The Importance of Liberal Arts in the Digital Age
Journal: Journal of Higher Education Research DOI: 10.32629/jher.v2i4.421
Abstract
Liberal arts are vulnerable to the challenge that they are useless in the digital age. “Uselessness is a kind of usefulness” — that is, although liberal arts fail to mold the practical skills, for example, the skills that enable people to earn much money in markets, they are useful in other senses, which is a common and seemingly philosophical answer to the question about the function of liberal arts. Such an answer, however, seems insufficient and abstract. In this article, the author intends to demonstrate with examples and statistics that liberal arts play an irreplaceable role in nursing people’s critical thinking, expanding their imagination and understanding of the differences of the world. Moreover, technology is essentially related to the understanding of human society. User-friendly technology is the combination of empathy and the understanding of humanity.
Keywords
liberal arts, soft skills, the digital age
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[6] Vivek Wadhwa. Why liberal arts and the humanities are as important as engineering? The Washington Post, June 12, 2018.
[7] Max Nisen. AETNA CEO: Pure Math Or Engineering Backgrounds Aren't Good Enough. Business Insider, June 13, 2013.
[8] David J. Deming. The Value of Soft Skills in the Labor Market. NBER Reporter: No. 4, December, 2017.
[9] JM Olejarz. Liberal Arts in the Data Age. Harvard Business Review, July-August 2017.
[10] Vivek Wadhwa. Why liberal arts and the humanities are as important as engineering?
[11] JM Olejarz. Liberal Arts in the Data Age.
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