Really enjoyed this article - I have been doing an AI ethics course and it underscored perfectly for me that we need philosophy to figure out how different AI systems should be allowed to operate. Suspect you might be a classicist or former classicist too ?
I’m so glad the piece resonated with you, and you’re absolutely right. Philosophy gives us the framework to even begin asking the right questions, especially in something as consequential (and slippery) as AI ethics. Do you write or plan on writing on this topic? If so, I'd like to check it out.
And yes—classicist instincts, guilty as charged. I'm still a student, but I aim to be a perfectly equipped classicist and Egyptologist someday.
i found my people!!! yesss i completley loved your arguments also i once saw this post that said “your society will not be humane if you devalue the humanities” and yeah its very true as we can see our society has been becoming less and less humane over time.
That quote you've shared hits right at the heart of it, what a perfect distillation. It’s wild how often we treat the humanities like an extravagance when in reality, they’re the very core that holds empathy, memory, and meaning together. Without them, all our tech and progress just float detached from the human experience.
And I’m so glad you felt seen in the piece, that’s the best kind of connection. The more of us who speak up for these things, the more chance we have of pushing the world back toward something a little more reflective, a little more kind.
After 8 years “teaching” in Public Junior and High schools, many (so-called) students cannot read or desire to. Too-much video instant gratification. Average American doesn’t know that The United States of America is a Representative Constitutional Republic. Which, if you actually read, is stated in the Constitution Article 4 Section 4. The “Democracy Lie” has been carefully deluged upon citizens. They don’t understand that Democracy (Think French Revolution or BLM/ANTIFA style (mob rule) destroys individuals and individuality with forced political correctness and leads to Neo-Marxist Socialism/Facism/ Communism and Genocide. This lie was codified by Joseph Gobbels of The National Socialist Party (WWII nazi)
Thank you for sharing your perspective. There’s clearly a deep frustration here, and understandably so.
The problem isn’t democracy per se, but perhaps our failure to educate citizens well enough to practice it meaningfully. The Founders built a republic with democratic elements, delegating to an informed, engaged populace. Without the humanities—philosophy, history, rhetoric, ethics—we lose that more profound frame that helps people think clearly and act responsibly.
It’s heartening that you care so deeply, and I do think voices like yours, whether in or out of the classroom, are essential for pushing back against that cultural amnesia.
Hello Dilay, Thank you for your thoughts. Yes, I do center on the Governmental ideology differences. Probably due to the insidious promotion of the lie. But, you are correct it is not just the “democracy” lie that is the issue and its ties with global NeomarxistSocialism. Which is why, if you follow my posts, I respond to most presentations of Falsehood Lies and Evil with the only thing powerful enough to bring true healthy change. Namely Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ and His Holy Word. In who Jesus is, his Nature, his sacrifice, his mission, and authority. In truth, my own words really are pathetic, lacking, and childish. But, Jesus… Peace to you and your family where ever you are from us in Pacific NW.
Great ship analogy for how our values and goals determine the route in which technology will take. Truly, the humanities can provide us with human values that transcend our own time and this technological moment. The humanities has the potential to provide a universal human perspective in a time that can’t see beyond itself.
Thank you for this brilliant piece! It reminded me of the significance of my field. It's no coincidence that the discipline is called "Humanities". It's all about the HUMAN experience. Through humanities, we learn what is means to be human and in this day and age, learning this has never been as important.
Thank you so much, I’m truly glad it spoke to you! And you’re absolutely right: in an age where the human experience is increasingly filtered through screens, metrics, and algorithms, the Humanities remind us we’re not just data points, we’re storytellers, thinkers, questioners, and idealists.
Your field definitely matters, and perhaps now more than ever, we need its wisdom to help us rehumanize our children and a world that feels like it’s moving a little too fast.
I loved this! In a time like the one that we are living - that democracy is on the verge of a crisis, that people are closing themselves in their own social bubble, that people are more and more devaluating moral values- humanities is a powerfull and important tool.
(I know it's cliche but: Non native english speaker here sorry for bad english)
Thanks for read, Dilay! I agree with your assessment, for two reasons:
1) The work of engineers is the easiest to automate, so we can leave that to the machines and focus on being humans.
