is a background in the Humanities important in social interaction?

I ran across some replies to an essay elsewhere (not here) by someone who felt strongly that lack of 'the Humanities' being taught in the school systems was the cause of all ills in todays society.  

I wondered what others think about this?
How important to you is learning about other cultures, learning another language...studying philosophy and other religions?  history? art?
and if you home school is that part of the curriculum?

here's a couple definitions...

 humanities, those branches of knowledge that concern themselves with human beings and their culture or with analytic and critical methods of inquiry derived from an appreciation of human values and of the unique ability of the human spirit to express itself. As a group of educational disciplines, the humanities are distinguished in content and method from the physical and biological sciences and, somewhat less decisively, from the social sciences. The humanities include the study of all languages and literatures, the arts, history, and philosophy. The humanities are sometimes organized as a school or administrative division in many colleges and universities in the United States.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/humanities  

Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature and language, as opposed to the study of religion, or "divinity". The study of the humanities was a key part of the secular curriculum in universities at the time. Today, the humanities are more frequently defined as any fields of study outside of natural sciences, social sciences, formal sciences (like mathematics), and applied sciences (or professional training).[1] They use methods that are primarily critical, speculative, or interpretative and have a significant historical element[1]—as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of science.[1]

The humanities include the academic study of philosophy, religion, history, language arts (literature, writing, oratory, rhetoric, poetry, etc.), the performing arts (theater, music, dance, etc.), and the visual arts (painting, sculpture, photography, filmmaking, etc.).[2

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanities  

I wouldn’t generalize.  As someone on the spectrum, I need all the help I can get.

I think there are many groups and societies around the world that are thriving while having little to no knowledge of the "humanities".  I think that was even more true in the past.  For examples close to home right now, look to the Amish and Mennonite communities.  They actively keep from learning about other cultures.  They remove themselves as much as possible from the secular world.  I would say that is part of the reason they don't suffer from many of the ills of modern society.  My personal view is no, none of those things is very important to a successful and happy society.

I never had a class called Humanities though I did take art and music appreciation.

I loved both.

Most folks don't care much about talking about Mozart or van Gogh.  They probably don't know who the are.

I would never say that studying other societies and cultures is a bad thing. But I would say that many people I know, who have studied other cultures and/or traveled extensively, seem far less content with where (and sometimes who) they are. And I have seen that discontent cause many problems.

Whether it is dating, food, vehicles, houses, friends, or whatever... when you have nearly unlimited choices (thank you internet), you have to be very careful that it does not make you forget reality or forget to be grateful for what you have.

We homeschool.

We teach the trivium and let the kids uniqueness decide how things branch out from there as a base.

Part of the trivium and branching out does incorporate some aspects of what would be considered the humanities.

That being said, teaching the kids logic (how to think/discuss/argue), seems to be the best tool for meaningful social interaction. They are comfortable with younger kids, older kids, and adults as far as carrying on a conversation.

thanks for all of the input.

I am not sure what I think so am happy to hear a range of thoughts from others.

I grew up with all of those areas of study available for thought and discussion and married someone who was even more immersed in them...he used to be amazed if someone did not live surrounded by books and musical instruments🙄

I think the subjects in the area of 'Humanities' are mostly covered here at permies and especially critical thinking which I think was what the person who I referred to in the OP was really getting at?

thinking out loud now...

more thoughts appreciated

josh wrote:  teaching the kids logic (how to think/discuss/argue), seems to be the best tool for meaningful social interaction. They are comfortable with younger kids, older kids, and adults as far as carrying on a conversation.  

Josh,
This is what I think might be most important!
Teaching children critical thinking, how to learn and to discern.

Judith, you have piqued my interest.

As a humanities (liberal arts) teacher, naturally, I think that the humanities are vital for humanity.

My reasoning might be a bit different than your source stated.  The Humanities/Liberal Arts include a wide variety of subjects including but not limited to History, English (literature), Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, Economics, and sometimes branches into various sciences.  With regards to history, I am reminded of a common question that is asked as a sort of gotcha question posed to many prospective teachers during interviews (I got it too).  Often the question goes something like this: which is more important, history or the students.  This is intended as a question that has no satisfying answer.  If you say that you value the student first, then it implies that you are not a serious academician.  If you say that you value the history first, then you imply yourself being an abstract academician with little contact with reality.  My answer was: this is is the wrong question that leads to the wrong answers.  The correct answer is that students and history need each other.  Students need history so that they have an understanding of the culture in which they live.  And obviously history needs new students in order for history to be told again to a new generation.

Most of the subjects within the study of humanities parallel my answer to the value of history.  Ultimately, the humanities enriches a culture.  We are all better for having these stories, ideas and philosophies alive and well.  The discussions ensue.  Friendly & healthy debates arise.  We are more and better than just the physical sum of our bodies.  We aspire to do great things, often prodded on by the accomplishments of historical figures.

So in my mind, of course the humanities matter.  The world would be devoid of interest without them.

My two cents.


Eric

I don't think that every individual needs a strong foundation in the humanities, but I think that society does. It has to be something we collectively value enough to make available to all, or we're in trouble. (Hint: we're in trouble!)

Christopher--We all need a little bit!  No-one can possibly do it all.  Some of us can get a lot, but then it is our responsibility to pass that on.  While you say that not everyone needs the humanities, I would suggest that maybe some people just don't need all that much.  I wholeheartedly agree that a society needs the humanities.

Eric

This is a lovely discussion, thanks all.

I'll suggest that close attention to humans is indeed necessary for a life well lived. The Humanities as a set of disciplines is the growth of an intellectual apparatus around the understanding of humans. It comes with the pros and cons of an intellectual apparatus, which include mistaking the map for the territory, but the map allows a certain kind of understanding to be made available to people far beyond the territory. I suppose the Humanities as disciplines are optional to a human life, but I think they are broadly applicable to the kind of life that we in "the West" are generally born into. We're a people of intellectual apparatuses, for better or worse, and we are poorly equipped to do anything without the familiar intellectual tools of our culture - but others may not have that same dependence, and it might be well for us to reduce our dependence on those tools, though not necessarily to abandon our skill with them.

I'd recommend to anyone interested in a serious read the magnum opus of Dr. Iain McGilchrist, The Matter with Things. It exemplifies and explores this tension. Other current resources in this vein might be Paul Kingsnorth's and Martin Shaw's work, though there are many. This touches on a discussion of appropriate mental or spiritual "technology". Not all intellectual disciplines are healthy, nor are all (or any) healthy to practice excessively or exclusively. We humans are a rum lot, and all the ingredients are not on label. It takes attention to your neighbor to learn yourself, and attention to yourself to understand your neighbor.
"And he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'"

Warm regards,
Mark