When I was a kid, I hated humanities with a passion. I used to get into arguments with all the artsy types, the philosophy geeks, the Woody Allen wannabes - all the Tolstoy-quoting, jazz-listening, cardigan-wearing, coffee-drinking smug bastards in my school*. But it wasn't just about a bunch of snobby kids at school. We live in a culture where not enjoying Shakespeare makes you a social pariah but "I hate math too" is a cherished icebreaker, where quoting scientific data gets you "lies, damned lies and statistics" but quoting Latin wins the discussion, where suddenly everyone with a tv is a psychologist but it's ok to not know the freaking conservation of energy. And don't even get me started on science vs humanities depictions in Hollywood. These things used to bother me to no end. But a couple of years have passed and I thought I have forgotten my juvenile pet peeve. Maybe I have matured or maybe the society did (I think you can see, where this is going). Turns out - neither. I simply wasn't getting enough exposure to the irritant**. All it took was for me to add some old friends on facebook, start listening to radio and it all came back like a Vietnam flashback in a Chuck Norris movie.
In the next couple of entries I'm going to rant about humanities and their acolytes whom I shall - for lack of a better word - call 'humanists'***. The term 'humanities graduates' might be more familiar but it is too long and it would suggest that these people are somehow less obnoxious prior to graduation (they're not).
Disclaimer
Some of you are inevitably going to get offended because
'I'm a/an humanist/artist and I'm not like that at all'. I know. I know, that not all of you are like that. Probably not even majority of you. The problem is - the ones that
are like that - they are the loudest, they get the most mainstream attention and they give you all a bad name.
*yeah, I know there's a name for all that, but this was a time when hipster wasn't a thing yet, not where I live. Lacking the clinical description of the condition we had to learn to recognize and despise them on a case by case basis.
**for the same reasons, I wasn't getting enough exposure to sunlight - Lineage II, anime and physics
***clash of notation with the British atheist movement entirely unintended
"We live in a culture where not enjoying Shakespeare makes you a social pariah but "I hate math too" is a cherished icebreaker, where quoting scientific data gets you "lies, damned lies and statistics" but quoting Latin wins the discussion, where suddenly everyone with a tv is a psychologist but it's ok to not know the freaking conservation of energy."
ReplyDeleteIt sounds probable but still a bit odd to me. Have you considered the option you are kind of attracting them somehow? Or maybe they are so annoying that you remember them the best? Personally, I can't think of many such people among my old and new friends... Of course, there is always a bunch of people naming themselves 'humanists' only because they hate maths, but then, I really can't recall the situation when someone quoted Latin in an argument (and if I had heard it, I would definitely remember it). Well, or maybe it's just me who subconsciously avoids such guys.
Though, what I think you are perfectly right in and what makes me worried as well is that we not only live in the culture that makes people group after those math-hatred coming outs; it is in general declaration of ignorance what makes people feel comfortable with each other. And this is kind of scary, isn't it?
PS. Or well, maybe I just look at it from a bit too general level. Take sports; I can perfectly think of groups within my friends, where the declaration "I hate sports" or even "I don't really enjoy them" can make you either the worst enemy or the most welcomed new member.
Yeah, I know my memory is all kinds of biased. Plus I'm exaggerating a little on purpose. Still, I don't think I making this 'humanist' thing up completely - and this is as categorical as I'm going to get.
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