2) More importantly, the humanities are our only hope in figuring out how we can live with these machines. Pandora's box is open, and closing it isn't an option. We need to figure out how we can find happiness in this technological reality.
I wrote a piece on this second point. It'd make me really happy if you gave it a read.
The humanities are a way to cope for a very deep issue. Ethics and moral systems did not develop with the "humanities" they were way before that: power dynamics, the genders, tribes, etc
This idea can be seen many years ago before the rise of IA, art or literature won't solve any problems, but most importantly, it is not what make us human.
The scholar disciplines are a sophisticated tool to feel above this iliteracy. What about the humanity of non literate workers, fighters, bums and mothers?
Many academics are more confused than iliterate people. The humanities have become mostly a materialistic movement in all academia, it's the realm of secularization, self-actualization and the centralization of man as an individual above all else.
This idealization of humanities is what keeps the machine growing, when saying that "technology is neither good or bad" but at the same type writing about how social media functions as a way to destroyd minds and social cohesion. The many contradictions of humanitarians are found here and serve as an example of why this worldview is not a but a illusion if it wants to serve as a solution to anything that has been happening the last 100 years or since the industrial revolution.
Now i'm not saying i dislike the humanities, but they don't automatically function as trascendental disciplines just because they requiere more effort, they can, and mostly operate in the realm of the material, the same one that IA works with. If you really desire to go beyond of the current states of human degeneration, don't fall for the trap of "knowledge", you will just operating at the same level of tought and jnaction that characterizes this individual.
"It's there, in the humanities, that we will discover the means and the impetus to grapple with the fallout of our innovations." I loved this! As a humanities and social sciences student, I always felt biased towards my passion within the field but I look at our world now and realize that the otherwise disregarding comments of those who don't see the value of the humanities didn't sting because they merely personally affected me - they stung because behind the mildly demeaning words is a growing rift between humans and their very humanity. You captured my emotions so well and so coherently in this piece. I cannot count on my hand how many times I've defended a discipline in the humanities (more often than one in the social sciences) that was being called "useless" or "pretentious". While I've done my fair share of complaining, it cannot be ignored that most people who complain MEAN those words, regardless of their course work.
Values, morality, existence, and our very nature as humans is not useless and the more we deem these things as such, the more we risk BECOMING the robots without any sort of code outside of conditional programming.
Exactly! And thank you for articulating it with such clarity and fire. What stings most isn’t the personal slight, but the more in-depth cultural indifference to the very things that make us human. When people dismiss the humanities, they’re not just questioning a discipline, they’re turning away from the frameworks that help us navigate meaning, morality, memory, and even mercy.
What you’ve described is the tragedy of our time: a growing void between technical advancement and emotional/ethical depth. And as you said so powerfully, the more we devalue the study of our own nature, the easier it becomes to operate on autopilot. Efficient, optimized, but untethered.
Please keep defending the field! You're not just protecting a course of study, you're protecting a way of seeing.
Just came across this and found it a really great read! You articulated a lot of my own thoughts really well. As someone who majored in English Literature, I'm constantly being asked if I think my degree is useless as technology and AI continue to be on the rise, and I constantly have to tell people that no, I value my degree more than ever, and I wish more students would consider majoring in the humanities.
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words! I’m delighted to know that my article resonated with you. As someone who also majored in English Literature, I can certainly relate to the frustration of seeing our discipline dismissed as less valuable in today’s tech-centric world. Yet, it teaches us to think critically, to empathize, and to appreciate the complexities of the human experience—skills that are essential, not only for engaging with technology, but for understanding its impact on society. It’s clear that these timeless abilities cannot be replicated by machines.
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree that more students should consider the humanities—they offer far more than what a technological world can provide. Thank you once again for your insight, and it’s reassuring to know we share the same conviction.
Come to me.
Really enjoyed this article - I have been doing an AI ethics course and it underscored perfectly for me that we need philosophy to figure out how different AI systems should be allowed to operate. Suspect you might be a classicist or former classicist too ?
I’m so glad the piece resonated with you, and you’re absolutely right. Philosophy gives us the framework to even begin asking the right questions, especially in something as consequential (and slippery) as AI ethics. Do you write or plan on writing on this topic? If so, I'd like to check it out.
