We can use a metaphor of a great edifice supported by four pillars of knowledge to represent the sum total of Man’s Useful Knowledge.
The major areas of human knowledge, since it is now, at our point in history, so extensive, can be divided up and organized in countless ways. There is no absolute canon of knowledge. Many Universities use a division that includes Humanities, Arts, Social Science, Math, Technology, and Science. Some of these disciplines may be combined because they are closely associated, for example, Arts and Humanities, or Science and Math or Science and Technology. There can be some redundancy; crossover applications and overlap of specific types of knowledge do sometimes occur. It is not critical how these disciplines or fields of knowledge are divided as long as the student understands that there are distinctions between different kinds of knowledge and he or she draws broadly from the knowledge contained in each of these divisions.
Different Formal Institutions of learning may emphasize specific disciplines according to the importance of the focus of learning taught in such an institution. A school of engineering will concentrate on mathematics. An Institute of Art would naturally focus on the Arts and so on. For our purpose, the student needs to learn from all the disciplines and, as mentioned above, it doesn’t matter how you organize and distinguish between them as long as you learn from all of them.
In this discussion, I am going to use the following sort plan:
I. Humanities
II. Science
III. Mathematics
IV. Technology
Before discussing specifically what subjects fall into each of our four categories, I want to first, mention a more basic way of categorizing areas of knowledge from which the “four pillars” are derived: Essentially, man’s intellectual pursuits can be divided into two basic types of knowledge, corresponding to the kind of information processing which characterizes the Left Brain and the Right brain. The left brain can be described as “Logical, sequential, analytical and objective. ” Calculation, statistics and mensuration are functions of left-brain thinking and are associated with the types of subject matter found in the fields of mathematics and math-based sciences such as physics, astronomy and technology (engineering.) The Right brain is described as being random and intuitive, “holistic,” synthesizing and subjective. The Right brain is formatted to record perceptions, awareness and responsiveness to beauty, emotions, spirituality and social engagement. Such study topics are found under various courses of study within the category of “The Humanities,” which we are going to identify in a moment.
Both sides of the brain and its complementary styles of reasoning are fully engaged in practical use, as in the case of manufacturing where mathematics is critically important to an accurate design of a working product and is applied simultaneously with ergonomics and aesthetics to make a functional product that appeals to the market.
The following descriptions of the knowledge contained in each of these “four pillars” will help you to get an idea of what one needs to learn to attain the highest level of education. The major divisions are fairly distinct. For our purposes of making sense of everything that is worth studying in order to attain the ideal of a higher education, the divisions I have selected, based on several actual university models, is useful and workable:
HUMANITIES
Classics-The classics in the western academic tradition, refer to cultures of classical antiquity, namely the Ancient Greek and Roman cultures. The study of the classics is considered one of the cornerstones of the humanities and the study of Greek, Hebrew and Latin languages was one of the hallmarks of a learned person in the previous centuries, particularly, in the Western Tradition of learning.
History- There are many specific studies of history including World History, Western Civilization, Ancient history, European History, American History, the history of India, China, Japan and other Asian nations and so on, in which all aspects of culture religion, social studies and invention are included for examination. Archaeology and Anthropology can be filed under this heading.
Social Science/Social Studies: Interaction between members of society, the dynamics of societies in various cultures and during different historical periods. Sociology, Social psychology, Industrial psychology and Anthropology are often studied under Social Science.
Languages- linguistics and communication. One’s native language and foreign languages fit into this category. In many college language courses, literary works produced in a particular language are included.
Law- Simply speaking, law means a rule which (unlike a rule of ethics) is capable of enforcement through institutions. The study of law crosses over to different disciplines: Laws are politics, because politicians create them. Law is philosophy, because moral and ethical considerations shape their ideas. Law is a historical record, because statutes, case law and codifications build up over time. And law is economics, because any rule about contract, tort, property law, labor law, company law and many more can have long lasting effects. The History of Law would necessarily include an examination of lawgivers and philosophers in ancient Greece and Rome.
Business and Commerce- Accounting, Marketing, Advertising, Sales. Management. Finance, Business Math.
Literature - including of course great literary works produced throughout history and in different cultures. The study of literature can include an overview of ancient literature, such as The Gilgamesh Epic from Mesopotamia, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Vedas and Upanishads of India and various writing of Confucius and Lao Tse in China. Continuing through history to Chaucer in the Middle Ages in England and reviewing the works of English writers and poets such as Samuel Pepys, Alexander Pope, John Milton, William Shakespeare, and notable writers through the Romantic period including such names as Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, Byron, Keats, Shelly, Tennyson, Robert Louis Stevensen, and later, Rudyard Kipling, G.K Chesterton, George Bernard Shaw, Thomas Carlyle, Matthew Arnold and John Ruskin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ,James Joyce etc. The French writers and poets would also be studied including: François Rabelais , Lamartine, Chateaubriand, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas, Nerval, Nodier, Musset, Gautier, Vigny, Flaubert, and others.
