With the rising cost of education, it seems excessive to invest in a degree which won’t leave you with a professional job title. Knowledge for the sake knowledge, however, is an important pursuit in itself. As Faith Sands explains, there is more to an Arts degree than meets the eye.

Arts degrees I.T. graduates look down their noses at them; tradesmen shrug their shoulders in confusion. They’re full of words big enough to excite an Oxford Professor, but not much substance. Except, of course, that little thing called knowledge.

It’s easy to pick an arts student. You’ll find them sitting in the bar, a beer in one hand, Derrida’s Of Grammatology in the other. When I explain to people that I’m doing a Master of Arts, I wait for the look. If you’ve done an MA, you’ll know what I’m talking about: it’s a mixture of intrigue and disbelief. You can see their brain ticking over as they go through the process. “Okay,” they think, “a Bachelor of Arts. Fair enough if you don’t have the marks for anything else. But a Master of Arts? Why would you?”

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After the look comes the question. If I had a dollar for every time I’d been asked “But what are you going to do with it?” I could have paid for my degree upfront. God forbid I should answer “I don’t know”, or worse yet, “nothing”. So even though I can think of nothing I’d like to do less, “teach” has become my standard answer. It sounds sensible, so seems to allay people’s fears (at least the fears of those who don’t have children).

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge – it’s an indulgent idea, especially considering the rising cost of education and our collective lack of time. The government seems to make it less affordable every year, especially for those without a trust fund.

But for a society that likes to look down on the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, we all seem to be hungry for it. How else could Michael Moore become a global phenomenon? It’s certainly not because of his fashion sense.

It took me seven years to finish my “Bachelor of Attendance”. Obviously I didn’t attend very much. It has only taken two to get my Masters, so some time over those seven years I learned to get out of bed, gather up some stationery and make it to a lecture theater. I’ve even gone from a 3.5 grade point average to a 4.0, so maybe my essay writing has also improved. Essentially, an essay is an argument. I can argue my way out of a paper bag. It may take seven years, but I can do it.

I have learned, too, to criticize, and to communicate my ideas logically. These skills are implicit to all the roles within society – from housewife to president. Critical thinking and effective communication allow for negotiation. Without it, we would accept everything as fact. Aside from the fact this would be boring, it would also mean social stagnation. You could say goodbye to Michael Moore and Hello to George Bush for another four years.

Now is that the kind of world we really want?