To find one's own correct answer in an age where there are no correct answers
With the changing times, society has become more complex, and with it, the world has changed from one in which there are fixed answers to one in which it is necessary to judge things from multiple perspectives. The liberal arts enable us to think from multiple perspectives by deepening our knowledge of various things, and help us find the right answer for ourselves.
Cultivate the spirit of living as a human being
With the rise of AI, our society may be filled with more “design” than “art” in the future. In this age of efficiency, functionality, and purpose, the sensibility to enjoy “art” and the heart to find beauty in things that have no meaning will become even more important. Currently, AI is still immature in human aspects such as having feelings and judging values.
On the other hand, however, AI has overwhelming capabilities in computation and information processing, and can efficiently create designs that humans find pleasing - both visually and aurally. In other words, designs that appeal to “pleasure” and “function” will be produced in large numbers by AI in the future.
Can we live with such a design? For example, if sending electrical signals that give pleasure directly to the brain is the “most efficient way to achieve happiness” - will this really satisfy us? As this question suggests, the destination of rational and convenient things may not be true happiness.
One of the essential qualities of human beings is the ability to enjoy futility. We feel beauty not because it is meaningful, but because it is beautiful without meaning. We are moved not because it is useful, but because we are moved to tears by something that cannot be explained. This “sensitivity to love futility” is the essence of human nature.And this sensitivity is not something that all people are born with. It can only be nurtured through the process of learning, savoring, and questioning “futility. This is the essence of the liberal arts. The liberal arts are about values that cannot be measured by efficiency, beauty, questioning, imagination, and above all, learning to think deeply about what it means to be human.