Why tech needs the humanities | Eric Berridge
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- If you want to build a team of innovative problem-solvers, you should value the humanities just as much as the sciences, says entrepreneur Eric Berridge. He shares why tech companies should look beyond STEM graduates for new hires -- and how people with backgrounds in the arts and humanities can bring creativity and insight to technical workplaces.
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"its the sciences that teach us how to build things, but its the humanities that teach us what to build and why" love this
"“Technology alone is not enough. It’s technology married with the liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the results that makes our hearts sing." ---Steve Jobs
Great quote that you pulled out!
@@Aritul thank you
@@OMAR-vq3ybYou’re just mad no one cares about the Liberal Arts & Humanities lol. It’s the lesser path and as Sheldon Copper famously said “Oh the humanities” lol.
I am a tech person but I have been saying that we need a well rounded workforce to progress
As an Humanities student i am grateful at least he gets to convey the importance of human studies
He is wrong. Humanities is non-sense.
@@nicolastesla1894 explain.
@@Silverswitch1 At least those that they teach at school
You learn all the humanities you want in life or a library lol
@@nicolastesla1894
God loves you my friend ❤! Yah gives knowledge to whomever He pleases!
This talk reminds me of a legendary tale about a lowly, dimwitted waterboy... who, when given the chance, became one of the greatest linebackers to ever play the game of football. True story.
water boy adam sandler lmao
Ultimately, most people get really defensive about heir side, STEM or humanities. Ultimately, both are wrong. What we need is better integration and dialogue between the two sides of academia, and ultimately, achieve a better, more coherent and more enlightened world.
engineers dont understand that
@@user-jn3cb2vq7d We don't need unintelligent, dumb and technically ignorant people anyway
I had to go back and watch this as it was one of the talks that inspired me to do my TEDx talk.
Let's lead by Arts and Humanities to create awareness and STEM interest.
I'm glad people are finally realising our importance, it's about damn time
What importance?
@@musaratjahan7954 Lmao
STEM is not Liberal Arts or the Humanities period!
Biology can tell you how to edit genetic information. Physics tells you how to harness nuclear power. Chemistry tells you how to bend materials to your will. Engineering tells you how to build the machines that do that.
Humanities? They tell you how to apply it ethically and effectively.
I posted my own comment on this. The most talented, disciplined, and ethical people are not called to Silicon Valley. Theory is one aspect; action is more in line with the truth of the matter. 🐡
and you sum it up
*_One IS what one supports_* 🐡
.. and why you're doing it too.
Einomies 5
Natural Sciences, Formal Sciences, Technology and Applied Sciences, the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Culture and the Arts are all equally important for human development and for our society as human civilization. I love studying sciences especially biology and space sciences, and I love discussing ideas about them, but I also love the arts and humanities and learning in general. I love to learn through books, stories, documentaries, and in daily life experiences and reflections. People nowadays shouldn't just specialize in one stuff and not also to be good in all stuffs on the surface. One should now be jack of all trades and master of one. People should be good and master in one field or specialty/specialization but should also be versatile, flexible, and creative in other fields. Most STEM schools in my country especially the prestigious state or national high schools concentrating in STEM are really good in STEM fields but they are also good in music, arts, dance, theater, sports, and social sciences. All of our college courses/degrees also have liberal arts or general education courses with it that tackles arts, sciences, history, languages, communication, culture, social sciences, and others aside from the professional and specialization courses. Senior High schools here also offers technical vocation, humanities and social sciences, arts and design, sports, and business aside from STEM specialization. :)
I am professor of electrical engineering in Brazil. I am trying to teach other engineering professors that humanities is as much important as maths for an electrical engineering degree. I have many problems to achieve that.
So valuable and inspiring for humankind. Thanks a trillion, Eric Berridge. #HumanitiesMatter #SciencesMatter
Just one problem with encouraging the study of humanity subjects such as Sociology; if the student develops the perception to see how our social systems work, often they'll come to see how corporations such as FB are poisonous to our societies' wellbeing and advancement.
Is it better to be ignorant to this?
Wouldn’t that be beneficial to humanity?
@@Silverswitch1 It would, which is why it's a problem for big tech.
soooooooooooooooo true
finally someone says it!
