Ruminations on my English Major
As a liberal arts major, I hear a lot of jokes about how valuable my English degree is going to be when I graduate. (“I’m a liberal arts major. Do you want fries with that?” says one radio blurb.) In fact, when I tell people that I am an English major, the general response seems to be “what are you going to do with that?” The fact of the matter is that the liberal arts seem to be viewed as a great route to poverty. However, this past weekend, I read an article in the paper that got me thinking about the usefulness of the liberal arts in today’s world.
The article discussed how there was a tendency, particularly in public education, to focus on the sciences and mathematics to the exclusion of the liberal arts. I think that this is an accurate assessment, traceable to the “space race” in the late 50′s and early 60′s. During that time period, there was a massive emphasis on mathematics and the sciences in public education in order to create a new generation of researchers who would push the US past the Soviets, thus winning the space race and beating the Soviets out in a game of technological one-upmanship that would continue for several more decades. Needless to say, the generation who grew up during this time period invented the computer chip, the internet, and other devices that we have come to depend on.
I think, though, that the pendulum is starting to swing the other direction. Much of the work that used to be done by engineers and scientists is now done by supercomputers with greater speed and accuracy than any human could do. “Left brain” functions such as calculation and logic are being rendered increasingly unnecessary by today’s computing power, which leads me to my point.
In today’s business world, the real money is in creative, visionary leadership. Those who understand people and can creatively address their needs, giving those around them the same vision, are the big successes. In addition, more and more of business is interpersonal. The ability to relate to and work with people is key. Communications skills are no longer an option. These are things that no formula can explain and no equation can solve.
Within the liberal arts, on the other hand, we have thousands of years of humanity’s attempts to understand humanity through words, pictures, and music. As we soak in these centuries of collective wisdom, we discover people. We begin to understand people. And this understanding is worth a lot in today’s marketplace, to say nothing of the intrinsic personal value. The liberal arts also teach communications skills. The ability to convey thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly and accurately is a major focus of a liberal arts education. These skills are invaluable in the business world, for what good is even the most brilliant idea if nobody else can comprehend it?
In conclusion, I think it would be wise if educational institutions, public or otherwise would put more focus on the liberal arts when planning the core curriculum. I think this would present a step in the right direction to changing prevailing attitudes, and provide us with the next generation of business leaders and visionaries. In addition, I personally would appreciate a return of culture and the arts to our mainstream society.
August 15th, 2005 at 12:32 am
Undoubtedly, the author of said newspaper article was also a liberal arts major. If the adage is true he (or dare I say, she) was doing his best to earn his humble paycheck. Unfortunately his biases are glaring. Likely he was recently informed that by the end of the year his job would be in jeopardy due to the exponentionally decreasing readership of the paper he represents. It seems that the only people that read the opinion section are english majors who are taking advantage of their respective schools, or parents, subscription to the paper and because of their educational choices will never really be able to afford a subscription after they graduate. Personally I believe that they realize they are a bit, shall we say, cheap. Long live the analytical mind, down with the USSR, and may you hippie liberal artists oneday see the light.
August 15th, 2005 at 7:59 pm
I, on the other hand, agree with the aforementioned author. One thing that is being slowly replaced in our mainstream, mass-producing society is, well… us. With the increase in technology, super computers, and mass producing equipment we are rendering ourselves, slowly but surely, useless. I believe that the day will arrive that the monotonous, tedious, sweat-shop jobs will no longer exist. Manual labor will be minimal. Machines will take over these less preferenced jobs. The ‘blue collar worker’ will not be in such a demand. The escape from this threat, I believe, will be creativity. The imagination is something the human possesses that a machine does not. Machines do not act, they do not create, they do not perform unless otherwise programmed to do so by their creator. The answer to success in the future lies within the creative base of the liberal arts… the imaginers, not the thinkers. Imagination is power.
August 15th, 2005 at 9:45 pm
I concede. The human race is faced with bleak prospectives. Certainly we are doomed to a future ruled by robots and A.I. They say that the only thing evil needs to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing. I say we throw off the shackles of technology in an attempt to save the world… for our childrens sake. Let us ban together by riding our lives of cell phones, computers and televisions. Perhaps we could stop showering and grow our hear long into dreadlocks. Let us move to California and become attracted in the same sex. Maybe we could all join green peace and petition to save the whales. I can already hear the sweet melody of Woodstock 2006! Our slogan will be “Make love, not robots!” Is any one with me? Stand up and be counted!
August 15th, 2005 at 11:09 pm
You go… I’ll stay here and hold down the fort in normalville. Being imaginative, and being unrealistically liberal are two very different things… though, I think I would drop by Woodstock 2006, that sounds like it could be exciting. So I guess you’re right. No need for creativity in this exciting world. Who needs live entertainment and original creativity when we can stare our computer screens at work, our TV screens at home and our cell phone screens anywhere else? Liberal arts are pointless. We need no balance… technology balances itself… Have fun in your technological cubical for the next 40 years Dilbert. I’ll let you know how Woodstock goes.