What if the *norm* is a degree in the arts, and the *exception* is a degree in STEM?

**TL;DR:** The arts and humanities (not science or technology) are the highest paying fields in this nation. Since you can't really teach being a good artist/writer/musician, etc., the only real way to further your career is to break new ground, to be a trailblazer and a trendsetter. Those who do not are left to scrape by on lesser and lesser jobs. Society is more emotionally and culturally intelligent, but most people are jobless. <br><br>&#x20; <br><br>When I was in high school, I would hear some people talk about how 90% of English majors or Communications majors will end up working some meaningless job in a not-too-well-paying career. However, I would also hear people say that STEM majors were more highly and securely employed. <br><br>I wonder what would happen if this trend were flipped on its head. What if the norm was for people who were "rejected" by the STEM job market to go on to be English majors or Communications majors or whatever. What if those who did go on to get a STEM degree were the exception rather than the rule? What if the arts were the highest paying field? What if musicians and painters and writers had the highest paying jobs in the nation? I can imagine several side effects:<br><br>1. More people would pursue a degree in the arts; only the most exceptional would be able to pursue a degree in STEM. These STEM majors would be an elite minority.<br><br>2. Since the arts are more subjective, a degree in any field of the arts would be useless unless you were actually a talented artist. Thus, you would focus on learning how to make your own unique product, rather than relying on education. Unless you were an artist of exceptional talent, you would *not* be able to rely on having a steady job, and so you would either seek a career in the STEM industry, or you would live a jobless and dysfunctional life. Thus, most of the population would be in a lesser and lesser state of employment, as more and more talented artists come on the scene.<br><br>3. With most of the population doing what amounts to basically nothing, there would be more time for leisure, entertainment, and personal development. The 30% of society that did hold a job would have an extremely high quality of life (i.e. the 1% that have a job in the arts), while the 60% that are jobless would have a life centered around personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Now, I suppose it's possible that the 10% that have a STEM degree would also have a high quality of life, but that's not really relevant to this point.<br><br>4. On the one hand, society is more jobless than before. On the other hand, there will be a huge increase in the quality of entertainment, and a decrease in the quality of the economy. There would be more art produced, but it would be less personal to you. You will have more time for personal growth and development, but you will have less money to achieve it. However, you could also simply create a product of your own, and stand on the shoulders of giants that came before you. While they are exceptionally talented, you have the leisure time to be a genius yourself and produce something extraordinary.<br><br>5. Obviously, if so many people are jobless, there will be a large and substantial welfare system set in place. If most of the talented artists pay taxes and the largest corporations are the ones that distribute the entertainment, you can imagine that these corporations would get a large amount of public funding from the government in exchange for their purchase of art. The government would invest in large corporations that distributed the arts, which would be able to fund the welfare for the 60% of the population that are jobless. The economy would grow and shrink very rapidly, since there really is no guarantee that the demand for art will last. On the other hand, the constant pace of new development in the arts guarantees that society will always be on the move in *some* direction. However, without a large degree of STEM majors guiding the nation, these decisions are more based on gut feelings than on hard facts or studies.<br><br>This is the nation of Arborea.