Software development businesses are so fixated on new tech, being 'creative' and 'awesome' that they often forget who pays the bills.
The lack of customer focus is what kills those small businesses that start off well because once the customer or consumer interaction is lost, you're not making software or solutions for them any more - you're making it for you and you're probably going to get it wrong.
Customer service does not require an academic degree. Although it is easy to forget that as such jobs are the only things humanity majors are good for.
@@jordangaldo4628 haha says a technology clerk
This is why the PS3's Cell Processor "failed" even though it was an absolute marvel of computer engineering designed by an eccentric genius
I really wanted to like this video five times. Inspirational talk! ❤
As an artist and philosopher I loved it, thank you ^-^
At the end of the day, you can be the smartest guy or girl in the room, but if you can't communicate with anyone and have them listen to you, you have no business being there and you have no business.
His pitch is impassioned, but I disagree with the premise. The humanities matter not cause they help shape technology, but because they matter in and of themselves. They represent the study of all things human, and in studying them we understand things about ourselves. People should pursue the study of humanistic things lifelong because they are intrinsically valuable, and certainly not because they help us make more profits.
I agree. Not everything needs to have blatant economic value to be considered worthwhile.
Guys, that whooshing sound you both just heard was the point sailing right over your heads.
He's saying exactly that the pursuit of the Humanities is foundational to every other discipline. He's only using profiteering as an example.
That's right. Although the speech is titled tech needs humanities, this guy stresses on studying humanities to built better programs, not to understand ourselves better... I guess they are still stuck in their own bubble and can't seem to understand the intrinsic good in the humanities themselves. This is pretty sad.
@@ryhliu22 okay, give me a reason why its "intrinsically good". This video is titled "humanities in tech", what did you expect? Not to mention he's wrong on MANY aspects, most humanities majors work in HR, management or MAYBE logistical roles at best, they do not serve any purpose when it comes to actual creative problem solving when innovating and designing new technologies. They're better at speaking, that's it
@@musaratjahan7954The STEM major creates a product. Guess who's the one that markets it so that people actually buy it? The humanities major.
STEM and the humanities often work together, and in some cases need each other. There are many, many examples of this.
Video games. A programmer/coder handles the technical aspect and the game's functionality and playability, but an artist/graphic designer/creative director handles the creative aspects of it that make the game actually fun and appealing to people-the story, the artstyle, and much more-you have them to thank as well.
A web designer handles the website's code to make it functional, but a graphic designer handles how the website will actually look along with its layout and design. (You know, kind of like the site you typed this comment on. Seeing the irony yet?)
Technical writers often work closely with people in the STEM field to write important documents, manuals, guides, etc.
Artists and engineers also often work together-the profession of architecture itself can be argued to be a mix of engineering and the arts.
And this is all hardly scratching the surface. There are dozens of more examples that I can't put in this comment alone. But I'm sure a genius STEM guy like you can figure that out on your own, right?
Just finished binge-watching Halt and Catch Fire and wondered why the main character was now a Humanities professor. Now I know, thanks 👍🏼
Encourage them to "be" what they want to be, not to be "whatever" they want to be, or they'll turn out to be just "whatever".
👏
That is one of the best ted talks that I've watched
My favorite part about this is that you can see this today with problems like self-driving cars, flying cars, space travel, etc. etc. that the times we were most successful were the times when the majority of the cogs in the machine that got us there weren't scientists and engineers, but managers, logistics people, etc. the people that keep the whole thing going so that the engineers can solve the problems that need solving, and that you can keep a steady stream of problems coming to them and a steady stream of solutions getting out of them. These aren't technically hard problems to solve, they are hard problems to fully and efficiently implement an organization around solving them.
Are you joking? The fact that self driving cars are safe and the fact that man has stepped on the moon are DIRECT results of SCIENTISTS' AND ENGINEERS' brilliance
@@musaratjahan7954 I never said it wasn’t.
@@cheeseisgreat24 yes you did
@@musaratjahan7954 I realize english might not be your first language, but please reread it using better comprehension skills.
