To me,
non-fiction >> fiction
…but recently I’ve grown sick of New Content™ about tech, business, & self-help
I’ve gotten obsessed with “old & boring non-fiction”: history, philosophy, & especially “The Classics [of Western Thought]". Don't worry, I'm just as fascinated with regions & narratives that aren't north of the Mediterranean Sea.
In other words,
I’m a STEM kid who finally “got” Liberal Arts
Where were these interests growing up?
I now embrace The Liberal Arts™ as both less AND more important than "The Technical Arts" (e.g. software, UX design, digital marketing, etc). The Technical Arts are more urgent: young adults can build independence when they engage with the industries & crafts of their time. There's only one problem: crafts evolve faster every generation (especially since the Industrial Revolution).
Why are these two arts
even discussed in the same sentence?
even discussed in the same institutions?
Sure, The Technical Arts offer an antidote to dependency, but what about engaging in the awe-inspiring world around us, with people nothing like us? One day—like it or not—we all must graduate to the stage of The Liberal Arts, if we want to contribute to these timeless & borderless dialogues. You don't have to. You don't even have to contribute productively. But if you want to be heard at the innovative, future-frothing fringes of industry, you don't have a choice.
I was wrong
I was wrong all along
so consider this my love song:
Liberal Arts degrees are often wasted on the young & inexperienced who have nothing at stake. The Liberal Arts don't belong baked behind college degrees: they are the products powering the heights of humanity's collective computation. The Liberal Arts are but an ever-evolving conversation that belies the burden of adulthood.
You're in this for life, literally
There’s no escape
There’s no graduation
So join the conversation
Adults get pop quizzes too
just with graver consequences
This is your only second chance
Skip the reading at your own risk
...you ARE reading this time, right?