Philosophy and the humanities are underrated in education.

Thanks, Roy.Trends in schooling have made the purpose and focus of education to perform well on standardized tests, rather than foster and maximize a student's unique learning potential. Instead of teaching pupils how to reason, problem solve and be creative, teachers are now crafting curriculum based solely with the intent of increasing performance on mandated exams. This produces an unhealthy focus on excessive repetition of simple, isolated skills ("drill and kill"), and limits the teacher's ability to focus on a holistic understanding of the overall lesson [1].Rather than push students toward increasingly narrow areas of study, a more cross-disciplinary education that dynamically combines various genres of subject matter would be more prudent to the education process. Specifically, acknowledging the benefits of an increased awareness in the fields of philosophy and the humanities would be favorable. These areas of study are currently underrated, but play a critical role in addressing the great problems of our day.The humanities include history, philosophy, religion, the arts, anthropology, communication, cultural studies, law and linguistics among other fields. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, language, science, etc. An interesting dynamic between these two categories is that philosophy teaches logistical, systematic approaches to problem solving through crafting rational arguments, while the humanities tend to focus on developing a perspective based on people's subjective human experiences. Both are paramount to the learning and educational process of figuring out this thing we call life.I don't know of any pre-collegiate public schools that mandate introductory courses or lessons in philosophy. Similarly, those that are mandated in college like many intro level humanities courses are usually dismissed as "fluff" classes that are nothing but a waste of time. Indeed, it is sometimes counterproductive and problematic to force students who intend to use college solely as a preparatory gateway to their future professions to learn about things they've been conditioned to believe are "useless" to them. There is an inherent resentment in that. However the fact that people are usually oblivious to or disregard the importance of these subject matters indicates a culturally ingrained ignorance on just how crucial these subject matters are.As thinking human beings, we should be questioning what kind of world we live in, what kind of world we should live in, and what kind of things we can do to reconcile the two. Instead of philosophizing on these fundamental aspects of human existence, and capitalizing on our fortunate capacity to be rational and self-aware, we are increasingly veering away from this frame of mind and instead concentrate on narrowing our expertise to specialized industries. As one moves up the ladder, values other than technical competence are viewed with increasing suspicion. "Why would you major in Philosophy...? How could you choose anything besides Engineering...?" In most cases, acquisition of wealth (work) is the primary motivator for encouraging people to take on specialized roles in industries we find useful to our civil society. While that is indeed important, educational institutions ought to be reinforcing the notion that a deeper understanding of the humanities and philosophy-- the process of not only coming to logical conclusions, but challenging your imagination to find reasonable and improved potential solutions-- is paramount to our fundamental experience as human beings. In fact, creativity and imagination are responsible for the ideas that fuel industries that make technology valuable in the first place.College students are forced to specialize in one subject and continually narrow their focus, learning more and more about less and less despite the reality of interconnectedness between just about every subject. Exploring links between various fields instead of adapting a systematic centralization of limited skills and data helps us expand our perspective, and thus knowledge. For example, I am horrible at math and in HS could not for the life of me grasp the concept of Cartesian planes. It wasn't until I was in college and learned about the philosopher Descartes, and got an in depth explanation as to how he came to his conclusions - rather than merely be expected to replicate a formula, which at the time was nothing but random numbers and letters to me - that I was able to understand the relevance and magnitude of his findings. It put math in a whole new light. Everyone learns differently, and that should be explored.The world today faces a plethora of problems and challenges. Resourcefulness and imagination are key to problem solving. Developing an understanding of history through research in language, the arts (expression), religion, etc. helps us decipher the evolution of culture and humanity in general. These are not frivolous values, and educational environments in which to foster and develop these ideals is beneficial. DDO itself provides value in terms of catering to an intellectual community in which we challenge ideas about all aspects of the humanities, including politics, society, philosophy, economics and more. Imagine if our schooling experience was more like this (sans the trolls...). Almost every debate comes down to values. How can society determine its values without an exploration of the humanities? Given all of the problems we face, we are challenged to find solutions that will make a significant and sustainable difference. When it comes to public policy, we need to have a foundation of concepts such as truth, justice, equity, etc. in order to have a firm understanding of the implications of government (power and control over the people). Decreasing an emphasis in the humanities and philosophy is detrimental to a civil society. Artists are important when strategies of action are in the process of being designed. They reflect both personal and shared cultural experience, as well as invoke passionate engagement and reflection. They also generate interest and provide an outlet of various benefits. For example, slave hymns were not only spiritual songs of endurance and hope, but used as tools to communicate secret messages in the Underground Railroad. Similarly, Art History class details how art was used as important tools throughout history. Learning history is important, because it allows us to observe the actual as well as the intended consequences of ideas. The ability to analyze and formulate ideas (outside of solely technical) is critical to society. Social activists, business leaders, lawyers, politicians-- they are all active, ongoing participants in advancement of the public good, and all of them rely on a firm grasp of the humanities. Liz Coleman lectured, "Enhancing the public good becomes a primary objective. The accomplishment of civic virtue is tied to the uses of intellect and imagination at their most challenging. Our ways of approaching agency and authority turn inside out to reflect the reality that no one has the answers to the challenges facing citizens in this century, but everyone has the responsibility for trying and participating in finding them." Political correctness and an institutionalized desire to stifle radical thinking (Damn the Man) has made it difficult to have in-depth conversations on certain matters at educational institutions. Fundamentalists have no problem using indoctrination via education systems to further their values: the absolutes of a theocracy. In our society that allegedly values democracy, we are silent. An education in the politics of principle and not partisanship ought to be explored via fostering philosophy and the humanities.[1] http://documents.latimes.com...