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Combine the Humanities with the Sciences This has become a cliché about Steve Jobs. Understandably so, because it's fundamental and worth repeating. But it mak
by gruseom 15y ago
Combine the Humanities with the Sciences
This has become a cliché about Steve Jobs. Understandably so, because it's fundamental and worth repeating. But it makes me wonder: who out there in the tech world actually takes it seriously? I think the answer is "almost no one". As far as I can see, pretty much everyone, including pretty much everyone on Hacker News, thinks something between "Humanities, haha" and "Yeah, yeah."
Whatever Jobs actually meant by this is so far from having any place in normal tech culture that we all think it's obvious and ignore it.
- phil 15y agoWhat would taking it seriously look like?
- gruseom 15y agoI imagine it would involve engagement with the humanities (arts and letters) on their own terms, finding things of value there, and bringing them into one's technical work. What I see in the tech world is ignorance of such things combined with the contempt that comes from ignorance. It isn't always obvious. For example, we take for granted that one should measure everything. But that is the antithesis of how the humanities work.
- phil 15y agoWell put. There's certainly a lot of that, and even worse it can often seem like a competitive advantage. But there is good work being done, like http://ourchoicethebook.com/ http://ourchoicethebook.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD8Zrruo6fE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD8Zrruo6fE and there will be more in the future.