@@cheeseisgreat24 "majority of the cogs in machine that got us there weren't scientists or engineers, but managers, logistics people, etc". That is exactly what your statement implies, that the reason man stepped on the moon was because of some logistics guys, and less so because of the scientists and engineers who put their blood and sweat into building, designing and testing everything to make sure the astronauts can make the journey safely. You're overrating managers and logistics people too much while severely underrating/downplaying what the engineers and scientists managed to achieve. Not only that, but you're so confidently wrong that it makes me question if you're even serious or just trolling AND on top of that you try to tell me to " use better comprehension skills" when it is you that has been uttering nothing but hot garbage this entire time. This is precisely why I despise humanities and most people in it, because most of them act like you are. Acting smug and confident while being unintelligent, wrong and ignorant.
being a renaissance man my entire life....about time!!!!! Oh, and I am a tech guy and an artist.
I agree Brett, I consider myself a DaVainci and think all men(and woman) can be. He isn't special(though he is essentially), we all are and are all able to become masters of our own selves and therefor masters of the world around us. We centralize and specialize ourselves into thinking we can only do so much but our brains go way beyond any computer, we can do whatever we can conceptualize. That's why we can fly.
Be whatever you want! Great one!
Why doesn’t this have more views
My Acting/Directing major looking more and more promising to me 😂
THIS is diversity in the workplace... Not everything is about race people.
That's is real diversity, not pseudo diversity.
That falls into diversity as well, but we still need people from different backgrounds to offer different perspectives.
Was in chaios of dealing abt my future and carrier!!and so found this video.... which made me smile :)
Anushka Sharma
You came out of the chaos? I just started a philosophy major.
fiona fiona yes..it was choosing between a technical thing with less interest and another more of creative sort...felt +ve after watching this
I enjoy Philosophie but fail to see the point of a major if 70%of people in my generation attempt one and more than half follow through with it.
So glad someome finally talk about this! PREACH. 🙏
This was much needed.
This motivates me even more to pursue engineering and philosophy at the same time!
Love this! And I'am a IT Systemengineer doing DevOps
What's more important, the data or the jazz? Sure, sure, 'Information should be free' and all that- but anyone can set information free. The jazz is in how you do it, what you do it to, and in almost getting caught without getting caught. The data is 1's and 0's. Life is the jazz.
~ Sinder Roze
That makes 0 sense
Every artist I know had to learn a bunch of technical artist software whether they're working in 2D or 3D. This talk sounds great, but I don't want a bunch of people getting degrees and then complaining that they don't have jobs.
I am with you....I personally have nothing against humanities, we need creatives.... but the degrees ARE NOT WORTH 100K debt.
Take humanities and liberal arts classes here and there but don't make it the focus of your degree.
@@malcorub "but don't make it the focus of your degree."
A shame.
@@PR--un4ub It is, but that's the reality. Humanities does not give good ROI....ROI as in $$$
@@malcorub Humanities also teach you that $$$ aren't everything and perhaps also a way to shape society so that the endless pursuit of $$$ is finally recognized as harmful over the long rum.
@@PR--un4ub Not downplaying it's importance....my point is that if it can't land you a job immediately, don't spend a fortune on a degree.
I'm just here for class but this was actually interesting
focus on Humanities and Social Science 1st., Natural Science 2nd. The Heart needs to Lead the MiND.
I have an essay on this I probably watch this video at least 30+ times
me rn
This is not new. I did a degree over 10 years ago that was all about being the person who sits in between the customer and the programmer. Customers don't speak programming and programmers rarely speak human( :-) ).
This is literally one of the first things they teach in project management
I am envisioning a rocket ship that can bring me safely to Mars and back....Whew, now that the hard work is out of the way I can focus on the easy part - building it by piecing together some of those easy to program, intuitive technologies.
That's essentially what they act like. They act as if "imagining" what to build is the hardest part done and the actual process of building stuff is just "meh" and left to "automatons". Ironically, because of this line of thinking, its the humanities that see STEM majors as just " boring and useless robots." Not to mention that they act as if STEM majors are incapable of imagination and critical thinking yet these 2 aspects are exactly what it takes to be successful in STEM. Thinking up ideas from a fairytale doesn't mean you're smart or creative or a critical thinker. I promise you the STEM major can come up with even more creative ideas
Idk about humanities being just as hard as stem , I think he’s giving too much credit but I do think their creativity is much needed especially with personality types of stem majors
It's all about the ratios and the needs of the society. It's not logical to overproduce a resource.
