Computers and smart phones have become essential in our lives, while the humanities have recently been associated with something that does not seem to get along with the revolutionary world of cutting-edge technology. Under the influence of the practical education that is supposed to be suitable for good job markets, the society is totally underestimating the values of the humanities, while promoting such concepts as application and practicality to a great extent. Rooted in a mechanized world where the humanities have been highly repressed by pragmatic/practical grounds, fast-growing technology has oppressed the irrational side of human nature by engaging too much in the ethics of reason and rationality. Founded on the principles of high speed and comfort, modern technology has encroached on the creative nature of humans and invalidated the capacity of our critical thinking skills. It seems that the aggressive nature in today’s high-tech society is discrediting the world of creativity and imagination under the name of pragmatism as if to say, “Reading classics and writing poems have nothing to do with a wealthy life.”
  One important feature of this kind of practical tendency is a lack of developed conversation with others. Locked up in the highly personalized world of cyberspace, the internet, and smart phones, people are turning away from the study of the humanities and are now losing interest in interacting with others. This kind of cybernetic culture foretells the future of our next generation, the post-postmodern era of dehumanization. Supported by the power of fancy digital devices, the discourse of indifference will become the strongest force in the lives of our descendents. Intensified individualism, along with disinterest and dispassion, will spring forth from the mechanized and systematic values that have occupied our consciousness for a considerable amount of time. The offspring of computers and other smart devices may become the parents of more sophisticated technology, which will make people become more estranged from each other.
  Unfortunately, an obsession with practicality (or practical disciplines) may cause tragedies in the 21st century by producing more empty chairs in humanities classrooms. It is time to replenish the values of the humanities that have been incapacitated by the practical movement and to revitalize the suppressed power (creativity and imagination) in the cold space of high-tech machinery. While the rational force of cutting-edge technology constantly criticizes the unpractical aspect of the humanities, we should continue to develop critical thinking skills through reading and writing in the humanities field, and explore the qualities of creativity and imagination that originate from our primitive nature.