Humanities in the Age of Technology
A picture of the author, Hanna Vasilenka
Hanna Vasilenka / March 17, 2020
(2 min read)
The aim of Humanities is to explore human nature, to study behavior and to predict our actions. As we evolve, throughout history, along with our minds and behaviors, the Humanities and their study should also be transformed and implemented into our new progressive world of technologies.
Two hundred years ago, the linguists, sociologists, and politologues were the same. The only differences were their limited resources to work with: no good database, news were spread very slowly, and contact with other nationalities was more problematic.
Nowadays, I can have access to any book I want, in any language I want. I can start exploring different phenomena by clicking at the preferred section in the database. I can easily travel to any continent or make a skype call with someone from another part of the world and time zone. Rapid development of technology does not change the subject of Humanities, but gives it only a broader spectrum to discover.
"That all means that humanities will never face the danger of extinction, but only new tools to approach them, if we discover a way to make them even better."
Books/texts are only one of the tools to study. Communication, research, observation, and practice are the essential part of modern Humanities. Texts are a tool for transferring information from one to another, as the meaning of things will not be lost until people will stop thinking and perceive the information critically.
There is a myth, mostly among old generation teachers, that electronic devices made us less intelligent. As with everything else, it is not the device which makes us so, but the way a particular person uses it. Digitalization of texts does not make Humanities worse, but makes them more accessible to everyone.
People will always commit crimes and seek for lawyers, presidents will always try to gain power and seek the best political experts. As long as we live, philosophers will always seek the answer to the meaning of life. Artists will always draw and create, and great books will always need to be translated. That all means that humanities will never face the danger of extinction, but only new tools to approach them, if we discover a way to make them even better.
