Read this really interesting article on why general culture isn't important.
For myself, I'm not sure if I have general culture in the first place, though there are a lot of things I'm interested in that would fall under general culture. (Well, I guess. The writer never defines what "general culture" is, and I've never heard the term before.) The writer talks about how someone talking to him about German poetry makes him want to scream. But I guess that leads me to the question of "What does he talk about?" There's never much of an answer, though he implies relationships are what most people want to talk about.
Reading this article, I found myself imagining going on a date with someone like this, and I was struck by how boring talking to someone like that is. If I wanted to talk to someone about relationships, I'd probably do so with my friends, where they already know me; I don't want to talk relationships with strangers and certainly not on a date.
I agree that learning practice skills are great and that some people are maybe emphasizing the wrong thing when they focus on learning things for the sake of other people instead of learning about something because they care, but the entire article strikes me the wrong frame for the problem. I don't know anyone who knows things just to know things and I would much rather talk to someone about what they like because then I'll actual know something about them. If someone isn't interesting, then I'd rather figure that early on, and then move on.
Of course, the entire point of that guy's website is how to manipulate people, but then I'm not interested in wasting my time on an endeavor like that either.
"I don't know anyone who knows things just to know things and I would much rather talk to someone about what they like because then I'll actual know something about them."
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Eliza. The word ,like, is the important one here. Art is about communication. We communicate with pictures, music poetry novels etc. They are very intense ways of doing it. This guy seems to think it is all sterile knowledge. German poetry or any poetry conveys feelings, emotions, ideas. These are important for us and help us grow and develop. He doesn't understand German poetry so it is useless to him.He doesn't want to make the effort. He's lazy.
"General culture," he has probably made that up.
He probably means all of history, art, music, religion, writing from every part of the world.
This bloke is what is called a Philistine!!!!!!