Very interesting discussion. As a fellow arts student, I agree that the Arts is a rather silly discipline to go into. As opposed to engineers and other practical sciences, which actually produce life-changing products and concepts, we only study theories that undermine human rationality which, as arts students, we pride ourselves in having by our very entry into esteemed academia.

In short, we're shooting ourselves in the legs.

To add to the delusion, I would suggest that the real study of the arts would be to hoodwink and lamblast the rest of the world into believing whatever the dominant power wants the world to believe. For example, the non-interventionist guy is really funny, especially with the way you dissected him. An absolute position in global affairs is tricky, because there will be a thousand and one examples why an absolute position should be reversed.

We are all cogs in some propaganda machine.
bob | 23/03/08 - 1:52 pm | #

Actually there're silly avenues in engineering and the sciences as well. And there're practical applications of the social sciences (less so the arts).

As for undermining human rationality - as long as this helps you make better decisions et al., it's not necessarily a bad thing. The key is not to go "oh, so irrationality is good"; just because you can't live forever doesn't mean you should kill yourself, so similarly just because rationality is not perfect does not mean it's useless.

But yeah, the obsession with "white men are evil" and the like, as well as a preoccupation with intellectual conceits does devalue the arts.

Btw, the non-interventionist guy is from a science background.
Agagooga | Homepage | 23/03/08 - 2:36 pm | #

i wish i had a practical application.
bob | 23/03/08 - 3:23 pm | #

What do you study?

And practicality need not be the only criterion.
Agagooga | Homepage | 23/03/08 - 3:58 pm | #

literature. i win.
bob | 24/03/08 - 2:09 am | #

That one I have objections to for other reasons haha
Agagooga | Homepage | 26/03/08 - 12:28 pm | #