"I think there's a temptation as a humanist to be a bit snarky about this kind of thing,"
"But I want to take it seriously as reflecting a sincere desire for cultivation, maybe some version of bildung, or self-formation, and also a desire for resources to deal with risk and uncertainty - the hard things that are true, perhaps, even for the gentle tech billionaire."
"Humanities departments in universities have experienced a steep decline, but that's not the case with humanities outside the universities, where literary festivals and book clubs and podcasts and other activities have enjoyed huge public interest and demand,"
Humanities practices provide cultivation of mind and character and offer frameworks for self-formation and coping with risk and uncertainty. Tech entrepreneurs and broader publics engage with philosophical ideas and traditions, including Stoicism and classical thinkers, to address practical and existential challenges. University humanities enrollment has fallen sharply, while public-facing humanities activities such as literary festivals, book clubs, and podcasts attract substantial interest. The humanities thus operate both as personal development resources and as sources of insight for societal and practical problems, with influence extending beyond formal academic departments.
Read at Harvard Gazette
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