Comment on: Re: the Humanities

Bigthink — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:22:31 +0100

Thanks

I have always successfully led projects by being open to at least listen to other's viewpoints.

I believe that if people were 'really open and would listen' to what others are expressing, the world could really be a friendlier place.

This does not mean you should agree and best that you don't, but you could at least understand.

Now off my soapbox.

Comment on: Re: the Humanities

Bigthink — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:53:06 +0100

Your characterization of the humanities as a chance to get "diverse opinions from diverse view points" is insightful. Those of us who work in the humanities, particularly the "interpretive" side, have trouble formulating the purpose of our profession. Your statement works, though, at the most basic level. Humans exist alongside one another and it is a biological imperative that they exist in networks of interconnections with other humans. We are not given, however, an instinctive way to understand the world from each other's perspective. The humanities provide that. At the very least a creative act---an artwork, a novel, a play, a film, a song---can be seen as the effort of one human being to translate his or her perspective into a refined and compressed product that others can experience and gain access to that perspective. The interpretive disciplines, then, exist to map out the ways in which this refinement and compression occur and the many ways of drawing out that experience.

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Comment on: Re: the Humanities

Comment on: Re: the Humanities