We Need More Humanities in the Technological Sector
The world’s paradigm calls for the rise of humanities
Over the years, technology has been constantly changing and upgrading itself with newer software and hardware capabilities.
An expansion of different innovations pushes society to reach its ever-limitless potential. Thriving in big data, remarkable internet speeds, innovative systems and profound technologies that is set to improve human life.
As exciting as it may seem, technology can not determine the potential of humanity and its blurry future.
It is only a vessel.
They are constructed tools to elevate humanity’s quality of life.
And what made these technologies… are us humans. We create these innovations and concepts. Building and shaping the environment for us.
But despite our best efforts, it has caused a wide chain of unexpected consequences that reversed the purpose of innovating technology in the first place.
Technology has became a catalyst for division, isolation, lack of empathy and critical thinking, and even reducing human connection and creativity.
Humanities are responsible for developing the human soul in a collective environment through education. However, throughout the years it is widely under-appreciated and overlooked when it comes to solving potential human problems and challenges of the future.
The scale to which technology is apparent in human lives than the values of humanities… are in disparity.
Humanities are what makes a part of the human experience, it’s about the richness and diversity of great stories of the world that is cascaded through generations that enables us to learn and gain wisdom to become better human beings.
It is the appreciation of empathy and history and its importance to live harmoniously in communities.
It is the human spirit of intangible values that drives us humans to gather and make our lives richer and fulfilled than it was years ago.
What should be seen in great technologies and its applications are not often driven by humanities but from greed and pressure.
Take social media for instance, what was suppose to form communities easily and connect people from diverse cultures turns out to isolate themselves and even create dangerous online narratives that may result in hate speech.
It has its pros and cons, but the ugliness has became a trend over the years.
And it isn’t because of technology itself and its great influence to society… but because of the lack of humanity behind the creation of them.
The lack of appreciation and understanding of literature and its ability to invoke critical thinking and human behaviour is not well-represented in technology.
The value of empathy, which is suppose to drive innovation to provide human needs, are rarely spoken about.
The in-depth study of culture, society and history is not often interpreted much as it is oppose to numbers and statistics. This may cause unexpected conflicts and conjure perspectives and views that are becoming more intolerable and spiteful towards others.
The Humanities has been seen as irrelevant and unimportant to todays world, but the changing social climate and shaking society showed otherwise.
It is needed that humanities is revitalised and invested upon, so that it can be embraced in the technological field.
The purpose here is to improve society by using technology as a tool and medium, with humanities as the driving force or catalyst for change.
So that objectives for building technology would not be solely for numbers, profits, influence, followers or reputation but instead out of sincerity, benevolence, progression and genuine change in humanity.
The public needs to understand the importance of literature. They need to revisit history and understand the diversity of cultures. As well as finding out what values are most important in their lives and in their children.
The education sector must invest in building a sustainable cohort of graduates in the arts and humanities for the long term.
There needs to be a strike of balance, where humanities are seen as a valuable asset to bettering human lives. And that it can play a huge part in the ever-growing technological sector by integrating its fundamental principles into their systems, redefining business scopes and company objectives.
It is time for humanities to take the wheel.
