“It is important that we teach empirical science and that we teach it well. But empirical science is not an education unto itself that can serve all the needs of society or that can serve as the sum of one's education. The physical sciences are only one branch of education, and we dare not isolate them from the humanities or elevate as self-contained”—The Lost World of Genesis One, pages 160-161
<idle musing>
This is most emphatically not what we see in education today! There is a strong emphasis on the physical sciences at the expense of the humanities. Every time I read C.S. Lewis' Abolition of Man, I am amazed at his prophetic vision of society.
We need to rediscover the humanities. We need to teach people that there is more than the physical; that materialism isn't the only philosophical system. Humanity was made for a higher calling than to become a consumer!
</idle musing>
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Ditto and amen!
To some degree, I suspect this bias is less ideological than pragmatic: a degree in the physical sciences is more marketable, and more profitable, than a career in the humanities. And I suspect that also derives more from crass pragmatism—new drugs and new technologies bring in more money than literary criticism.
Post a Comment