Let’s consider these quotes about scientists from Nietzsche’s Essay, David Strauss, the Confessor and the Writer:
An honest natural scientist believes that the world conforms unconditionally to laws, without however asserting anything as to the ethical or intellectual value of these laws…
and:
The heir but a few hours, he is ringed around with frightful abysses, and every step he takes ought to make him ask: Whither? Whence? To what end? But his soul is warmed with the task of counting the stamens of a flower or breaking up the stones of the pathway, and all the interest, joy, strength, and desire he possesses is absorbed in this work.
I don’t take these two quotes as gospel, but I do take them seriously.
For the last decade, there has been a huge push from politicians, educators, and activists to push children towards the pursuit of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) degrees, with the unquestioned belief that this is a net good for both these students and society.
Well, increasing the pool of the STEM-educated certainly is a net good for corporations, and it may be a net good for these children if their (and their parents’) definition of success is a mid-level career in these organizations.
But if you believe as I do—that the problems of this world are philosophical, not technological—then this bodes poorly for the world.
Leaving the big ethical decisions of the world to corporations and their sponsored governments—and to their morality and amorality—is dangerous, because, to them, STEM-educated employees are simply fuel to be burned through as efficiently as possible.
STEM education is an ever-narrowing education in a world with ever-broadening ethical problems, and it’s one unlikely to be able to check the ever-growing power of large corporations.