And yes—classicist instincts, guilty as charged. I'm still a student, but I aim to be a perfectly equipped classicist and Egyptologist someday.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment.
Have done one already
Tip of the iceberg really
https://open.substack.com/pub/joannamilne/p/if-the-ai-goliath-is-here-to-stay?r=3j9y88&utm_medium=ios
That's great, I'll take a look now. Thank you for sharing!
i found my people!!! yesss i completley loved your arguments also i once saw this post that said “your society will not be humane if you devalue the humanities” and yeah its very true as we can see our society has been becoming less and less humane over time.
Yes!! Welcome to the table!
That quote you've shared hits right at the heart of it, what a perfect distillation. It’s wild how often we treat the humanities like an extravagance when in reality, they’re the very core that holds empathy, memory, and meaning together. Without them, all our tech and progress just float detached from the human experience.
And I’m so glad you felt seen in the piece, that’s the best kind of connection. The more of us who speak up for these things, the more chance we have of pushing the world back toward something a little more reflective, a little more kind.
After 8 years “teaching” in Public Junior and High schools, many (so-called) students cannot read or desire to. Too-much video instant gratification. Average American doesn’t know that The United States of America is a Representative Constitutional Republic. Which, if you actually read, is stated in the Constitution Article 4 Section 4. The “Democracy Lie” has been carefully deluged upon citizens. They don’t understand that Democracy (Think French Revolution or BLM/ANTIFA style (mob rule) destroys individuals and individuality with forced political correctness and leads to Neo-Marxist Socialism/Facism/ Communism and Genocide. This lie was codified by Joseph Gobbels of The National Socialist Party (WWII nazi)
Thank you for sharing your perspective. There’s clearly a deep frustration here, and understandably so.
The problem isn’t democracy per se, but perhaps our failure to educate citizens well enough to practice it meaningfully. The Founders built a republic with democratic elements, delegating to an informed, engaged populace. Without the humanities—philosophy, history, rhetoric, ethics—we lose that more profound frame that helps people think clearly and act responsibly.
It’s heartening that you care so deeply, and I do think voices like yours, whether in or out of the classroom, are essential for pushing back against that cultural amnesia.
Hello Dilay, Thank you for your thoughts. Yes, I do center on the Governmental ideology differences. Probably due to the insidious promotion of the lie. But, you are correct it is not just the “democracy” lie that is the issue and its ties with global NeomarxistSocialism. Which is why, if you follow my posts, I respond to most presentations of Falsehood Lies and Evil with the only thing powerful enough to bring true healthy change. Namely Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ and His Holy Word. In who Jesus is, his Nature, his sacrifice, his mission, and authority. In truth, my own words really are pathetic, lacking, and childish. But, Jesus… Peace to you and your family where ever you are from us in Pacific NW.
I absolutely love this and your other work. We should collaborate somehow.
https://open.substack.com/pub/scholarstudy/p/welcome-to-the-new-england-scholars?r=28woco&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Great ship analogy for how our values and goals determine the route in which technology will take. Truly, the humanities can provide us with human values that transcend our own time and this technological moment. The humanities has the potential to provide a universal human perspective in a time that can’t see beyond itself.
Thank you for this brilliant piece! It reminded me of the significance of my field. It's no coincidence that the discipline is called "Humanities". It's all about the HUMAN experience. Through humanities, we learn what is means to be human and in this day and age, learning this has never been as important.
Thank you so much, I’m truly glad it spoke to you! And you’re absolutely right: in an age where the human experience is increasingly filtered through screens, metrics, and algorithms, the Humanities remind us we’re not just data points, we’re storytellers, thinkers, questioners, and idealists.
Your field definitely matters, and perhaps now more than ever, we need its wisdom to help us rehumanize our children and a world that feels like it’s moving a little too fast.
I loved this! In a time like the one that we are living - that democracy is on the verge of a crisis, that people are closing themselves in their own social bubble, that people are more and more devaluating moral values- humanities is a powerfull and important tool.
(I know it's cliche but: Non native english speaker here sorry for bad english)
Thank you! I’m not a native speaker myself so I know the pain. Your English is awesome!!
Thanks for read, Dilay! I agree with your assessment, for two reasons:
1) The work of engineers is the easiest to automate, so we can leave that to the machines and focus on being humans.
