STEM students need a grounding in arts subjects if they are to better the world

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By John Stack, First Year Mathematics and Philosophy

Science alone does not give sufficiently worldly knowledge. Unawareness of arts and humanities amongst the scientists of the future will limit future developments.

For millennia, arts and humanities students have been called out for their lack of engagement with science and mathematics.‘Μηδείς άγεωμέτρητος είσίτω μον τήν στέγην’, or ‘Let no one ignorant of geometry enter my doors’, wrote Plato.

However, today it is the scientists, technologists and engineers who must engage with the arts and humanities.

Why have the tables turned? The issues of the now and future are primarily linked to the failure of STEM graduates to engage with the arts and humanities.

Overpopulation and Climate Change? Caused by economists’ fixation on growth. Global, monetised and micro-targeted disinformation? A computer scientist’s naïve ideal of ultra-connectivity and sharing. The future genetic decoupling of the rich’s children from those of the rest via designer baby research? Pre-facilitated by the unconsidered research of biologists. The list goes on.

As science and technology continues to play a greater, accelerating role in our society, STEM issues caused by STEM ignorance can only grow larger and more numerous. This mess is left to be cleaned up by those with an awareness of the arts and humanities, those who work in government, regulators and think tanks. Clearly, the onus is on the mess-makers to get their act together.

The need for engagement is close to home. A sizeable number of Bristol University STEM students without arts and humanities training, whilst intelligent, will likely find themselves doing work that has negative consequences which they are unaware of. Let’s see how below.

Overpopulation and Climate Change? Caused by economists’ fixation on growth.

STEM students who enter the employment market will often find themselves relegated to the scientific equivalent of production line work with higher skill requirements. Except, rather than packing boxes, they may be working on algorithms that create an 'enabling environment for the ongoing endorsement and proliferation of human rights abuse' - a quote from Facebook’s self-commissioned report about its operations in Myanmar.

The idea of this equivalence may cause shock and denial. Yet, note the following. Production line work is importantly characterised by a narrow definition of success, for example, the number of boxes packed per hour. For STEM jobs, maximising the time users spend on an app or decreasing the failure rate of the identification of blue-eyed embryos for selection are generic examples of the essential goals for millions of scientists and technologists. These goals, like those of a production worker, solely ask for a simple operation on a quantity.

Of course, scientific and technological jobs require more creativity, expertise and so on. This does not change the fact they are still constrained to the same characteristically narrow definition of success. Clearly, STEM jobs of this narrow style are everywhere, at every ranking.

What’s wrong with narrow definitions of success? Since science and technology do not exist in isolation, narrow definitions of success place a veil over the real consequences of STEM work.

Consider the following. A YouTube engineer will work towards the goal of increasing the time users spend on the site. This is done by improving a recommendation system by having it suggest videos that are most likely to keep users engaged. This goal appears simple and harmless when viewed in isolation. And yet, this goal causes the system to keep users engaged by suggesting, to children, animated horrors involving their favourite characters, terrorist propaganda to those most at risk of extremism and a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories to those most susceptible.

It does not take much philosophy and history to realise that that which keeps people engaged is often not that which is good for them.

As science and technology continues to play a greater, accelerating role in our society, STEM issues caused by STEM ignorance can only grow larger and more numerous.

Moreover, consider how an Uber programmer, blind sighted by the goal of revenue maximisation, will never realise the class implications of the surge system they may be working on. These implications are especially pertinent to clubbing Bristol students.

In cities where static-fare taxi companies are put out of business by Uber, the surge system (price increases at times of heavy usage, 1000% is not uncommon), with its fine-tuned efficiency, will ensure that, on certain days and times, only the privileged can escape the tipsy, dangerous walk home after a night out.

For all, this is a manifestly awful outcome. Safety should not only be given to those who can afford it. Scientists and technologists should not be unaware of the idea of class discrimination, and, in general, the human effects of their work.

Engagement by STEM students with the arts and humanities will, by their definition as the study of the human, society and culture, widen their personal idea of success.

With philosophy containing the study of ethics, history containing lessons from the often-repeated past and politics containing the study of governance and its legitimacy, this point is obvious. Further, it will help them be more thoughtful, critical and thus enlightened.

This idea is not without precedent. The IB exists to facilitate this very notion and a special advisor of Michael Gove (the former-education secretary) has advocated for the idea of a trans-disciplinary ‘Odyssean’ education.

Bristol University itself offers courses such as Mathematics and Philosophy and Physics and Philosophy. Elsewhere, even more niche courses like Computer Science and Philosophy are available.

We can only hope that personal education leads to structural change. Even if it does not, note that the mere discussion of the said issues is an act of the arts and humanities.

Do you think STEM students need arts training? Let Epigram know!

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