studying Medieval
Syrian monasticism or psycho-sexual undertones in the short stories of Flannery O'Connor? What the world needs now, it seems to me, is some everyday heroism and commonplace selflessness, and people willing to make sacrifices, not people who want to shut themselves up and isolate themselves from the "real world", however morally or spiritually edifying their scholarly endeavors might be.</p>

<p>Sorry if I offend any humanities scholars or students out there. Hey, I'm one of them too. I'm just very conflicted about what path to take. I guess you could say that a sense of duty, or urgency, is compelling me to go the government/public service route in a vain attempt to do my part to save us from ourselves. But what if that's not what I'm good at? I might just fail the LSAT and not even get into law school. What if I would be an infinitely better scholar/teacher than lawyer/diplomat? That doesn't seem fair to me. It's downright obscene. Let's face it--- no one is going to live or die based upon how many peer-reviewed articles I can churn out in the course of a year. I may get tenure someday, but somewhere in the world people will still be starving and homeless and their homes ravaged by war. The day I retire could be the same day that a political prisoner is executed in secret, or the day that someone finally figures out how to smuggle a dirty bomb into the NYC subway. What's the point? Seriously, what good will it do for me to follow MY dreams and do what is best for ME if it won't do any good for anybody else?</p>

<p>Sorry to rant. This has been troubling me for awhile now. I hope to get some good comments on this. Please don't let me down...</p>

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<p>The short answer is: Many of the most pivotal points in history were heavily influenced by scholars and literature. Going into public service, as funny as it seems, will do little for the big picture. Unless of course you're elected to some very powerful office.</p>

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<p>Il fait cultiver notre jardin.</p>

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<p>Seriously though, these times aren't that dark. Try to put things in perspective. If your goal really is to save the world (which in itself raises questions), you need to do whatever YOU are best at. It's rediculous to think that the best/only way to affect change is by being a lawyer. The truth is that most people are never going to make a difference, but you give yourself the best shot of being one of the ones that do by playing to your strengths.</p>

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<p>you should be a tv writer. I heard they get paid well</p>

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<p>If we're all dead in ten years, LIFE is useless. Don't single out humanities majors.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I made the mistake of reading the newspaper today, and what did I find? A weak Dollar, the Fed putting out an even bleaker economic forecast, threats of war with Iran, global warming (it's 75 degrees where I am and it's the week of Thanksgiving!), religious and political instability all over the world, oil prices approaching $100 a barrel.

[/quote]
</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Is this breaking news to you? These trends have been happening for a while now.</p></li>
<li><p>Also, listen up, the strength of the dollar, national economic forecasts, and global economic forecasts ARE CYCLICAL.</p></li>
<li><p>Global warming is overdone. It was just a little while back that researchers were worried about global COOLING. Small adjustments to the data can make warming look like cooling and cooling look like warming. DON'T be that guy who goes around saying, "O look, it's hot out today... Global warming is gonna kill us all!"</p></li>
</ul>

<p>
[quote]
My country is becoming a laughing-stock throughout the world

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Your country is not a laughing stock. I don't see too many people laughing at us. Some do hate us, others hate our gov't, but like the American people. With that said, you are over-blowing this also. You constantly hear about the countries who hate us and not about the countries that are neutral towards us of which there are many. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Seriously, what good will it do for me to follow MY dreams and do what is best for ME if it won't do any good for anybody else?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>OK, did you read the thread that you just wrote? Does it seem rational to you? Certainly not to me. </p>

<p>Many individuals want to go on to do great things in their lives. Many individuals do not end up doing such. You need to do what you enjoy or else you're not going to reach your maximum potential. </p>

<p>What is this talk about professors/researchers not contributing to the 'big picture?' I know that you aren't going into the sciences where I could argue that such researchers have saved more lives and contributed more to society than any other career path imaginable, but if you are conducting meaningful research in any area then you are contributing more to society and the 'big picture' than most others. </p>

