Letters to the Editor – 19/08 – Arts versus science, Best of Twitter
Arts versus science
[Re: Why you can bank on the humanities to launch a City career, Friday]
I have mixed feelings about this editorial. I agree that banking employees should have a well-rounded education. And coming as I do from a quantitative background, I admire those who have been trained in the art of “peaceful persuasion”, who have invariably come from a humanities background. However, they do sometimes miss logic and scientific deduction. My issue is that those who do humanities A-Levels rarely also do maths, as they only have three to four subject choices. They then progress through a degree and shy away from anything quantitative other than accounting – missing access to many ideas because the texts convey thoughts in mathematical language. When they enter the workplace, they typically have a problem with derivatives, for example. I firmly believe that a system where pupils do both humanities and scientific subjects up to the age of 18 creates a much more rounded student, who is also slightly more mature and more confident at mixing scientific and mathematical ideas with the arts. The idea that minds are inherently either creative or quantitative is preposterous, and I firmly believe it has a lot to do with outdated paradigms.
Name withheld
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