Humanities are not useless Essay

Humanities are the subjects such as history, philosophy, and literature which are concerned with human ideas and behaviors. This is only a general idea. The deeper meaning of studying humanities is that it is an academic approach to understanding people better, a way to enable us to develop better not only through four years university life but also in one’s entire life. Some people may say that humanities are useless because people cannot make considerable money with them. However, that is not the truth. Once someone has realized the value of studying humanities, this will be beneficial for his or her life. I study humanities because I believe I will gain plenty of meanings of life through the learning process. Most people think that humanities are useless, my mother is one of those people. She is always asking me that why would you waste our money and your time on such useless stuff. However, my father does not think so, he believes that everything has its own value, even humanities. In this case, I strongly agree with my father. The reason why my mother thinks that humanities are useless is that people cannot make good money with them; the jobs related to humanities are not well-paid. Actually this is a generalization which people have commonly. Nevertheless, people who think so are wrong. The truth is opposite. According to the article â€Å"Liberal Arts and the Advantages of Being Useless†, the author explains that even people with Liberal Arts degree have pretty much the same chance as other majors to end up making good money. Although humanities are useless for maximal one’s salary immediately after graduation, and bring a slightly greater risk of unemployment immediately after graduation, there is good evidence that Liberal Arts majors tend to earn higher salaries by midcareer. Besides, life is short, and it should not be all about money. There are other intangible things to pursue. â€Å"There are lessons to be learned from the humanities that were not available anywhere else† said by Julia T. Cadenhead(2001). According to the Syllabus of ACMA01, courses in humanities explore such fundamental questions as how we use language, how our ideas and thoughts on the human experience are expressed and interpreted, how we determine value of meaning, how we define ideas such as †truth† â€Å"beauty†, and â€Å"arts†. They consider ideas about meaning of life, the reasons for our thoughts and actions, and the values and principles that inform our laws, norms and customs those written and unwritten. Unlike science, there are not standard answers to these questions. Furthermore, different people grew up in different environments, they have various cultures, backgrounds, and languages. Studying humanities make people think in different ways and experience a journey that they have never taken before. In addition, people who are studying humanities are becoming more comprehensive and compassionate about one’s self and one’s community. Different from other subjects such as medicine and law which make people useful for specific purposes, humanities make people better citizens. During the learning process, people gain self-improvements because studying humanities can make people think meaningful questions that somehow change people’s life in a good way. For example, many prisoners do not have religions before they go to prison, but some of these people are found through religions. When they are not only learning religions but studying humanities as a whole, they reflect what they have done. They can tell the rights from wrongs. They are becoming better. After they are released from prison, they behave well, they become useful citizens. This is beneficial for both society and individuals. Humanities are not useless. They can make you earn considerable money; they can make you gain self-improvements; they can make you question things that may change your life. Once someone has discovered the value of studying humanities, his or her life will change. Reference: Jones, Nichlaos. â€Å"Liberal Arts, and the Advantages of Being Useless. † Academia. edu. n. p. n. d. Web. 5 Sept. 2013.