DON’T DISMISS HUMANITIES

The New York Times opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof in his column “Dont dismiss the humanities” asks
“what use could humanities be in a digital age?” he looks to three recent philosophers, world events and
technological advancements to reflect on the value of humanities in the 21s century. Basically, all
courses in the undergraduate department in colleges and universities have common subjects to offer
and one of these is humanities.

Fundamentally, the Humanities teach students creative thinking skills, reasoning, and the best way to
ask questions. These are fundamental skills that allow us to perform well in all fields, from art and music
to business and politics. Humanities studies also teach us about various cultures and how they have
evolved over time. While libraries and schools have always employed those with expertise in the
humanities, their value is becoming evident in other industries, too. The critical thinking skills gained
from studying this subject may give us a competitive advantage in business.

If I try to realize the importance of Humanities to me as a person, I would say that it is as essential as the
other disciplines like math, English and science. Yes, it should not be set aside as if it is just a minor
subject to take and would not benefit a student after his/her graduation in college. I mentioned that
Humanities teach students creative thinking skills because teachers would let students to do artistic
works such as paintings, drawings, replica of things, music, to name a few. Maybe we could not notice
the essential contribution of Humanities in our day to day activities but it simply affects how we do our
activities such as listening music while doing our assignments, reviewing lessons in preparation for
examinations, and/or trying to paint in canvass a very nice place that catch your attention while
travelling back home from the school. These examples are just a reminder that humanities to people is
very essential to their everyday lives.

Nicholas Kristof mentioned three philosophers who had a big impact on his appreciation to humanities
are Sir Isaiah Berlin, John Rawls, and Peter Singer of Princeton University. For him, these three
philosophers influence the way he think about politics, immigration, inequality; they even affect what he
eats. It’s also worth pointing out that these three philosophers are recent ones. According to Kristof, to
adapt to a changing world, we need new software for our cellphones; we also need new ideas. The same
goes for literature, for architecture, languages and theology. Technological advancement affects ourlives
nowadays and that is so obvious to us. We cannot live without cellphones, televisions, refrigerators,
computers and the like but take into consideration that these advancement are just products of human
creative thinking and not the technologies that improve their own. Human intelligence is God’s gift to
humankind and it continues to enrich its intelligence from generation to generation. Even if technologies
may rich the undeterminable, unimaginable advancements, it will always be a product of human
unquestionable intelligence.

The question whether Humanities is set aside or worthless in this 21st era? Definitely the answer is no. It
will always flourish and will continue to influence humanity beyond limits.