By Alin Sengjaroen
Would you rather be rich but sad or poor but happy?
The answer depends on a person’s perception of rich and poor. Rich or poor? Billionaire or homeless? Owning a house or renting a room? Making figures or enough to pass by?
If we rephrase the question like this: would you rather have a crazy high-paying job which demands many work hours but sad or low-paying job (but enough to pay rent and bills) but happy? Would you rather be stuck in a tough, STEM job with high rewards or a flexible, artsy job and a fulfilling routine? Now, the answer is obvious.
“Honestly, this is what most humanities majors tell me so they can justify their choice to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a degree that gets them nowhere far.”
– An anonymous user in an online forum.
“Artists will be poor, and the rest will be rich. If you pursue arts (music, literature, fine arts, photography, dancing, etc.) you will end up homeless with your degree worth no more than a scrap piece of paper. You are wasting your potential. Just do something in STEM, then create art as a side hobby.
We can live without art, but not without technology and medicine…”
But can we really? Are all artists hopelessly naive and overly romantic? Have we all always been blinded by beauty?

I interviewed two English teachers at Satit Prasarnmit Demonstration school (Secondary) on this topic, namely T. Tanakorn Khongumnuaysak (T. Korn) and T. Liam Mcdermott (T. Liam) – to discuss whether we, language majors, made the right choice. Did I choose the right path or will this choice lead me to an unstable life? For love, will it take me far into the years filled with unpredictable changes: more of AI technology and less of empathy?
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PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF BRIEFLY.
T. Liam: Okay, my name is Liam. I’m from Ireland. I grew up in a small town, which is outside Belfast. I have four sisters and a brother. I went to university in Dublin originally, and then, I went to university in London and got a masters degree in creative writing. I lived in London for several years and then I went to move out to Thailand about ten years ago. I started working as a school teacher at a school called Suksanari. It was a[n] [all] girls’ school – [a] government school. And absolutely loved it there. I discovered that teaching, you know, was my calling in life and I was there for 6 years. And then, during COVID [pandemic], I was little bit – kinda losing interest in teaching because of online and – as I said, maybe just a change is all I needed. So I made the move to Prasarnmit Demonstration school and I’ve been here ever since.
T. Korn: So, hello, my name is Tanakorn or you can call me, just, Korn – and I’m currently an English teacher at SPSM [Satit Prasarnmit Demonstration school]. To explain about myself, I would say I’m quite an introvert[ed] person who has many interests, like films, music, sports, [and] so many things.
IS IT WORTH IT TO PURSUE AN ART-RELATED DEGREE (WRITING, MUSIC, FINE ARTS, ETC.) IN THIS ERA OR SHOULD IT STAY A HOBBY?
T. Liam: It is worth it, definitely, to study for an arts degree. I studied arts – creative writing, masters of art. I know AI is taking over a lot of that and it’s more and more difficult and increasingly difficult for artists to get work, find work. But it’s just part of human nature, the human soul that art is so important to us. Art is – every bit is important I think. Well, nearly every bit is important, like science for example because what would life be like without art? And if it’s just been generated by AI, that will be soulless. So, my heart tells me yes, it is important to pursue.
T. Korn: It depends on how serious you are in that field because if you think you are very sure that you want to pursue that dream, you wanna be an artist, [and] you wanna work in an art-related field in the future. It’s okay because there are many channels, many platforms for you to express your products, so if you think you want to be an artist, a drawer, [or] a singer, I think it’s okay to pursue your dreams. But if you’re not sure yet, maybe it’s okay to keep it as a hobby.
HOW DOES ONE DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN A HOBBY AND A CAREER?
T. Liam: Whilst you can really enjoy a career, I don’t think you feel the same love for – that you feel for a passion or a hobby, like I have a career as a teacher, I really enjoy teaching, I have a passion for teaching, but one day that will end. But my hobbies: playing the guitar, writing little stories, [and] reading books…that will be with me till the day I die because that’s a part of me. That’s something I love and I think that’s the big difference.
