The video below is a humurous but poignant talk by Sir Ken Robinson on the need for the current education system to lay emphasis on creativity.
This got me thinking…why is that the current educational system (in any country) place a higher priority on mathematics and science, and a relatively lower emphasis on music, arts and sports?Now (maybe because I’m from the engineering side myself) I feel there is some justification as people generally find it tougher to understand initial concepts related to mathematics and science as compared to the arts. Hence a greater emphasis maybe justified.
However it is extent of the emphasis we place on such subjects, which is alarming. If I place in front of you two men of equal age (lets assume two 30 something males), one specializing in dance and the other one specializing in astrophysics. Which one would you consider more intelligent? Why?
Whichever answer you choose, you could be wrong. It may be that the other person had contributed much more to his field, than the person you chose to be more intelligent. Thus the true gauge of a person’s value to society is his contribution to it. And herein lays my definition of an ‘intelligent person’: A person who uses his talent for the good of society.
If Superman did not use his superpowers for the good of mankind, would you really call him an intelligent being? I wouldn’t. Talent is latent. Intelligence is applied. And the good of society can happen through technology, arts as well as other fields. Thus the arts should be given its due respect.
I don’t know why, but I feel that somehow most of us get the creativity sucked out of us by the time we are in college. It’s like someone saying ‘you can either be creative or analytical, but not both’. I disagree with this mutual exclusion. For our society to truly develop, we have to progress in all fields. Focusing on just one part will lead to lop sided development. Furthermore, I think that exposing engineering students to some arts classes might even give them inspiration for innovation. Just the same kind of progress in the field of arts could be made with arts students exposed to classes in the sciences.
I don’t think original thinkers are an endangered species right now, but they may be in the future. The only way for their conservation is to keep the environment balanced and for us to equally progress in all fields.
Thumbnail Attribution: aymanvanbregt
