Humanities Today Essay

For as enormous as humanitykind has existed so amaze cunning, medical specialty, architecture, literature, and philosophical system. The University of Phoenix (2009) defines humanistic discipline as an approach to study that empha surfaces ideas and values by means of analysis of modes of cultural expression, philosophical and religious thought, and modes of human communication (University of Phoenix, workweek One Supplement). Gloria K. Fiero (2006) further defines humanities as literature, philosophy, history, architecture, ocular crafts, music, and dance (p. 4).Humanities impact daily support without many people world awargon of their presence. What distinguishes humanities from other modes of human inquiry and expression is that they focus on ideas and values, non simply the employment or result of an action. This write up testament provide live examples of visual cheat, music, architecture, philosophy, and literature and analyze how they reflect current develop ments in government, socioeconomics, and engineering science. Visual art can be, solely is not limited to, painting, sculpture, and photography.Classic paintings by noteworthy artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso ar calm considered masterpieces in todays partnership but be not enjoyed by the harsh population the way that graphic and digital art have in the past century. Graphic and digital technology have begin the means by which visual art is to be viewed and hold dear among the mass population in a way that has never been useable in history. Todays society has become focused on instant gratification.Changes are expected to be make in politics overnight, deals in socioeconomics demand rectification within weeks (even though they took years to create), and advancements in technology feeds societys dependence on crack, faster, and stronger tools. Unfortunately, visual art has become victim to this need for instant gratifica tion. No longer are single masterpieces created by the flow of an artists hands, shaping and modelling art into a creation of his or her soul. Instead, art is generated digitally by the click of a mouse and a selection of color and size from a predefined chart.The art can then be mass-distributed and mass-produced most the world in the matter of minutes. The creativity is still there, but the hit the sack generated through the time and patience required to construct that art by hand is no longer there. With the flood of self-help books saturating the market, literature too reflects societys need for instant gratification. Self-help books are a reflection of the current socioeconomic state in which everyone is looking for a way to better his or her life instantly.Politicians have indirectly supported this literary musical genre by focusing and promoting what is wrong in the country and in distributively other. For example, if a politician has shortcomings in his or her public s peaking abilities, the contend policy-making party will ridicule that person publicly. Citizens who feel they also do not have strong speaking skills and fear being mocked may then be compelled to purchase a self-help book on public speaking. As technology has advanced, self-help books have become a howling(prenominal) tool for individuals struggling to learn how to use the newest electronic devices.One prevalent technology self-help series is the For Dummies books. The books began in 1991 with DOS for Dummies (Johnson, 2006, para. 3), but they have promptlyadays sold over 150 million Dummies books in 39 languages. many an(prenominal) people have benefited from the simple, helpful language used in these books, but not all self-help books are created equal. Some self-help books offer a right away solution that often leaves individuals feeling worse than when they began. Striving for self-improvement is tenuous however, self-help books can sometimes do to a greater extent har m than good.Music in todays society can also do to a greater extent harm than good when presented to an impressionable mind. Music has always been used as a means of creatively reflecting political and socioeconomic issues, but since the blood of the Rap and Heavy Metal music genres, discontent, anger, and frustration have become common and wide-spread in music over the past 50 years. Songs intimately drug use, suicide, murder, and rape and those that use explicit language are common in these two genres of music and have begun to permeate other forms of music.This reflects not only societys discontent with the current political and socioeconomic state, but it also reflects societys tolerance and acceptance of immunity of speech. The sound of music, the production of music, and the enjoyment of music have evolved as technology evolves. New sounds that have never been possible before are now available through technology. Music is now available anywhere through the use of an MP3 pla yer or cell phone. No longer does a person have to stop and listen to a musician music can be contend at any time. This fills societys need for instant gratification.Todays architecture also caters to the on-the-go lifestyles of society. Bigger, stronger, smarter, and faster are all ideas and values visibly manifested in current architecture. The aesthetic appeal of a building has given way to designs which exploit opportunities to tug the most for the money. A recent trend which reflects a change of political and socioeconomic initiatives is building environmentally-friendly structures. That means creating a building that produces little waste, uses alternating(a) power solutions, and emits minimum greenhouse toxins.Advances in technology have made these structures possible however, they cost additional money to construct, and businesses and individuals are charged more money to use them than a traditionally built structure. Instant gratification, the struggle for self-improve ment, tolerance and acceptance, and the idea of making as much money as possible are all philosophies in todays society. each is reflected in art, literature, music, and architecture, but as a whole, they make up the philosophy of society through their ideas and values.Developments in politics, socioeconomics, and technology have all played a part in creating these philosophies, but they are visibly manifested in the humanities. One can only wonder how the current humanities will be viewed and analyzed 50 or 100 years from now. The examples this paper has provided of visual art, music, architecture, philosophy, and literature demonstrate how current developments in politics, socioeconomics, and technology are reflected. As politics, socioeconomics, and technology change so too will art, music, architecture, philosophy, and literature.They are a reflection of one another and intertwined in their evolution. References Fiero, Gloria K. (2007). The humanistic tradition (5th ed). New Yor k, NY McGraw-Hill. Johnson, Doug (2006, October). For dummies books are popular learning aids. Retrieved from http//www. voanews. com/specialenglish/archive/2006-10/2006-10-12-voa1. cfm University of Phoenix (2009). Week One supplement Humanities Terminology. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, Week One, HUM102 Introduction to the Humanities website.