It is not unusual to hear among the youngsters that nowadays in a technological world, culture and arts aren’t useful, and learning about them is just boring and unnecessary. Museums, bookstores, cinemas, theaters…they are emptier every day. Not to mention literary or artistic universities. The thought that humanities are not important in today’s society will only lead to the lack of critical thinking, creativity, and imagination in future generations.

This is not only happening in actuality, the popularity of artistic degrees has been decreasing during the past four decades, however, with the technological boom, this problem has become more evident. Although teenagers are often encouraged to study a technological or scientific degree, being keen on disciplines such as philosophy, literature or history is really important in a hyper digitized world. Topics such as the ethics of AI, big data, robotics or neurotechnology are led not only by scientists but also by philosophers. Some examples are Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, who studied History and Literature or Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, who studied Philosophy.

Moreover, culture and art are the essence of humanity. They have always promoted changes in our society and played a crucial role in critical political situations such as wars or revolutions. This is illustrated by how some writers or philosophers have written about popular sovereignty, feminism, racism, or other controversial topics. So, to continue evolving, humanities and culture can’t be left behind. When we study arts, we learn about our origins, which helps us build an opinion of how we want our society to become in the future.

In conclusion, we should continue writing, painting, playing instruments…because any artistic expression enriches our brains and makes us clever and more conscious. We cannot let humanities die, and to avoid that, we have to give prestige and institutional importance to all the artists and creators.

By Helena Subías.