So called "soft" skills will always have value, even on a grand scale, because life is not a technical problem. You can devise technical solutions to saving th

So called "soft" skills will always have value, even on a grand scale, because life is not a technical problem. You can devise technical solutions to saving the environment—the technical solutions themselves won't secure the permissions you need for their deployment, nor convince the parties involved. You can devise a technical solution to ending world hunger-the technical solution alone won't sufficiently navigate or alter prevailing power structures to ensure it is implemented, nor get you funding. etc. etc. Technology is fantastic but it's effectively the last step in solving an open problem. Philosophical debates aside, humans have "wills", predilections, beliefs, and a whole host of desires driving their decisions to shape the world in particular ways. Technology gives us the way forward, but it doesn't help us decide what we should value (e.g. safety over efficiency) that remains a human problem. In fact, the so called "soft" skills are often what's required to solve the hard parts of a given issue—contemplating its potential impacts on varying social groups, being able to consider other perspectives, reflecting on one's own motivations for pursuing a particular problem and particular solution, collaborating with others--these are all fundamental activities that have applications outside the realm of technology. Unfortunately these skills are also quite rare.