T. Korn: The simplest way to answer that question is to say that a career is what you do for a living, so, you do something as your career for earning the money that you need in your life or if you just love doing that thing, no matter if you get paid or not, that is considered your passion or your hobbies that I would say. But sometimes, I would say your passion, your career, and your hobbies… [They] can be the same things on some occasions too.
AS A TEACHER, HAVE YOU NOTICED A DECLINE OF INTEREST TOWARDS ART, ESPECIALLY WRITING AND READING IN YOUR STUDENTS? WILL THERE BE MORE OR LESS PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THIS FIELD IN THE FUTURE?
T. Liam: Yes, I’ve definitely seen a decline in interest in reading and writing from students. It’s a generational thing. I remember I was part of the MTV generation and we were told we had the shortest time spans ever and now I think – ah sorry, not time spans, attention spans. And now I think that your generation comes along – and it’s not your fault. It’s just access to mobile technology, access to the internet, you’ve got visuals all around you, and you’ve become visual learners, and for that reason, you’ve all lost interest in reading and writing because there’s a little more challenge that requires your attention a lot more. However, like most things, it will probably be the same in the future or the renaissance.
T. Korn: I think it’s quite difficult to answer that question because with social media and our technology today, it leans towards making people interested in more varied kinds of things. But, on the other hand, students might be interested in different genres of music, art, literature, or films, but they are not into that deep detail of [those] – they don’t really want to study the deeper detail of each genre of art. In terms of varieties, they are interested in a more varied field. But in terms of wanting to learn more about those arts, I think it’s becoming less and less everyday, since our society’s leading towards a more speedy, you know, behavior. Yep and the question that it might become less in the future, I think if the media trends are continuing in this way, it will just become like – more like what I said earlier that they will be interested in a more varied kind of things, but not deep into those deeper details.
DO YOU THINK SCHOOL KILLS ARTISTS?
T. Liam: No. I don’t think it does, no. School rules maybe could, but the learning part of school, no. I think it explores different parts of your mind and opens up new doors and windows of thinking, and absolutely not, no.
T. Korn: I also think it depends on what school we’re talking about. If we’re talking about the traditional style of schools, yes, maybe it is – because, you know, if you have very strict rules or very strict ways of behaving, it automatically limits, you know, the ways of people to think freely or anything. But in some schools that allow students to have more freedom or loosening [of] the rules, there is still [some] room for them to create something new. So, as for – [in the] Thai context that I’ve encountered before, I would say most schools don’t really kill the creativity, [and] the artistry of the students that much. But at the same time, they don’t really do many things to support the artistry [of the students] too. So, my answer would be I may not use the word ‘kill’ here, maybe the word ‘don’t support’ may be more suitable.
DO YOU THINK THE PHYSICAL FORM IS BOUND TO BE FORGOTTEN? WILL ALL ART BECOME DIGITAL IN THE FUTURE?
T. Liam: I don’t think the written [physical] form will ever be forgotten. But I do think – and it’s quite depressing – that if not all, the majority of art in the future will be digitalized and maybe even AI generated, quite possibly. It’s depressing I know, but hopefully, that’s the future I don’t see, or you.
T. Korn: I think every aspect related to humans, they will always have their cycles, so nowadays, we are seeing less newspapers, books, and paper stuff and more because they don’t stop everyday. But I believe at one point people will get bored of digital stuff. So, there will be at least some group of people who are really interested in reading stuff, like books or the hardcopy of things as well. So, I, I don’t really think there is going to be a point where everybody just keeps reading on their iPad. So there will be… certainly some groups of people who stay reading the ‘real’ ones. When the trends will come to one point, I think, there is a possibility that [the] written form of art may be the mainstream one over again. And as I said, it’s like a cycle, so at one point, it may be, you know, digital is mainstream, and another it may be written. [It] just keeps continuing like this.
