Why study the humanities?

I am extremely utilitarian person by nature. No pictures adorn my walls, and sparse few trinkets are kept for ornamental reasons. Everything in my home has a purpose, and if it has no purpose, it is not kept.

It should therefore surprise no one that when I found myself at Rhodes University in 2003 beginning my first degree, I opted to take subjects that would benefit my future career prospects. The subjects that I chose were entirely from either the faculties of commerce or science — computer science, accounting and management being a few.

Some of my friends studied subjects in the humanities, such as law, history, philosophy or even music. I felt a slight pang of jealousy that I could not explain. Was it because I found these subjects interesting? Why then did I not choose to study them? I could not resolve the contradiction. I had only a limited selection of subjects to study, and my choices seemed the most logical.

Life in the real world

University came and went, and I found myself out in the real world with a degree with a great deal of value, which led me to having no trouble finding employment. All according to plan, then.

But, as life goes, I hit a few bumps in the road, that stretched my ability to cope. It wasn’t my career that was the cause for concern, although that did have its ups and downs. It was the emotional, intangible side of life which I found difficult. I started reading philosophy in the hopes that some ancient wisdom could help.

Letters from a Stoic

One of the pieces of philosophy that gave me comfort was Seneca: Letters from a Stoic. This book is a compilation of letters written by a Stoic philosopher named Lucius Annaeus Seneca who lived between 4 BC and 65 AD. His letters offered advice to someone named Lucilius, but they are broadly applicable to much of life.

While the letters contain great advice that is still applicable today, it was their age that fascinated me most. These letters are close to 2000 years old today, and still widely read, and appreciated. But I realised that no programming code that I write, nor business document that I produce, will be read in 2000 years time. It has no value beyond its immediate use, unlike works of art.

I realised that this property is what makes the humanities worthwhile — their relevance to across time and across cultural boundaries. They remind us that, whatever the current conditions of our lives, we are still human and still affected by the human condition, for good or ill. That we ought to determine how to live wisely, before we attempt to conquer the world.

Originally published at https://philosophyandprogramming.com on February 9, 2021.