American writers would include, the earliest political essayists: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (Federalist Essays); Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville ( a Frenchman whose exeedingly relevant and monumental two-volume work,” Democracy in America,” has earned him a place in this section) and other eminent writers including Washington Irving, Nathanial Hawthorne, James Fennimore Cooper et al, continuing with Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Emerson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ezra Pound,Henry James, Ernest Hemmingway, E.E. Cummings, F.Scott Fitzgerald, T.S.Eliot, D.H.Lawrence, Upton Sinclair, Erskine Caldwell,C.S. Lewis, John Steinbeck,Jack London and many other celebrated writers.
Performing Arts -
You may not want to perform on stage in plays or Opera, but you will want to be aware what sort of entertainment art forms are represented.
Music- Includes Performance, Musicology, Music Theory and Composition.
Theatre- is a branch of the Performing Arts which includes Opera and Ballet. Again, you will want to be aware of what it is about.
Dance- All forms of Dance, all over the world.
Philosophy- Literally, “The Love of Wisdom” is generally the study of problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, justification, truth, justice, right and wrong, beauty, validity, mind, and language. Much of philosophy has its foundations on the works of ancient Greek philosophers, particularly, Plato and Aristotle, and later, Rousseau, Hume,Adam Smith, Kant, Diderot and others. Today Philosophy is divided into four fields: Logic, Ethics, Metaphysics and Epistemology (the nature and limitations of knowledge-What is knowledge? How is knowledge acquired? How do we know what we know?
Religion- The sweeping Religious beliefs that have dramatically shaped ethics and culture for thousands of years: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism (India), Zoroastrianism (Persia), Taoism, Legalism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, as well as an examination of Religious beliefs of more restricted distribution such as Shintoism, Tribal Animism ( South America and Africa); and various Native American Beliefs.
Visual Arts-
Including an overview of the great artistic developments through the ages (Art History) including an examination of primitive Art as exemplified by Cave drawings in Lascaux, France and other sites and Petroglyphs found at various locations around the world continuing to the artistic traditions of Ancient Japan, Greece, Rome, China, India, Mesopotamia, and Mesoamerica. The History of Art throughout Europe and the Middle east in the Byzantine, Gothic and Middle ages. Elizabethan and Baroque Art and so on up to modern times including The Great Painters’ : Michelangelo, Durer, Rembrant, Rubens, Pieter Brueghel ,Botticelli, Bosch, Titian, Van Gogh – and French Impressionists; Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Manet, Monet, Lautrec, Gauguin, Chagall; Constable, Gainsborough and many many others. [ I do have to make mention of my favorite American painter: Grandam Moses and Norman Rockwell. }
The so called “Plastic Arts” using different media types and methods – Graphic Arts: Painting using various binders and pigments, Drawing (charcoal, pencils etc.); carving in stone and wood, sculpture in clay, stone, wood, metals and plastics. Etching, pottery, producing decorative textiles through spinning, weaving, Batik and other methods. Some artists will argue for the inclusion of architecture and digital art. These may be included also. When you consider that everything which is designed for aesthetic satisfaction is art, you can see that just about everything mankind produces that satisfies these aesthetic instincts is “Art.”
SCIENCE
Science is, of course the study of the natural world and its processes but includes a review of the ways in which man has been able, through an understanding of natural processes, to find innovative and practical applications for scientific discoveries, to create useful products and solve problems.
Here is a basic enumeration of various fields under the “science heading: History of Science and Scientific discovery,Chemistry( Inorganic, Organic and Nuclear ), Physics, Astronomy, Geology, Mineralogy, Paleontology, Biology( including Marine biology, Microbiology,Paleobiology, Bacteriology, Virology, Zoology, Cryptozoology, Botany, Ecology, Entomology, Invertebrate biology and so on.) Many of these can be subdivided into specialized fields of study such as, for example, Entomology, in which, one can specialize in some group of insects such as Coleoptera or Lepidoptera; Marine biology too, can be divided this way into, for example, Malacology (mollusks), Ichthyology (fishes) etc., Genetics (closely associated with biology as are several fields from the study of Medicine.
Medical Science is a distinct and specialized branch of science and includes many overlapping disciplines in other areas of knowledge. You may not want to be a Doctor, Nurse or Surgeon, but as a well educated individual, you should be somewhat familiar with what is included in this important branch of Science. I will not define these medical specialties here, (that will be done elsewhere in a future post,) for now, I want to show the number and diverse ways in which medical science is practiced and studied:
Surgery: Cardiac surgery, Cardiothoracic surgery, Colorectal surgery, General surgery, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Orthopedic surgery, Hand surgery, Otolaryngology, Pediatric surgery, Plastic surgery, Transplant surgery, Surgical Oncology, Thoracic surgery, Trauma surgery, Urology, Vascular surgery.