WOULD IT BE BETTER FOR ALL ART TO BECOME DIGITAL?
T. Liam: That’s a tricky one. There’s an inbetween, it’s not, you know, it’s be– it’s completely good, it’s completely bad, there’s an inbetween. I think the great thing about digital art is everyone around the world can get there to see it prior to art being digital or available online. Maybe I’m misinterpreting the question, but if it wasn’t for digital [devices], how many would be able to get to experience the beauty of the… Sistine Chapel – very few, you know, but because of the digital [devices], the whole world can look it up and explore the beauty of it. But in terms of being generated, maybe I’ve misinterpreted the question, again, there’s a balance. I’m not totally against AI or anything. I just think there’s a– there’s a balance, or there’s still need to be human involvement in the creation of art.
T. Korn: There are more benefits than, than, you know, the bad points of it because if you are reading digital stuff, it automatically opens rooms for more audience, so – there are a lot of benefits that – it helps artists express their works more easily. But of course, it may, you know, not convey like the authentic message of – of the writer as genuine as the original [physical] one. But overall, I think it [digital] still contains more benefits.
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Although it is clear that the development of technology will someday affect art both negatively and positively, it won’t devalue the importance of artistic creations. The role art plays in society is bigger than we thought, especially in social settings. We are individualistic and we strive to be seen as anything beyond basic in the form of having ‘good taste,’ which doesn’t relate to the actual tasting of food at all. It alludes to having unique preferences in art – a favorite TV show, favorite song, favorite book, etc.
We are all scared of being ‘basic.’ I mean, look at how Fast Fashion became so widespread. We’re scared of wearing the same set of clothes because we’ll be seen as someone who puts little care into presenting ourselves, someone who doesn’t appreciate art, and where do we show off? Social media.
Technology isn’t always a bad thing. Ever since social media gained a huge influence, we’ve become highly paranoid about how people perceive us. Whether through what we post on Instagram stories or our shares on Facebook, like how posting a specific lyric of an obscure song by underground artists that has 10 monthly listeners will automatically make you a ‘premium’ art consumer – a unique, special person who deeply cares about the beauty of the world.
T. Korn was right: everyone likes art, but no one loves art. No one cares about art so much so that they’ll dig deeper through the surface and dive into the subtexts and nuances of the specific media. Aesthetics please our eyes and the message remains unopened as we reign ignorance to the importance of art and continue to spread the ‘art degrees lead to homelessness’ mentality when all our lives are built on and relied on art. Now, we even want to replace the hardwork of artists with AI, just to cut down costs, making jobs harder to find.
But a new question begs, what makes oneself worthy of being an artist? If anyone can call themselves an artist, why would you need a degree to prove that? If writing one story, taking one photo or participating in one dance show makes you an artist, who is qualified to be considered a good artist? Everyone can be an artist if they want to, so what’s the point of pursuing these fields?
If you truly strive to get an arts degree, your heart would burn to answer. It’s that each person will answer differently with their reasons and experiences. It doesn’t even have to be reasonable, just listen to your heart.
“So, my heart tells me yes, it is important to pursue.”
If you want to be an artist without a degree, then don’t. If you want to get an arts degree, get one. The difference between these two is that one is committed to a singular craft, the other finds art enjoyable with another passion.
The job market is very competitive, but that goes for every job nowadays. People always put passion last even though, if not our passions, what do we live for when we make a fortune, but nothing to spend on? Remember, if you go south from what your heart desires, no matter how long you run, your hands will always be dirtied by paint.
“I am made of literature and cannot be anything else.”
– Franz Kafka who has a doctorate in Law and has always been known for his literature, never law.
And what if tomorrow is no more, money becomes scrap pieces of paper and so called ‘scrap pieces of paper’ becomes what’s left of us – the backbone of humanity?
