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consentingadult, that’s interesting. In the States, it’s very different, perhaps because we have a different outlook toward the humanities. Generally, they aren’t as socially valued here; I think the most common attitude toward them is that they’re more or less useless, and offered for students who aren’t smart enough to do well in the sciences. Philosophy gets a large number of ILIs, history also gets a trickle of them, Gamma SFs will often study English/Literature, and law schools are filled with ambitious people of all types, but otherwise the humanities are dominated by Alphas and Deltas, if you discount the arts.
Your cultural capital theory is interesting, too. I don’t think it’s particularly respected here to have tried to become “distinct” by means of education — I’m not sure; I’ll try to think more about it. But I think that generally if someone were to take pride in their education they’d be mocked. “Education is meant as a means of getting a job, and what’s the big deal? Everyone nowadays has a college degree, and even if I don’t, you’re no smarter than me just because you have one — Joe Blow has a doctorate, and he’s an idiot!” is more or less the attitude. And it’s not a bad attitude for society to have; it keeps people from getting arrogant, and helps ensure that people who study the humanities (as they aren’t seen as helpful for getting a job) do so for more or less “pure” reasons, namely curiosity and genuine interest. But maybe it has to do with why Gammas often seem disinterested in them here.