> Students can gain such things just fine in a STEM field

As long as you do not claim that "living only on proteins or stones and without carbs or leaves would be a good idea".

Those with a liberal arts education do indeed look down on STEM educations as merely a trade.

What they miss is the joy of understanding how the world works. I remember many "aha!" moments like somebody turning on the lights in a dark cathedral.

Like when I found out how jet engines really worked, not the handwavy cartoons one usually sees. Or when suddenly all the pieces fit together and I knew how a computer worked. Or when Prof Gomez turned math from black+white to color when he taught me calculus.