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IF THE WORLD WAS ABOUT TO END AND YOU WERE TO MOVE TO ANOTHER PLANET WITH THE CONDITION THAT YOU CAN BRING ONE BOOK TO ENTERTAIN YOURSELF AND ANOTHER TO REPRESENT THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY, WHAT WOULD THOSE TWO BOOKS BE?
T. Liam: A book to entertain myself, that is, wow, wow. I mean, I wanna– I think I might go with the biggest book I’ve ever read, you know, or one that’s a thousand pages long, like War and Peace [by Leo Tolstoy] or something else, but… [A] part of me wants to say The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy [by Douglas Adams] because that’s the book I’ve read over and over and I always go back to because it was so funny. That’s very, very difficult. You know, but the book I think to represent humanity, I think I would take Lord of The Flies [William Golding]. Reason I think Lord of The Flies is because [of] the underline theme of that book is [that] if you strip humanity of all its comforts and possessions, we’re just savages in the end. That’s what they become in the book, and so I think, in a sense, that really represents humanity a lot. And a book for my own entertainment, …yeah, I’m gonna go with – you know what, I’m gonna stick with my favorite book. I know it’s a shallow answer. I’m gonna go with the [The] Three-Body Problem [by Liu Cixin]. Could I take the whole trilogy? [No, just one book.] Oh, well, [The] Three-Body Problem… Uh, no, no, one book? Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy.
T. Korn: Okay, this is going to be pretty weird, but for entertainment, I would pick Ready Player One [by Ernest Cline]. It’s because it’s like – it represents the pop culture of the time of when I grew up as a kid. So – I mean, other classics or other novels always entertain me too. But for this one, it’s – it’s not just entertaining me, but it reminds me of childhood memories, so maybe that is the best one to entertain me for the rest of my life. And for representing the rest of humanity one… I, it’s very hard to pick, but if – if I had to literally pick one and I would pick, the classic Chinese one, the three kingdoms. [Which one?] It’s the whole thing. It’s just one thick, very thick book, the three kingdoms one [Romance of The Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong or known as สามก๊ก /S̄ām ḱk/ in Thailand]. The reason that I pick that is because it shows almost every personality of humanities that ever showed in history. There are – there are some cultures and stuff. And the writer also shows every side of humans – good ones, bad ones, dark ones, and it’s also, you know, the base of – of many, you know, current literature, like A Song of Ice and Fire [book series by George R. R. Martin] or the other war-related stuff. So, not just because it’s the Chinese classic one, but it’s also because it represents many aspects of humans. So, if you ask me the best book to represent humanity at this moment, if I had to only pick one, it would be that one.
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Thank you to T. Liam and T. Korn for providing further insights into this topic as teachers in a creative field themselves. What they said I completely agree with.
In the end, we turn to art to define what’s left of our existence; in the sense that we discover centuries-old history through writings on eroded stone hedges and carved drawings in openings of caves. Although we speak different languages and grew up with different cultures, our hearts similarly beat for art.
CITATIONS.
BBC News. Franz Kafka: Manuscripts, Drawings and Personal Letters Go Online. 27 May 2021, www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-57267874.
Kirsch, Adam. “Kafka Wanted All His Work Destroyed After His Death. Or Did He?” Australian Financial Review, 6 Sept. 2018, www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/kafka-wanted-all-his-work-destroyed-after-his-death-or-did-he-20180906-h14zsd.
Robertson, Evan. “Beauty Will Save the World.” Obvious State, 26 Apr. 2020, obviousstate.com/blogs/journal/beauty-will-save-the-world?srsltid=AfmBOoqlIzfmY8H2mqRsiFnVnlsKtUXjoxk9K9QSvDTp7RMuGPrMokUJ.
Ruggeri, Amanda. Why ‘Worthless’ Humanities Degrees May Set You up for Life. 25 Feb. 2022, www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190401-why-worthless-humanities-degrees-may-set-you-up-for-life.
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