Internal medicine: Allergy/Immunology, Andrology, Angiology (Vascular Medicine), Cardiology, Endrocinology, Gastroenterology (Hepatology), Geriatrics, Gynaecology, Hematology, Infectious Disease, Nephrology, Oncology, Pulmonology, Rheumatology.
Diagnostic: Healthcare Sciences( Clinical chemistry, Clinical Immunology ), Cytopathology, Medical microbiology, Transfusian medicine, Radiology ( Interventional radiology, Nuclear medicine), Pathology ( Anatomical, Clinical), Clinical neurophysiology.
Other specialties: Addictive medicine, Adolescent medicine, Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Disaster medicine, Emergency medicine, Family medicine, General practice, Hospital medicine, Intensive care medicine, Medical genetics, Neurology, Obstetrics, Occupational medicine, Pain management ( Algiatry), Palliative care, Pediatrics (Neonatology), Physical medicine and rehabilitation, (Physiatry), Preventive medicine, Psychiatry, Radiation oncology, Reproductive medicine ( Reproductive endocrinology and infertility), Reproductive surgery, Sleep medicine, Sports medicine, Transplantation medicine, Tropical medicine(Travel medicine), Urogynecology, Dentistry, Podiatry, Veterinary medicine, History of Medicine.
MATHEMATICS
Mathematics-Elementary arithmatic, algebra, Intermediate and advanced algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, Vector Calculus, Differential Calculus, Integral Calculus, Statistics, quantum mechanics, Fractals etc. You may not aspire to become a mathematician but it will be very useful to know about these different types of Math and learn what is the purpose of each.
TECHNOLOGY
Technology is everywhere around us today. I have designated technology as a “Pillar” of knowledge because it has influenced every facet of our lives from our leisure activities, to our work and daily living to being used in military and political applications. Technology is the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means ( pertaining to special techniques of applied Art and Science) to enhance or otherwise affect life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. Technology is Innovation and Invention. It is concerned with using invention to control or regulate the environment: It is the generation of Power to do work; it is about machines, various contrivances , devices and complex electrical systems, management of fluids, gases, or other materials and the movement of anything that has to be moved from one place to another (including humans!) Technology, perhaps more than any other of the three pillars of knowledge we have previously discussed uses knowledge from everywhere. In Technology, we see the practical reasons for mastering knowledge: To create, to build, to design to manufacture, to supply mankind with whatever is needed to achieve his many objectives. Technology, therefore can be good—or very bad, depending on what we do with it. Moral questions aside, Technology is here and we should know something about it. Here are some of the many forms of Technology:
Biotechnology, Manufacturing Technology, Information Technology (Computers/Internet.) Also associated with technology fields are Telecommunications, Chemical engineering, Chemurgy, Architectural engineering, Electrical engineering , Mechanical engineering, Medical technology, Hydraulics, Fluid dynamics, Mining Technology, Nuclear Technology, Space technology and so on. Whether you are interested in pursuing a career in any of these fields or not, you should know what they are all about.
I will conclude this post with a final thought or two. First, thank you very much for staying with this and reading to the end. This has been a long post, but, necessarily so. I want you to know why I even bothered to provide these detailed descriptions of what is included in the “Four Pillars of Knowledge.” I know very well that almost everyone reading this knows that knowledge can be grouped in different ways when it is studied, especially, in University. My point is not to show that there are many subjects that can be learned. I have a very specific reason for listing all of these various fields of learning. It is not to bore you, but for those of you who are really determined to become highly educated, despite disadvantages or poverty, or whatever reason, this post has important information for you. You cannot become knowledgeable in anything before you know what you can learn. It makes it much easier when you have a name for a specific type of knowledge. This is an overview of the kind of specific knowledge that you will need to learn to become highly educated (I am also addressing those of you who already have a college degree, but who may want to learn much more than you were supposed to learn in College.) Some may ask, and it is a fair question: “Who is this guy(meaning me) to presume to tell everyone what is an educated person? I’ll tell you. I did not formulate or invent the high standard of Education to which I constantly refer. I have tried to point out in my previous post about education – So What IS An Educated Person?
that Our traditions of learning, our schools, Universities and our Educators have all contributed to our notion of what it is to be a highly educated person.
The point of this post is to show you some of the building blocks you will be able to use when you build your own curriculum. What I want to do in the next and final post about educating yourself is to examine ways: Specific techniques in which you can assemble your own University Curriculum. Then, I want to explain some useful techniques for actually learning everything that you want to learn. That is for a future post, because it will also be a long one and I am working on that now. I hope to have it ready next month, so if you have an interest in the prospect of being able to learn everything we just discussed, please come back from time to time and join us here on Bloggasaurus again.
Just because someone does not have any money, or social standing, or connections or even good grades in the elementary grades or secondary school, is no reason to be denied the opportunity to be a highly educated person.
I love the NIKE Slogan:
JUST DO IT
I look forward to your next visit,
Wil