What are the humanities and why should we study them?

What you might think: 

Of the three people I interviewed, I got the same mixture as the people who were interview in the New Hampshire Humanities video. The first person I interviewed was a 20 year old male. He is a future diplomat who is pursuing a major in International Relations and is a current sophomore in college. His exact response was “I think humanities are the study of people and cultures and I think we should study them because it is important to know about other countries and cultures.” This was the best response out of the three. The other two people were caught off guard by the question. The next person is a 15 year old sophomore in high school. She is still in high school and is unsure of the profession she wants to enter. Her response was “What does it mean? Are you talking about classes…or…what does it mean?”. The last person had a similar response. He said “What are what? What do you mean…what are they?” The last responder is a 18 year old freshman in college. He is a male student pursuing a major in Pharmacy so he can become a Pharmacist. The majority of people are unsure how to answer this question because they aren't familiar with the term "humanities".

If you ask me, I think:

The humanities are a vague subject that touch most, if not all, aspects of human life. According to Stanford Humanities Center, the humanities “can be described as the study of how people process and document the human experience.” I find this definition the most suitable and vaguely accurate summary of the humanities. The humanities is a study of many groupings that each have innumerable sub-groupings. Several examples of the humanities given by the Minnesota Humanities council include civics, literature, language, history, religion, ethics, archaeology, and philosophy. Each of these subgroups have been recorded in different ways thus expanding the definition of humanities.
 
These have been recorded through visual arts, written stories, and many other ways. Each of these recordings is based off of some sort of interpretation. For example, art is often interpreted in several different ways but each interpretation shares the same origin. In the same way people observe art, they study the humanities. Each interpretation is different but all the interpretations share the same origin. Exploring these ideas allows a variety of new ideas to form. R. Howard Bloch scrutinized the humanities and recognized the various styles of interpretation. Not only does he feel that the humanities have been taken for granted, but Bloch also feels that the humanities have had an enormous effect on “the way we behave in love, in our social arrangements, in the economic marketplace, and in the public sphere.” I agree with this statement because of how they are the core of humanity. The was we socialize and connect with one another is another part of humanities that is hard to define and can still be interpreted in many different ways.
 
Alongside the interpretation and socialization aspects of the humanities, David Belong offers another similar idea. He suggests that “the humanities are at the core of a Liberal Arts education because they are about understanding how people are active creators.” This new definition is separating people from their known habits of tradition and proposing the idea that the humanities are the study of creativity. Not only does this lead into the idea that the humanities is the study of creating but it also infers the study of choices people make. The humanities can be seen in all aspects of  human life because they are answering the question “What Does it Mean to be Human?” Even science cannot go unaffected by the humanities. The humanities cause skepticism, doubt, and uncertainty which all provoke research and continual observations. Without doubt, there is no need to research or question so much of science is based off the same skepticism found in the humanities.
 
Generally speaking, the humanities are a broad spectrum of groupings that all surround the question of “What Does it Mean to be Human?” Each grouping and sub-grouping may seem unrelated when glanced at, but with a closer look, its obvious that the humanities are at the core of each group. In a way, the humanities are the trunk with its branches being groups such as philosophy, art, literature and many others. The humanities are the study of interpretation, socialization, and creativity.

What is a good life?

What is a good life? A good life is a life filled with joy. A few months ago, the University of Florida admission essay topic was to describe the good life. I responded with “To me, living the good life means being successful.” Now that I really think about this response and scrutinize it, I realize that just because someone is successful, doesn’t mean they are happy. Dictionary.com defines success as “the accomplishment of one’s goal” and “the attainment of death, position, honors, or the like.” When you look further into this response you begin to question the reasons of accomplishing the goal. If success does not make happiness, then is it really the good life?

The Dalai Lama’s belief on what the meaning of life is has redefined my notion of a good life. He states “The meaning of life is happiness.” Despite this classic statement, the Dalai Lama was able to make a point and change my response. Not only is this response simple but it is also logical. Doing what makes you happy gives you the freedom to do whatever you feel the urge to do. This does not limit you to only doing what it takes to achieve your goal. Your ability to be happy becomes an extremely broad range. Happiness is found in many places but I do not believe that living the good life means being happy.

In contrast, people who are willing to mistakenly suggest that success is what fills them with happiness, are being deceived. Living a good life does not mean being happy. Present day culture portrays being happy and having joy as interchangeable terms. People fail to realize they happiness is only temporary. Joy, according to Christianity, is a lengthy feeling of euphoria. I believe that living the good life is living joy filled life. According to Christian belief, the fruit of the Spirit is joy. Leszek Kolakowski states “the true God of the Christians, Jesus Christ, was not happy in any recognizable sense.” This does not necessarily rule out joy. Furthermore, the Bible constantly gives examples of Christians feeling joy. This joy seems to offer more pleasure than being happy. Jesus was able to prove that joy lasts through the tough times because it is not the same as happiness.

This being said, my notion of a good life is not happiness. There will be times when age, suffering, and death cause me to not be happy. There are innumerable reasons to not be happy. Being happy while being conscious of the poverty, struggles, and problem of this world is naive. There is no reason that people should not strive for a good life. A good life is life filled with joy.