The digital ad was very clear in its intent. "Change the world, stay in STEM," it said. Perhaps I am overly sensitive at the moment, in light of the proposed United States budget to slash funding from arts (and humanities. . .and Meals on Wheels. . .and PBS. . .all to provide more money to the military which is already the world's largest), but, pardon me, STEM isn't the only way to change the world. What about the arts?
It seems to me that in our society's headlong, headstrong rush to drive a stronger education through testing (?!) that there is a perceived over-promise of STEM programs at the expense of the arts.
My argument is not that it's an either/or calculation. In fact, it is just the opposite. . .we need, as a society we crave, a balance between the sciences and the arts. In the name of that balance, let me present my case.
In a meeting the other day I was reflecting upon a strategic exercise and I found myself saying that what it lacked was innovation and imagination. While certainly the latter are at the root of what drives the sciences, I would argue that thought processes that drive innovation and imagination are in the arts.
The musings of a Michelangelo. The deep thoughtfulness of a Sondheim. The insights of Eugene O'Neil. . .or an August Wilson. Matisse, Mozart, Souza, e e cummings, George Bernard Shaw, Orwell, Dickens, Shakespeare, Van Gogh, Chopin, Rodgers and Hammerstein. . .heck, Disney! Streep and Hayes and Nicholson! Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp. That dear friend who creates multi-media pieces in his studio. The woman who writes and has a publishing business. My mother-in-law who dances. The 23 year old and 47 year old and 81 year old who are in the string section of the community symphony. The teachers who daily lift a baton or open a great literary work to students minds! The thousands. . .millions right now who are playing music or dancing. . .
There is no science. . .there is no engineering. . .without the imagination that is brought about by the arts. There is no soul without the arts.
Our son is fortunate enough to go to a high school that is known for its music and theatre program. This week we attended one of the many musical concerts; as always, we were in awe of the ability, discipline, craft. . .and yes, even science that the teacher and his students brought to their music. While the music on the page itself was stirring, it was the performance, and the thought that was brought to the performance, that was inspirational. It is that inspiration that is both cathartic and inspires us to greater things.
To say there are arts without science or science without arts is one dimensional and soulless. To believe in both the arts and science opens a world of possibilities.
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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.
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