How the humanities heal: a doctor’s perspective (Audrey Shafer, Medscape)
A physician recalls not only her own past, but also the history of health care that involves the greater story about the human condition.
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03, 2017
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03, 2017
The Question of the Humanities
The Question of the Humanities: the editor of Humanities Watch weighs questions the humanities ask, and are asked, concerning their relation to the sciences, technology, and business interests. Text of the remarks can be found here.
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03, 2017
Medicine finds its roots in the humanities (J. Kutac, R. Osipov, A. Childress, Journal of Medical Humanities)
How the current shape of healthcare can learn much from investigating Renaissance perspectives on the human condition, and the manner in which humanists describe this condition.
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03, 2017
On silence
On silence. Why poets, and others, look for quietude – with lovers, friends, or by themselves – in lieu of words Doodle: Good morning, Noodle. You appear deep in thought. Noodle: Thanks for the interruption. I’m puzzled by a poem. As a professor of the humanities, I’ve read a lot of poetry, and should be [...]
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03, 2017
Are the humanities “useless”? If so, do they still provide a use?
Are the humanities "useless"? If so, do they still provide a use? Said Hui Shih to Chuang-tzu: “These sayings of yours are useless.” “It is only with people who know about the useless that there is any point in talking about uses. In all the immensity of heaven and earth, a man uses no more than [...]
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03, 2017
How useful are the humanities, and to what end? (Johann N. Neem, Process)
An historian asks about the ways the humanities are suitable for modern society.
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02, 2017
Science and (the absence of) happiness
Science and (the absence of) happiness: to what degree do science and technology condition our sense of happiness? During the last few generations humankind has made an extraordinary advance in the natural sciences and in their technological application and has established humanity's control over nature in a way never before imagined.... People are proud of these achievements, [...]
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02, 2017
DNA and dynasty: tracing history through science (Andrew Curry, National Geographic)
Modern DNA analysis reveals clues to changes in Native American society beginning in the ninth century CE.
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02, 2017
Humanities in the Age of Big Data
Humanities in the Age of Big Data: an historian tries to unravel the consequences for ourselves and our way of life. Dataism is a new ethical system that says, yes, humans were special and important because up until now they were the most sophisticated data processing system in the universe, but this is no longer [...]
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02, 2017
Humanities citizens and industrial consumers (Sarah Churchwell, Times Higher Education)
How the humanities may lead us to greater self-knowledge, beyond the demands of the market place.