2) More importantly, the humanities are our only hope in figuring out how we can live with these machines. Pandora's box is open, and closing it isn't an option. We need to figure out how we can find happiness in this technological reality.
I wrote a piece on this second point. It'd make me really happy if you gave it a read.
https://open.substack.com/pub/writerbytechnicality/p/do-it-for-the-machines?r=3anz55&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
The humanities are a way to cope for a very deep issue. Ethics and moral systems did not develop with the "humanities" they were way before that: power dynamics, the genders, tribes, etc
This idea can be seen many years ago before the rise of IA, art or literature won't solve any problems, but most importantly, it is not what make us human.
The scholar disciplines are a sophisticated tool to feel above this iliteracy. What about the humanity of non literate workers, fighters, bums and mothers?
Many academics are more confused than iliterate people. The humanities have become mostly a materialistic movement in all academia, it's the realm of secularization, self-actualization and the centralization of man as an individual above all else.
This idealization of humanities is what keeps the machine growing, when saying that "technology is neither good or bad" but at the same type writing about how social media functions as a way to destroyd minds and social cohesion. The many contradictions of humanitarians are found here and serve as an example of why this worldview is not a but a illusion if it wants to serve as a solution to anything that has been happening the last 100 years or since the industrial revolution.
Now i'm not saying i dislike the humanities, but they don't automatically function as trascendental disciplines just because they requiere more effort, they can, and mostly operate in the realm of the material, the same one that IA works with. If you really desire to go beyond of the current states of human degeneration, don't fall for the trap of "knowledge", you will just operating at the same level of tought and jnaction that characterizes this individual.
wish I could etch every single sentence into my brain
THIS!!!
I love this! thank u so much for creating this. You are a great writer, this resonates well with myself ❤️
That means a lot to me! Your words really motivate me to keep creating. Thank you so much for your interest. ❤️
"It's there, in the humanities, that we will discover the means and the impetus to grapple with the fallout of our innovations." I loved this! As a humanities and social sciences student, I always felt biased towards my passion within the field but I look at our world now and realize that the otherwise disregarding comments of those who don't see the value of the humanities didn't sting because they merely personally affected me - they stung because behind the mildly demeaning words is a growing rift between humans and their very humanity. You captured my emotions so well and so coherently in this piece. I cannot count on my hand how many times I've defended a discipline in the humanities (more often than one in the social sciences) that was being called "useless" or "pretentious". While I've done my fair share of complaining, it cannot be ignored that most people who complain MEAN those words, regardless of their course work.
Values, morality, existence, and our very nature as humans is not useless and the more we deem these things as such, the more we risk BECOMING the robots without any sort of code outside of conditional programming.
Exactly! And thank you for articulating it with such clarity and fire. What stings most isn’t the personal slight, but the more in-depth cultural indifference to the very things that make us human. When people dismiss the humanities, they’re not just questioning a discipline, they’re turning away from the frameworks that help us navigate meaning, morality, memory, and even mercy.
What you’ve described is the tragedy of our time: a growing void between technical advancement and emotional/ethical depth. And as you said so powerfully, the more we devalue the study of our own nature, the easier it becomes to operate on autopilot. Efficient, optimized, but untethered.
Please keep defending the field! You're not just protecting a course of study, you're protecting a way of seeing.
antigonejournal.com
antigonejournal.com
Just came across this and found it a really great read! You articulated a lot of my own thoughts really well. As someone who majored in English Literature, I'm constantly being asked if I think my degree is useless as technology and AI continue to be on the rise, and I constantly have to tell people that no, I value my degree more than ever, and I wish more students would consider majoring in the humanities.
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words! I’m delighted to know that my article resonated with you. As someone who also majored in English Literature, I can certainly relate to the frustration of seeing our discipline dismissed as less valuable in today’s tech-centric world. Yet, it teaches us to think critically, to empathize, and to appreciate the complexities of the human experience—skills that are essential, not only for engaging with technology, but for understanding its impact on society. It’s clear that these timeless abilities cannot be replicated by machines.
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree that more students should consider the humanities—they offer far more than what a technological world can provide. Thank you once again for your insight, and it’s reassuring to know we share the same conviction.