From: wkl1@Ra.MsState.Edu (Wing-Keong Loke                                               the consummate chronic prevaricator)
Subject: Re: Engineering/Sciences bashing ( Re: Any Humanities Grads out there?)
Organization: Mississippi State University
	I didn't want to copy the previous posting on this title because 
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 19:56:00 GMT

	I like to respond to the comment that Literature contributes
only when people are satisfied.  I don't think that the Native Americans
or the Aborigines throughout the world who have been deposed because
they lack the scientific knowledge to counter foreign agression would
say science is really great.

	Is science really great?  The people in Central America love
things like poetry.  It's macho for grown men to recite poetry.  Their
pace of life is slow and relaxed.  But, in a world dominated by the
stranglehold of science and business, you get them rushing to work
at jobs which pay $25 a week so that they can live.  What about the
people in Nepal?  Science gave China the power to hold that nation
in subjugation.  Science has also given us vaccines, cars, and many
other really wonderful things, but I contend that these things are
wonderful because we have used them wisely.  Putting a satelite in
space is great, but until we make the HUMAN connections does the
technology begin to pay off.  Science is just like a dumb computer
without a brain.

	While science have had the good fortune to be widely put to
good use, have we listened to what the humanities disciplines have
to say?  Are you going to blame communism on the humanities?  How
about praising the humanities for democracy or literacy which we
need to communicate?  What about the law profession?  Ever think
we could do without lawyers be they ever so maligned?
	If you've never felt the power of Literature, perhaps you've
never had a prof give a marxist interpretation of John Donne's poems
or the rapacity of colonialism as Joseph Conrad writes about in his
book "Nostromo."  Doesn't history tell us to be more patient and be
less aggressive?  Haven't we let the lessons that the humanities
teach us because we can profit by following mindlessly science ?
Business practices today are plagued with ethical dilemnas because
people conduct their businesses as if people aren't involved at all.
Similarly, science is not a numbers and materials discipline.  We'd
very quickly get bogged down if there is no meshing between the
sciences and the humanities.  To focus too much on the good of
science is to turn people into automatons or, worse, servants of
the scientific machine/revolution.

	There realy isn't any good science and humanities.  Science is
not bad when people build nuclear reactors in the hope of freeing
us from our dependency on natural resources.  There are a lot of
nuclear wastes that can only be buried for thousands of years, but
that does not mean science is bad.  Mistakes will happen.  So, don't
go putting up a title like "Engineers are being bashed by the Humanities
majors."  You're making value judgements that are practically indefensible
when you say things like that.  It's just the same with the "good" and
"bad" argument.  Literature can keep your mind off your stomach when
there isn't enough food to go around.  Literature can tell you about
those heroes who have stuck with their principles, ideas, or hope 
through thick and thin and give you asense of belonging and keep
your spirits up.  Songs can banish loneliness away.  So before you
begin to say that the humanities do not contribute, look at others, 
not yourself or even those who are close to you.  There are billions
of people on this planet, and ask  yourself if it's reasonable to
make such sweeping judgements with the experience and knowledge you have.


	Be a little humble when you talk about touchy matters.  Isn't
it contradictory to talk about humanities majors bashing engineers when
you post a title accusing humanities majors of bashing engineers?  It's
like it's all right for me to POINT out their folly, but when they
speak up it BASHING us.

D
D
or the rapacity of colonialism as