Re Liberal Arts in the Data Age

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
> Date: June 26, 2017 at 2:08:24 PM EDT
> To: Dave Crocker <dcrocker () bbiw net>
> Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, ip <ip () listbox com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Liberal Arts in the Data Age
>
>
> Good point Dave. Moreover, I would argue that the liberal arts helps provide students the broader ability to 
> understand big-picture (ie "context") that whatever technical items/products/solutions they're working on fits into.  
>  IMO you need exposure to both to be effective over time in developing and sustaining one's long-term career as 
> opposed to simply performing a series of technical/vocational tasks to meet near-term workforce requirements.
>
> While I don't disagree that there are some liberal arts programs that likely will disappear and/or are not really 
> appropriate or can lead to many long-term careers in modern times .... but by the same token, one can have a 
> questionable degree in "fru fru studies" yet be a self-taught geek and do great things as an IT professional, having 
> been exposed to those broader "liberal arts" type things that can make a person more effective in their careers.
>
> That said:  I realise this could devolve quickly into another STEM-v-STEAM argument, so I'll just leave it at that.  
> :) 
>
>  -- rick
>
> > On Jun 26, 2017, at 12:44, Dave Crocker <dcrocker () bbiw net> wrote:
> >
> >
> > > Hartley believes that this STEM-only mindset is all wrong. The main problem is that it encourages students to 
> > > approach their education vocationally
> >
> >
> > STEM training teaches a kind of problem solving that is demonstrably excellent.  What the training does poorly is 
> > teach the limitations of that training, because it mostly works well only for some kinds of physical processes and 
> > mostly works incompetently for human processes. That's where other lines of education become important.
> >
> > And history.  STEM tends to be terrible at helping to one understand historical arcs, and that ignorance encourages 
> > repeating errors from the past.  (I tend to call the repetition a best-case scenario, since it's just as likely that 
> > the new effort will be creative and fail more spectacularly...)
> >
> > Tech efforts often need an implicit reference to Kevin Cosner's line from Bull Durham: "You gotta play this game 
> > with fear and arrogance." The arrogance provides the drive.  The fear motivates due diligence, caution, and 
> > pragmatism.  For any interesting, real-world effort, STEM training does quite well at imparting the arrogance but 
> > quite poorly at instilling the fear.  Other lines of education tend to instill the fear -- or to put it more 
> > policitly, the necessary practical perspective -- quite well.
> >
> > Except philosophy.  Philosophy seems to lead people so far into intellectual abstractions that they wind up being 
> > entirely decoupled from pragmatics...
> >
> >
> > d/
> > -- 
> > Dave Crocker
> > Brandenburg InternetWorking
> > bbiw.net



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