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An education trying to create a rational democracy would focus on liberal arts mixed in some ratio with an engineering temper. Focusing only on engineering and

An education trying to create a rational democracy would focus on liberal arts mixed in some ratio with an engineering temper. Focusing only on engineering and science will cost society art and creativity. I live in India and while we have a robust movie industry, we (I can speak only for the little middle class I'm exposed to) don't enjoy art. E.g., none of my high school friends became dancers. We have exactly one alumnus of my high school who is reknowned nationally as a dancer. Yes, India is very science and engineering focused.

david38 9y ago
What does art have to do with democracy? That's pure hubris. Most engineers I know are far more widely read and know more about art and culture than most liberal arts people I know.
- saimiam 9y ago
  Knowing about is not creating. Speaking of hubris, the ultimate hubris would be to presume to know art just because I have read up on it. Art has everything to do with democracy. An artist imagines and renders a world created solely between their ears. Such worlds show us what could be. Take, for example, any "artist rendering" of space - as a child, seeing those beautiful impressed upon me a sense of wonder far more than any theory of Newtonian motion studied in high school did. Presenting and discussing such new worlds IS democracy. And in case you think I'm referring solely to sexy sci-fi drawings, an written essay lambasting secularism in favor of religious dogma is also art. Engineers are the implementers of the world, the workhorses. I say this as an engineer. We need artists and imagineers whose job is to let their mind roam free. A country which loves engineers is a country which is always catching up.
  - dozzie 9y ago
    Artists did not imagine vaccines or modern health care. (Neither did engineers, though.) Artists did not imagine engines nor engine propelled vehicles. Artists did not imagine communication networks before they were already in place. Artists did not imagine power relay (natural gas and later electricity and heat). We need people who understand how the world works and have intuition about what can be achieved and we need their minds roam free. There are very, very little novel things that aren't merely gadgets that were first imagined by artists and taken from there and implemented by engineers.

david38 9y ago

What does art have to do with democracy? That's pure hubris. Most engineers I know are far more widely read and know more about art and culture than most liberal arts people I know.

saimiam 9y ago
Knowing about is not creating. Speaking of hubris, the ultimate hubris would be to presume to know art just because I have read up on it. Art has everything to do with democracy. An artist imagines and renders a world created solely between their ears. Such worlds show us what could be. Take, for example, any "artist rendering" of space - as a child, seeing those beautiful impressed upon me a sense of wonder far more than any theory of Newtonian motion studied in high school did. Presenting and discussing such new worlds IS democracy. And in case you think I'm referring solely to sexy sci-fi drawings, an written essay lambasting secularism in favor of religious dogma is also art. Engineers are the implementers of the world, the workhorses. I say this as an engineer. We need artists and imagineers whose job is to let their mind roam free. A country which loves engineers is a country which is always catching up.
- dozzie 9y ago
  Artists did not imagine vaccines or modern health care. (Neither did engineers, though.) Artists did not imagine engines nor engine propelled vehicles. Artists did not imagine communication networks before they were already in place. Artists did not imagine power relay (natural gas and later electricity and heat). We need people who understand how the world works and have intuition about what can be achieved and we need their minds roam free. There are very, very little novel things that aren't merely gadgets that were first imagined by artists and taken from there and implemented by engineers.