William > There are many good reasons to learn techniques or even skills that one does not ordinarily rely on. That is so abundantly obvious that it would be silly to list even a few. Some of them fit under the topic of "appreciation" which is a form of empathy or sympathy, often considered basic to aesthetic experience. In the former and better days of our civilization, one would seek a "liberal education", prior to specialization, for the benefits of having some access to human history, thought and technologies.
The classical view that things are good in themselves--and thus to study and learn about them is also in itself a good thing--counters Miller's kind of utilitarianism by asserting the idea that things can be qualified without regard for their use by humans. Rather than teaching--and learning--subjects because they are explicit forerunners of other useful knowledge, we should pursue knowledge because it is a good and--again, from the classical viewpoint--the end or perfection of intelligence. When I lived in Durham, NC, I often drove home on a busy 4-lane thoroughfare. At one intersection where I often got stopped by a red light, there was a fifth street that intersected at an angle about 75 feet up the road. It was a narrow 2-lane street, but I began to notice that a lot of cars turned off onto it. One day as I waited for the light, I read the name: "Duke Homestead Road." As it happened, I usually drove up the main road about a mile, then turned right to cross about a mile to another big road. About a month or two later as I was driving across this connecting road, I noticed a car that I had seen before turn off onto that diagonal road. Ah, so this is where Duke Homestead Road came out! Several days later, when I was again driving home, I decided to turn off onto Duke Homestead Road just to see what it looked like (*since I knew where it came out*). This anecdote illustrates how we can come across small bits of discrete knowledge and then fit that knowledge into a scheme of understanding without regard for the utility of the knowledge. I wasn't looking for a shortcut, nor was I searching for the Duke Homestead (an actual place on the road). I had no utilitarian interest in that road. I just became aware of it and then of how that datum fit in with another scheme of knowledge I already had formed. It added to my knowledge, it satisfied a form of striving (the intellect is moved to know things), and that fulfillment gave me the sense of a small act of completion. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Michael Brady [email protected] http://considerthepreposition.blogspot.com/ http://thinkinglikeadesigner.blogspot.com/ Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected]
