There was a time, when they were not obsolete. Prior to the 1945 era and the influx of all the G I bill players....it was a small operation and limited participation.
You came to a university to learn how to analyze, debate, and ask questions. Look over the listings of classes in the 1890s...Latin was still required...debate was mandatory for two semesters...and you studied Greek philosophy.
Studying the humanities once allowed students to learn what it meant to be a sentient human being. A mature person who could think for himself. Some even had experiences with the sublime, or the arts.
The sciences give us the people who help us heal, travel, communicate. College educated Nimrods have assisted many of us in doing the things we often take for granted.
And for some, of course, college was a waste, a “four year loaf on the old man’s dough.”
People don’t even know what rhetoric is. They have no idea what a logical fallacy is. Philosophy is rarely required anywhere. It’s the study of thought. But its no longer in vogue. College has been dumbed down to the point where graduates should not be allowed to read a newspaper without an annalist.