We live in a world increasingly dominated by science. And that\u2019s fine. I became a science writer because I think science is the most exciting, dynamic,\u00a0consequential<\/em>part of human culture, and I wanted to be a part of that. Also, I have two college-age kids, and I\u2019d be thrilled if they pursued careers in science, engineering or medicine. I certainly want them to learn as much science and math as they can, because those skills can help you get a great job.<\/p>\n
But it is precisely\u00a0because<\/em>\u00a0science is so powerful that we need the humanities now more than ever. In your science, mathematics and engineering classes, you\u2019re given facts, answers, knowledge, truth. Your professors say, \u201cThis is how things are.\u201d They give you certainty. The humanities, at least the way I teach them, give you uncertainty, doubt and skepticism.<\/p>\n
The humanities are subversive. They undermine the claims of all authorities, whether political, religious or scientific. This skepticism is especially important when it comes to claims about humanity, about what we are, where we came from, and even what we can be and\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0be. Science has replaced religion as our main source of answers to these questions. Science has told us a lot about ourselves, and we\u2019re learning more every day.<\/p>\n
But the humanities remind us that we have an enormous capacity for deluding ourselves. They also tell us that every single human is unique, different than every other human, and each of us keeps changing in unpredictable ways. The societies we live in also keep changing\u2013in part because of science and technology! So in certain important ways, humans resist the kind of explanations that science gives us.<\/p>\n
The humanities are more about questions than answers, and we\u2019re going to wrestle with some ridiculously big questions in this class. Like, What is truth anyway? How do we know something is true? Or rather, why do we believe certain things are true and other things aren\u2019t? Also, how do we decide whether something is wrong or right to do, for us personally or for society as a whole?<\/p>\n
Also, what is the meaning of life? What is the\u00a0point<\/em>\u00a0of life? Should happiness be our goal? Well, what the hell is happiness? And should happiness be an end in itself or just a side effect of some other more important goal? Like gaining knowledge, or reducing suffering?<\/p>\n
Each of you has to find your own answer to these questions. Socrates, one of the philosophers we\u2019re going to read, said wisdom means knowing how little you know. Socrates was a pompous ass, but there is wisdom in what he says about wisdom.<\/p>\n
If I do my job, by the end of this course you\u2019ll question all authorities, including me. You\u2019ll question what you\u2019ve been told about the nature of reality, about the purpose of life, about what it mean to be a good person. Because that, for me, is the point of the humanities: they keep us from being trapped by our own desire for certainty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is the answer given by John Horgan in\u00a0Scientific American to science and engineering students skeptical of their relevance to them: We live in a world increasingly dominated by science. And that\u2019s fine. I became a science writer because I think science is the most exciting, dynamic,\u00a0consequentialpart of human culture, and I wanted to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,85],"tags":[2970,4859,6529,6532,10886,11991],"class_list":["post-15335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-science","tag-education","tag-humanities","tag-liberal-arts","tag-liberal-education","tag-science","tag-study"],"yoast_head":"\n
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