Hey /lit/
Engineering and science faggot here. I have a question: is there true value to a formal humanities education rather than reading and discussing the arts on your own.
I read quite a lot, the Greeks, Roman poems and plays (in latin), philosophy, modern, and even some post modern. I also visit opening days of art shows, the symphony, and some plays.
However, whenever I get into an argument about something with humanities students they always freak out and say I don't understand the value of studying with a professor.
I assert that the professor is actually a negative, because they will influence students either actively or passively.
What do you all think?
>Engineering and science faggot here.
>I have a question: is there true value to a formal humanities education rather than reading and discussing the arts on your own.
Humanities here. If you have a question than why didn't you end that sentence with a question mark?
>>8027380
What's this pic? It's cool.
>>8027397
I was being a dick. But seriously, I would keep going on your own path.
>>8027380
reading difficult literature by yourself is like studying a math or physics textbook by yourself
it depends on how much you want to get out of your literature
I'm not a humanities major and I read for my enjoyment and I would be a fool to not admit that the people who are taking classes on the literature that I'm reading for fun are getting ten times more from their experience than I am.
>>8027397
Yeah, who made the picture?
>>8027412
I think it's actually old art, I saw it on another thread.
Try tineyeing it?
>>8027380
The professor is typically a positive. Because they're typically smarter than you, they can call you out on shit to the extent that it becomes a habit for you to question things in general. However, you're right. They do help craft your analytical and creative lens to a degree. However, because you encounter different professors who have different biases, an interesting thing happens: your analytical lens strengthens, yet your creative lens weakens. This is why college humanities majors are often analytical machines, but struggle to actually write anything of real value for the sake of creative endeavor.
So without professors to provoke, move, and inspire you, it's doubtful that you can be as analytical as somebody that's been collegiately trained. However, I'd bet that you would be far more creative with what you could learn from your analysis of stuff. Creativity, ironically, is an area where most Humanities majors suffer.
Shoutout to all the other bros who have watched their best prose occur through text messages.
>>8027467
Hmm maybe you are right. I am working toward winning some writing competitions. I feel like this will give me the street cred to not be mocked.
>>8027507
Yeah bro. You're money. Ive tutored college level English for eight years (kill me pls). The best essays often come from you guys. Why? You faggots study to make stuff that is designed to be perfectly applicable within very specific guidelines. Humanities majors study stuff that's already built in order to analyze the guidelines in general.
Critique your writing, improve your writing, worsen your writint, find trends of your flaws, find trends of your strengths. I can do these things with an ease that impresses people to watch me do it in real time. But if you ask me to write something for you, I'll struggle desperately. I can do it, and it will be good, but it's absolutely unimpressive -- and even shameful -- to watch. Even this post took several minutes more than I'm proud of.
>>8027560
And there was even a typo.
>>8027380
Good professors give you context and background (Othello for example - Cypress as a key strategic position in a costly war like Cuba in the Cuban missile crisis, or the threat of chiraveree or persecution if a societally disapproved relationship was made or maintained - people coming out of the woodwork to tar and feather you if you didn't keep your wife in line, for example.) Good discussions teach you something more about the text, especially when you are dealing with specialists, than reading on your own. Unfortunately, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers have drunk the cool-aid of multicultural cuckoldry, and no longer recognize objectively great things. So you would have learned more 20 years ago. I expect this generation will be even worse - degenerate sons and daughters bereft of any eugenic foresight.
>>8028454
You think the boomers and diversity promoters are to blame?
I went all the way through the humanities thing to the top. If you're reading well there is no advantage. The professors are at best just telling you what you can already find in academic journals that you can access at the library of your local university.
