A Different Perspective Leads to a Different Future

Studying the art of humanities is more than just reading Shakespeare and comprehending literary terminology. By opening your mind to humanities, you expand your knowledge on life, society, and the world.

Humanities educates us with a deeper understanding on what created and continues to maintain society. By studying the history, culture, and art of our world, we gain awareness on politics, world issues, and conflicts happening in society. By recognizing the past, we gain a clearer understanding of the present world we live in, which in turn helps us design a better future, and grants us transferable skills, like thinking critically. The ability to think for oneself and form individual beliefs opens up our eyes to the many sides of the same coin. It challenges us to form different perspectives on one single issue. By doing so, we can develop opinions, voice our reasons, and identify right from wrong while considering other people’s perspectives too. In Mandy Pipher’s article Devaluing a Humanities Education Ultimately Devalues Humanity Itself, she states that skills from studying humanities “are fundamental, not only to the development of an individual human mind and to our capacity for forming deep and varied relationships with one another, but also to the continued functioning of a democratic society.” This applies to how we think about the many issues happening around our world and what we can do to improve society. One example is the hate crimes involving Asian individuals. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there’s an increase in crimes targeted specifically towards Asian-Americans. Although this is a widely known fact, sadly there’s very few voices speaking out against these crimes/leading society into a better direction. Unless we make a change, things will continue without end. So, by studying humanities and improving the intelligence of society, we can reduce hate crimes and racism, and numerous other issues. In Margarita G’s video, Why We (don’t) Study the Humanities,  she mentions that “we need to look beneath the surface instead of allowing ourselves to be seduced by rhetoric.” This means we are often persuaded by—and only acknowledging—the tip of the iceberg instead of digging deeper and uncovering the parts hidden underneath the water. Same goes for society. People repeatedly listen to what they’re told, and they believe it without question. They assume that’s all there is to it when there’s so much more. Pipher proclaims there “confuses a strong emotional response with inalienable truth; an inability to parse good information and legitimate sources from the bad and disingenuous; and a lack of empathy for the humanity of people different from oneself.” Society cannot move forward unless people are willing to form, listen, and accept different opinions.

Given the challenging time we are living in, learning from humanities is essential to every one of us if we are to improve society, for humanities teaches us skills and stories about life as human beings, and challenges us to see the world differently.

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