That utilitarian worldview is a slippery slope. History, classics, literature, pure maths, theoretical physics... don't offer inmediate economic benefit to individuals or society, but they are still knowledge and the must be protected. The University is not a factory of workers.
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Replying to @Desvelandorient
Many will still study liberal arts in droves, even if they have to pay for it themselves. People naturally gravitate toward such subjects. What's needed is to help out those people who want to make tangible contributions to society.
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Replying to @G_S_Bhogal @Desvelandorient
can you point me to your stats about this? and the research stating what is and is not of benefit what is meant by 'benefit' and to which society and who within that society?
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Replying to @psychodiva @Desvelandorient
Would you rather live in medieval times or now? Would you not agree that technological advancement makes things better, generally speaking?
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Replying to @G_S_Bhogal @psychodiva
To answer the second question accurately, you'd need a historian. The industrial revolution didn't make things better at first, only long-term. The agricultural revolution made things worse long-term (less varied diet, shorter life span). It's a matter of perspective.
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To provide answers that aren't ideological platitudes one needs data. And historical data aren't easy to find. It needs time and work, and it isn't profitable short term. You can make way more money making things up and selling them to your ideological market. Why bother then?
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Replying to @Desvelandorient @psychodiva
Because it's worth pursuing the truth. Because, the truth is a requisite to improving society. If you read through this thread, you'll notice that I never once said that historians weren't important.
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I called art history self-indulgent gobbledegook, because much of it is due to a low bar for study. That doesn't mean that there is no use for it in society, and that people who show great talent in charting the development of art shouldn't be provided with scholarships, etc.
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