That time Ryan Reynolds traveled back in time 20 years to start a tech company.
I love this man's words but I wish he could talk a bit faster
set the vid to 1.5 or 2 speed.
thankyou
Give us a chance
Great talk!
Silicon Valley has lowered the standards. What has this done to the fabric of society?
It's true and it's happening in my country too
Bravo.
This guy gets it.
Very well said. This is what I've always believed
You do have a point. However, having spoken to and undergone arguments with many STEMs and nonSTEMs imo: way too many of the nonSTEMs fail to think critically and come up with structured and persuasive arguments. Instead, they tend to re-state textbook contents or opinions from other people online w/o actually thinking very deeply. As a result, many STEMs are actually better at persuading and understanding human behavior etc. This is because the STEM education is just that much better at stimulating thinking instead of memorization.
^ A gross mischaracterization. Wow!
@@PR--un4ub you wanna see what an actual gross mischaracterization is? Watch what he said about humanities majors being needed for "creativity and critical thinking" as if STEM majors lack it, when only those who can thinking critically and come up with creative solutions can be successful in STEM to begin with
Taken business finance. I'm looking at taking program in information technology hoping to get double chance of getting a job. And i really like technology so its not the job that i love😂 and i like money😂 that's my reason I've taken this course 😂
Just because the bartender could go deep on topics but no need to be professional on tech area?
like elon musk said school destroy people from their dream rise for future
Economics 101: Supply, Demand, Price.
People follow money, in jobs, migration, and about every other way. That's how money works. Companies are supposed to specialize in maximizing their ROI. I would like to see more data, not just words.
Lol so you hired a marketing department. Wow.
Behind every computer programming are human programming. The bartender know how minds are programmed. He hacked into it. What I meant is the mind,
기말고사 망하면 당신 덕분입니다^^
?
2:31
True but a bit short sighted and narrow sighted ... The science world doesn't only consist in IT services. And yes Humanities are extremely important but, at the moment, a ton of Humanities graduates are unemployed or underpaid hence, it makes sense to wait until the market had absorbed these people until we allow a lot more to get degrees. Also sciences really need more grads!
Oh and marketing can be scientific because of data analysis. Sadly whilst the mathematical tools exist and are used by some, a lot of marketers still ignore everything about them. It should always be a mix between creativity, humanities and sciences.
Wow! Is this true?
I wonder if language could be considered a science.
My answer is 11 months late, but as some people might be interested in the matter, I'll still post it.
Language is without any doubt the most important and multidisciplinary subject that is given to study.
You can study a language with a physics background, by doing acoustics.
You can study a language with a psychology background, by researching on language acquisition and loss.
You can study a language with a sociology background, by studying the impact of the social environment, geography...
You can study a language with a history background, by looking at the evolution of language through time and their causes.
You can study a language with a law background, and do Forensic Linguistics to bring solid evidence into a trial.
You can study a language with a technology background, and design the next greatest talking AI.
Imagine what we could do if all those different branches of linguistics worked together. Sadly, it is not the case today, and linguistics are home to many quarrels. Language is above all a social science, because language is social before being something you implement in a computer. It is incredibly complex, hence the arguments between linguists since we cannot design a good, universal model of language. The truth is, there is not such a thing.
Therefore, if by science you meant "a discipline that can be fully described with abstract concepts and iterative experiments", I would not say that language is a science, because everyone speaks their own version of a language - no one truly masters a language, and the concept of language as such is in itself irrelevant since you, your neighbor, your family members, your employer... will all speak a different English due to socio-geographical variants (I am over-simplifying, it's much more complex and we could also evoke anatomy, medical conditions, semantics...).
I hope this will bring some more light about language. Hi to all linguists and other humanities graduate, and may you all have a great day. I know that it is hard to find our place in this highly tech-driven society, but let us stay optimist. Stay determined! Keep doing arts, keep studying our species through time (and space, in a few decades). We live in such a wonderful time, but it is really fragile.
It's billions of ashes to Forensics
Urgent
STEM would stagnate without the humanities…..
You were about to be fired just because of one client?...Jeez. Either the company directors were loco or you had a long history before it.
The video is interesting. Thanks!
Exactly.
I need da yumanaties
He hired a marketing department. Why is this a ted talk?