<p>Since when does becoming a professor/researcher prohibit you from helping out your community during your free time. Many have done so and many have become renowned for their works. Don't act as though the picture is black and white because it simply isn't.</p>

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<p>Wow, some serious paranoia. I agree with the above posters, if you want to dedicate your life to saving the world, do something you're good at.</p>

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<p>red sox pretty much covered it, but:</p>

<p>A weakening dollar is not necessarily bad for the U.S. economy, though this is a fact that has rarely been reported in the popular media.</p>

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<p>I have wanted to weigh in on this. First your assumptions about the demise of American (and/or modern) civilization are not well thought out or rational. Just to attack a few. Any rational -v alarmist- climate maven will tell you that weather at a time or place doesnt mean a thing, trends are the thing. If this is a bad economy, let us celebrate--there are troubles bu i is part of the business cycle and the country (and world) have weathered far worse -the 1930s the 1890s the dark ages etc. ( I could go on)...but this brings me to the second point.</p>

<p>If you are interested in classics and history, you can do a great service to mankind by putting all these events in perspective ..that might mean all manner of things, to 'caution' or 'it will be ok' .... but these are the things that make us not fear that the sun will never return at the winter solstice... I could argue that it has been getting progressively darker since June, this must be a trend :)</p>

<p>Lastly, however I see some signs of adulthood. Asking yourself whether these things are what I want to 'be about' or interest in your fellow man ... hey embrace that! </p>

<p>Maybe more later, but your thoughts were provocative and I wanted to get in my two cents!</p>

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<p>I have a friend who was a classics major at Dartmouth. He now works for the most elite management consultancy on the planet. He doesn't care about the world, and neither should you. He just used his pedigree and connections to make himself rich.</p>

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<p>Are you joking? Perhaps if you read papers regularly rather than after you have decided to blindly believe that a couple degrees of warmth is a an omen of impending death, you'd know that the subprime mortgage crisis is temporary, that there isn't even a recession going on, and that a weak dollar will do wonders for our foreign trade deficit. Did the paper you were reading report facts, or did it just go with headlines like "economy is bad!" and "people are laughing at america!"</p>

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<p>I find it funny when people say "These times are dark." Do you not realize that people have been saying that since the dawn of recorded history? Because, of course, for some groups of people (or even the entire planet) it is. I just watched a video made in the 90's in my psychology class, and I remember one woman talking about how "the world was a mess." I don't know the exact date of the program, but maybe she was referring to the Gulf War or the Rwandan genocide, or something completely different. To her, it was dark. But here we are, blinking in the sunlight of a new millennium, after survived that "dark" decade to emerge into...more darkness! These times are like all other times. Difficult, because life is difficult.</p>

<p>I know nothing about global warming. I know people here are saying it's not a huge deal---which I dearly hope is right---but it seems a little fishy that Al Gore's receiving Nobel Prizes for something that won't matter much. Then again, the Nobel Prize people aren't perfect, either. It could be just a marketing scam and a fad. </p>

<p>ANYWAY, the point is, if you love the humanities and don't like the other stuff (math, science, law, whatever) DON'T go to school for those and don't pursue a career in one of those fields. There are many jobs in the world, and, as many people have said, putting modern times into historical perspective is one of the most valuable skills one could have.</p>

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<p>I agree that every generation seems to claim that times have never been darker. Besides, our parent's generation had the VERY REAL threat of nuclear war in 1963 and totalitarian dictators in the USSR and China, but somehow we are supposed to be in more danger? Don't make sense to me.</p>

<p>Phedre, while I know this wasn't a major point of yours, just because Gore won the Peace prize doesn't make what he says any more or less real. Yasser Arafat, Henry Kissinger and Anwar El Sadat all won the prize, but Gandhi and Pope John XXIII didn't. Like the rest of us, those on the selection committee are human :D</p>

<p>Anyway, don't worry too much and remember what Abraham Lincoln said: "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."</p>

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<p>Hey, 2012 :P </p>

<p>I'm not going to lie, it makes me anxious.</p>