In today's world, having a liberal arts education is crucial. This has been a necessity for centuries, but it's important to remember now – Why: Because in today's world, most students believe that getting this essential education is useless, depending on their major. For example, a dancer or fine arts student might think that he should not go further with liberal arts since his field of study does not appear to deal with liberal arts. However, they are wrong; the liberal arts are in everything. In David Foster Wallace's speech “This is Water” and Nicholas Kristof's article “Starving for Wisdom,” the value of a liberal arts education is addressed and explained through facts and real-life experiences. Although Wallace and Kristof both place this in different perspectives, the need for this education is clear; all students should devote time and effort to the liberal arts now so that they can receive the benefit of being more empathetic later in life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Kristof argues that having a liberal arts education is beneficial for the simple fact that you gain many interpersonal and technical skills from it. He writes that “the liberal arts [provide] students with communication and interpersonal skills that are valuable and genuinely rewarded in the workforce, especially when accompanied by technical skills” (Kristof par.7). With the massive boom in technology, having technical skills is crucial to getting a good job; these skills accompanied by soft or communication skills are what make a candidate the most hireable for any job. Something that both “Starving for Wisdom” and “This is Water” cover is the connection of the liberal arts with emotions; however, the two are in opposition to each other. Kristof writes that “literature cultivates a richer emotional intelligence,” which is beneficial to life around us and our dependence on our relationships with others (Kristof par.14). This statement is supported by Kristof by including research conducted by various scientific studies, all of which conclude that "literature seems to offer lessons about human nature that help us decode the world around us and be better friends" (Kristof para .15). In short, we can better understand others and be able to create stronger, healthier relationships with them through the liberal arts. Contrary to what Kristof claims, Wallace claims that “this is not a question of virtue,” but rather it is a question of “choosing to do the work of altering or freeing oneself in some way from . . . this lens of the self” (Wallace 3). Wallace is saying that you don't have to be a perfectly altruistic person as soon as you read a book or get a liberal arts education, but instead, once you finish that book or get that education, you should learn to see things in a different way. light and we think differently than our inherent self-centered mind. He claims that the liberal arts should open your eyes to adapt from self-centeredness to open-mindedness, for your benefit. According to Wallace, it is more important to gain this new perspective for yourself alone than to do it for others. Wallace knows that one way to get his audience to listen to what he's saying and actually process the information is to captivate them with a relatable experience. He tells a few short teaching stories throughout his speech, but the one that really stands out is when he talks about the dreaded routine of going to the grocery store. Wallace talks about how he is there inside himself..