I really love how Starfleet Academy mandates the arts and humanities even though a Starfleet officer has little professional need for them.
Because their education isn’t about turning them into perfect worker bees, it’s about actually educating them, just with a focus on their chosen fields. All students still learn Latin and creative writing and histories of different planets and cultures and fine art and drama and photography and everything. Because Starfleet Academy gives them a complete education, and the arts and sciences aren’t as different as our current capitalist society makes them out to be.
And I love how it’s created this culture in Starfleet, especially among the humans, to keep consuming and making art and pursuing creative interests for no material gain other than the act of creation. And it’s framed as something that makes them well-rounded and interesting people instead of a waste of time because it’s not “productive” or whatever. Plus, it’s actively encouraged by everyone! Larping as their favourite book characters or historical figures or what have you in the holodeck is just a thing all these very scientific, mathematical minds love to do!
Star Trek really said “the arts and the sciences aren’t opposites, they harmonize with each other, and intelligent beings need both”
