tom abeles wrote:
>I think one of the issues here is not disciplinarity vs
>interdisciplinarity or the permutations. Rather, I believe that those in
>liberal studies, the humanities, have failed to make a case, even to
>themselves, for the importance of these disciplines other than providing a
>softening of the harsh exteriors of the strucutures built by the more
>technologically driven bodies of knowledge.
I would have to agree with Tom that the humanities are generally seen as a
waste of time by people who describe themselves as "practical" and
"realistic." Those studying engineering, science, medicine, and so on are
usually loathe to take electives in the humanities - because they do not
see the immediate value to them. For my part, I have to admit that the
technological side has certainly added to our material standard of living
and our lifespan.
So the challenge to the list seems to be, what is the value of the
humanities? I value them very highly, and consider them more important
than the tech side...but it is an intuitive thing and my thoughts are not
well formulated, so I could not explain it. If I had to make a start, I
would say that without the humanities there is no soul, no "humanity," and
that, in the long term, humanity needs the humanities far more than we
realize. However, to explain WHY is another matter....
Anyone else care to try?
Brian
briangordon@livetolearn.com
Live to Learn
www.livetolearn.com
--"Brian Gordon" <briangordon@livetolearn.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>