“The funding of the humanities in colleges and universities cannot be justified by pointing to the fact that poems and philosophical arguments have changed lives and started movements.”
Why not? If not through the humanities, how else do we develop poets and philosophers? (Name of commenter/questioner not exposed.)
_From a blog-New York times "Think Again" by Stanley Fish
(Whew! Big and bigger words for a hayseed like me, but finally a comment that I can shed light on.) You don't. It is not up to an outsider to develop another's insides. The woods, though-are a good place to start, to become a philosopher, a poet. A tree tells me how to handle racism, social injustice, inequality- a true visionary, a tree. And how about the symphony there? And the growth, ring by ring-affected by humanity and nature's ruthless battle against it-tells me more than I ever cared to learn in a classroom. One more thing about the woods, which for my money-is the stuff we should really support...it is true poetry. The word of the woods, the root of every university and intelligent conversation-begins and ends with entering, being still, listening, being ever mindful(critical thinking?)of it all. Poets and philosophers, each of us-have only to develop ourselves of the natural, real world. Books are great, but critical thoughtful long awes of pause in a place where we all come from and all will return like compost, revealing truths that have no war of words against them-that my friends, is where the real education lies.
And one more thing, if I haven't worn out my welcome...Desiderata-Max Ehrmann-1920, cry every time I read the darn thing. Shaped me, made me want to grow beyond what had been stifled by teachers who thought well to teach me, but couldn't peer beyond their own educated noses-to see anything else. Open up your eyes, friends-look around. A little bit of woods will do us all-a world of good.
Hayseed Farmer, central Illinois
Un-educated university/college wise, different education, NO BETTER NO WORSE...Clearer now?!
(My comment on the funding of universities Humanities-which is good, but not best. These woods, our natural world we're eradicating, could care a chicken poop about-are the only places first and foremost that should be supported financially, physically, poetically. The woods are where I received my education, to a degree... I use to be ashamed about that-no degree, but-I think my own quirky personality would have been greatly stifled. So-hope I didn't step on any toes, hell-they probably won't even read my comment, beneath them I suppose. But- maybe they're all a little smarter than they let on.)(This thought pulled from the site mentioned, visit it before assuming the worst of me...geez! I found there, buried under a mountain of words-a root that we all stem from.)
I do not mean to offend
by what I do believe
but what kind of faith
to be found in conformity?
Let's find a shady spot
With a comfortable seat-
Come and sit beside me friend,
And we'll agree to disagree.
Hey, thanks for hanging in here...truewonder gettin' too big for her britches! (As my dad would aptly put it.) Look at a tree today, tell me what you see, or at the very least-keep it in mind, the story it told you.
Worlds of wonder to you, take care-
9 comments:
It has always been my experience that mediocrity attacks excellence. It is unfair to assume that a person in possession of a degree is an educated snob. Many people who posess degrees have worked hard to acheive success in a given field. They aren't handed out like prizes in a cracker jack box, they are earned. It is also unfair to assume that anyone with a degree has never hugged a tree or has no concept of what nature has to teach them. While not having a formal education or a degree is nothing to be ashamed of, neither is having one, it represents perserverance, strength of will, intelligence and a strong desire to be your best.
i would gracefully sidestep any argumentation to say that the wisdom offered by the woods is perhaps the finest there is. period. if especially the soul who enters those woods is open and willing to take in its infinite lessons. i would say, too, that to read a sentence, or a poem, that i'd never heard put quite that way, is to inhale another kind of infinite wisdom. i would say there is room for both. but the beauty of the woods, the poetry of the brook babbling, curving, the valedictory of the mama bird who's taught her little winged thing how to fly. those lessons are universal, are intimate, are forever. i'll take woods and book, side by side, together, entwined. i'll take any gentle learning however it comes. just so it keeps on coming. to hear true wonder preach on stars and sky and the lesson of the still-standing tree, that's a sermon i'll not ever lose from my mind's ear......
as a child of the prairie not bound by obstruced views i had born in me a thirst for knowledge. A quest to see what was on that horizon and so i proceeded with great physical and financial difficulty to obtain a B.S. in Animal Science I did not become less conscious of the world around me on the contrary it made me to ask more questions. So I pursue those limitless horizions and do somewhat take offense when people throw stones at a practical degree claiming that those who obtain them have their creativity stifled. In this life I have few regrets but for the confining town life and the calling of my prairie home I sometimes wish I had pursued a masters in Reproductive physiology and learned to unlock more of the secrets of nature. If I had would that have made me more stifled ? Maybe we need to look beyond those trees and see what all the world has to offer.
The poem there...it's title is "Agree to Disagree" I should have included the line-"Come and sit beside me friend, and we'll agree to disagree."
This post is not a personal attack-but a personal observation. I felt stifled, this has nothing to do with how you were raised or educated. 2 of the 3 that have posted are friends of mine-or so I assumed, this being the first time in all of this posting today that I made any such assumption. I'm glad that I got you thinking-but, why the need for such defense? Hmmm, maybe I need to read again, what I wrote-to read between the lines as you have. There are no invisible words there- air, just air. If I have to eat crow, I'll have it for dinner, I promise you. Reading, trying to see it with your eyes...
And I will be eating a hamburger tonight. Crow is not on the menu.
The plains farmer, thankfully, said his/her degree is in Animal Science. One of the more hands-on majors, too closely associated in my opinion with what threads run through True Calling's blogs to definitively separate the two disciplines. Both work with the animals, the plants, the earth, trying to keep harmony between, and best economic use of the resources at hand.
I have worked through most of the credit hours toward a bachelor's degree, only to find it would earn me the right to work more hours/week in that chosen field, and sell my soul to the Devil, for not much more financial gain. I am a farmer's daughter/granddaughter whose husband works the land now, after years in a thankless craftsman type profession.
The forest can teach much to those willing to quietly listen and learn. Your head and heart have to be open for the education. The others will just never quite "get it." They are the same ones who probably never "get it" when their children are trying to teach them valuable lessons as well. So much more the pity.
My opinion, worth just what it cost ya!
Ms. anonymous-
I'd sure like to pay for that opinion with gratitude, guess I'll have to do it here, secret like. Your observations are truly welcome here- bet you're a bean snapper?, and yield more common sense than I possess for sure. But then, as the saying goes-"Common sense ain't so common anymore." Hope it counts to be of a rarer sense some times...take care-
who are these people???? seems to me words are translated ...not speaking english
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