by Capt » Sat Feb 07, 2015 4:53 am
Thanks for the article! I really enjoy reading well thought out opinions that make reflect on my held beliefs. It's funny, I find myself disagreeing with the overall premise but agreeing with parts and pieces. What I felt was that this person sees that our education system isn't working, and suggests how to fix it using what he has experience with, the humanities. Just like an engineer will think that more mathematics and sciences will solve our problems, and a farmer will think more hard work from the students will solve everything. And they're all correct! No single fix will be a panacea. Which is why I have a hard time agreeing with his white and black science vs. humanities outlook. Many of our most respected artists and philosophers (especially during renaissance periods) respected both ideas. All had to earn a living by buying into society somehow, unless they came from a very rich family, which many did. Hell, even Pliny the Elder was a lawyer and military commander.
I can certainly see his frustration at the continued erosion of the arts and humanities. It's terrible watching art and theater programs being dropped from high schools. Bringing out creativity and encouraging students to observe and analyze their world is very important. It gives perspective to the world being explored by the sciences. Knowing that something can just be without being understood or perfected and being okay with that is a very powerful realization. It's something that can't broken down logically. Having an opportunity to view the world differently shouldn't be robbed of our students.
The best reason I can think of why math and sciences are being so heavily emphasized right now is because they are really good paths to having a nice comfortable life. With the economy doing back-flips and the albatross of student loans that'll weigh you down for years to come, I can't blame someone to go for the sure thing. Also, math and sciences have been very kind to our country, it makes sense that we'd encourage people to follow that path. The author is vastly ignorant if he thinks that sciences do not encourage creativity. I haven't found anything that can inspire wonder or the thirst for exploration than from discovering something new. Creativity doesn't just come from flowery language or through oil paints, and discovering how the world works doesn't have to be solved with an equation.
Though what do I know? I'm just one those unquestioning followers that chose sciences over the humanities. Maybe this is just me seeing how the world could be fixed based on my experiences.