tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post5649503731248979156..comments2024-03-28T00:11:33.489-04:00Comments on bensozia: Why Humanities are Declining in UniversitiesJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-7825838250731360002018-09-21T11:03:22.023-04:002018-09-21T11:03:22.023-04:00As always, nice to see data backing up what seems ...As always, nice to see data backing up what seems like common sense.<br /><br />In the 1960s, real wages were very strong and college tuition was very cheap. It was entirely possible, and indeed reasonable, to attend college without ever taking loans, working part time at minimum wage. The cost of pursuing knowledge for its own sake came was quite low, and rather affordable.<br /><br />In contrast, more recent decades have seen cost of living continually rise while wages remain flat, and college tuitions have skyrocketed. Affording college became far more difficult and required a far larger financial commitment, thus necessitating a larger financial return on the investment.<br /><br />It is largely no longer financially feasible to spend one's free time pursuing knowledge purely for its own sake - one must stand to make money off a potential college degree, often merely to break even from the cost of obtaining it, and only years later begin to actually profit off the investment.<br /><br />Simply put, when people have the means to learn purely for the sake of learning, and so do without hardship, they will. But when economic concerns get in the way of things, people quite understandable don't value knowledge in and of itself.<br /><br />I firmly believe that a big part of the reason so many people feel listless and unmoored in life these days is because they are deprived of the opportunity to freely pursue knowledge beyond what is needed to make money. When financial competition matters more than philosophical exploration, it seems natural that people will feel like their lives lack any meaning beyond the pursuit of wealth.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com