Human Element Back

Good evening, everyone.

The humanities have been an interesting subject for me; it turns a lot of what I know on end. Science has always been my favorite and best area of study, focusing on quantitative and qualitative data through experimentation to reach a conclusion. Make an observation, ask a question, form a hypothesis, make a prediction about the hypothesis, test the prediction, re-test the prediction, and boom, you have conclusive data (in a nutshell). It is about hard data that can be replicated. The humanities are very similar because critical thinking is crucial to your research when examining a piece of art to reach conclusions. The humanities encourage you to speculate how, why, and what the creator’s intent or meaning is, or was, for the art. It is about perspective and interpretation of another person’s intent, which is quite difficult to detect. However, this is why the process and methodology are far more unique and why I find the humanities interesting. Critical thinking is still important in the humanities, but the way you think critically is more inward or self-reflective. How does the art make you feel when you look, touch, or listen to it? The humanities add more of a sensory approach to the process. It puts the human element back into the equation and encourages you to experience the art, whether it be visual, literature, or music. Almost as though you are building a relationship with the artwork.