What tech company with 200 engineers can be out performed by someone who cant program?
Aviri Char I'll dumb it down for those who take women's studies. His anicdote was bullshit
Aviri Char collaboration with a bar tender for a huge client.. what company operates that way?
I just finished my computer science degree, and am telling you that no problem that can be that simply solved by someone who can't program, is completely unattainable for people who understand what they're working with, no matter how poor there communication is.
No less, most companies have people specifically for interacting with clients, who specialise in communicating rather than coding.
Aviri Char no, I'm saying I have a hard time buying someone's ideology when his "evidence" is so obviously not true. It was my initial comment, I've repeated it to you, I'm repeating it now. I don't know why it's hard to get. Every reply from you just ignores what I'm arguing. But yeah, I'm jumping at shadows by bothering to question what I hear 😂
None. If you still haven't realized yet, this story is sprinkled with BS. Either his company had a history or his computer engineers were drop outs
I personally have nothing against humanities, we need creatives.... but the degrees ARE NOT WORTH 100K debt.
Take humanities and liberal arts classes here and there but don't make it the focus of your degree.
Vegeta hairline
There could be a role for the humanities in technology, but don't think that nowadays they are taught critical thinking, which is a skill. They are taught critical thought which - in spite what the name might suggest - is a political dogma.
There is no flexibility of thought there to be found.
Yeah .... my bad
The fact that he seems to imply that STEM majors aren't creative or critical thinkers, yet the problems they solve (which he just decries as the 'easy part' and "meh") require utmost creativity and critical thinking is just hilarious and a real insight into what humanities people think of STEM. They suffer from an extreme case of dunning-kruger effect
@@musaratjahan7954 Real lack of self-awareness in this comment. Maybe you'd benefit from taking a humanities course or two.
i lost him when he started about equity. the rest was pretty good.
I was half-expecting him to reveal that he was Jeff at the end..
I live 30 minutes from Silicon Valley (We lived there for 20 years.) They don't call. In 2012 I worked with an architect that was Architect of the Year in the US (Restoration). The custom home was built in Santa Cruz by escapees from the Valley. The custom home was far superior to the Victorian that won him the award.
Silicon Valley still ignores us. They seem to prefer mediocrity (vanilla). See my channel, "Carefulcarpenter Santa Cruz--- the handyman and the king".
*_Steve Jobs never called---- I must think too different_* 😆
Hmph tell that to employers
Yeah, science needs the flexible con- everytime. If not, it will be worse than zombies :-0
My only issue is that the drive towards stem isn't misguided. What is misguided is HOW we teach stem. The curriculum itself is so intensive that not only do they recruit kids have had strict educations but there is only room in the curriculum for a strict stem coarse load. There is literally no time for humanities..
Agree, I would argue that even with some room in STEM degrees it's usually business classes that can be easily condense into one class rather than 5 of them.
k
Finally my first ever *first comment* :))
current president
日本語がなくて悲しい
@kaiwatanabe5396 why?
Why
10 миллионов подписчиков а субтитров на русском нет
He should call google, facebook etc asap and tell them to replace the computer engineers with musicians and bartenders.
That's not what he said though. He even said he hired mostly comp sci and engineering majors but also sprinkled in artists and english majors
10% STIM
oh great idea, replace computer engineers with happiness managers.
Aviri Char bought and payed for i see. Theres a private message for you with a set price. Please reconsider, cherioo~
Anton Alm Congratulations you completely missed the point.
humanities should be defunded...
This whole thing is pandering cope.
I'm gonna have to disagree.
Why though? Do you think if everything continues the way it is with everyone being pushed to go into stem fields, we'll be better than if we had balance or at the very least, a little more equal distribution between stem and the humanities?
@@wolfferoni in an increasingly stem world? Yes, yes we need more stem majors
Imagine you have all the gadgets one could imagine, and have a near infinite catalog of scientific facts.
What now? Perhaps a philosophy book can tell you.
I disagree with this. Tech needs more tech people not humanities.
5:48 *pukes a little in mouth*
be strong... forgive him for he does not know what he has spoken
Defensive much?
@@PR--un4ub no it's called spotting BS. You really think STEM majors need to "defend" themselves from humanities?
Bullshit!