A few months ago in this space I lamented that I had allowed the governor of Utah, as he promoted his hope that more of us would get degrees in science and technology, to intimidate me into going along with his retelling of an old joke about how liberal arts majors can’t get good jobs.
What I should have said, of course, was, “Let me make you one with everything.”
But even if I had had the presence of mind to use the alternate punch line, it can be difficult to quantify an argument that a classical education serves society as well or better than studying the STEM subjects.