Paper Sample on Humanities and their Relevance in Our Lives

Humanities refer to various disciplines that aid in investigating the expressions of the human mind. Philosophy, literature, music art, and anthropology, among other fields, comprise what makes us human. Despite that, they are often pitted against sciences, humanities, and sciences are required for an easier understanding of the world around us. The study of humanities offers us valuable and necessary skills that are not easy to learn. These skills are as essential as those used by doctors in surgery and that which bankers use to assess risks. Large organizations in the world are more focused on finding these essential skills. They are the foundation skills that make it possible to learn, live, and be productive when working as a team. Indeed, the humanities' importance is often questioned in a progressively technological society since all the focus is directed to other subjects such as sciences, engineering, mathematics, and technology. However, cultural knowledge and skills in critical thinking offered in humanities ensure that learners are well-prepared for the current and future labor market.

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As society continues to evolve, humanity graduates are more required than before to fill the gaps that technology cannot replace. Unlike in other studies, there are no wrong or right answers in humanities (Farrell et al., 2003). That means learners are equipped with the power to deal with uncertainty and unfamiliarity, and these qualities are essential in dealing with technological growth. Additionally, humanities provide learners with valuable social skills. That does not mean that all the skills attained are exclusive to the field, considering that the ability to conduct a proper analysis of data and do proper research can be earned across various disciplines (Bates et al., 1993).

Nonetheless, humanity graduates tend to differ in the way they apply these skills. The focus on the human element makes those who study humanities different and more fit to work in places involving continuous social interaction compared to other fields. It is impossible to replicate specific skills such as empathy, sociability, and ethical awareness by technology, however crucial they tend to be.

In the search for the importance of humanities, I decided to delve into medieval literature, focusing on oral traditions and their applicability in the contemporary world. Oral traditions that are transmitted in different forms, be it tales, myths, legends, and songs, are important treasury to most communities' cultural heritage even today. Many communities around the globe do not have any written tradition, and they mostly rely on conveying all their knowledge orally from one generation to the next. Oral traditions play an important role in ensuring that people's history is never lost by passing it to future generations. The rapid social-cultural change and the audio-visual literacy that the modern media continue to promote nowadays threaten the continuity of oral traditions (Bear et al., 2012). Such influences are considered to play a central role when it comes to impoverishing people's spiritual life. However, although endangered, written documents can be preserved to ensure that history is kept safe for the forthcoming generations. However, oral traditions may be irretrievably lost once their chain of transmission is wholly broken.

Traditionally, the conception of morality and religion among Western communities was orally transmitted from one generation to another through songs, liturgies, and proverbs, among other forms of oral traditions. Both in the Western world and in Africa there were set standards that guided the society on the best behaviors to portray. Also, there were religions and deities recognized by the people and were supposed to be worshiped without wavering. Those found to involve themselves with what the society considered as morally wrong or that which was against the norms and beliefs were treated as outcasts (Seung, 1996). For instance, in the Apology by Plato Socrates was charged and executed for not recognizing the gods that the state prayed for and trying to introduce new deities. The circumstances addressed in the story are a good reflection of how today’s society judges us when we engage in behaviors that are considered to be morally wrong and unacceptable. Thus, oral traditions are vital since they serve as a reminder of the cultural practices that we should uphold so that we live in harmony with others.

The role of oral traditions in the modern world may be considered changing or dwindling, considering the rise of mass literacy and its spread worldwide. Just as was once the case in ancient Greece at around 800 B.C.E, it has occurred repeatedly whenever an epic gets reduced to a piece of writing whereby it ceases to experience change (Marzagora, 2015). More to the point, arguments claiming that oral traditions are turning out to be useless or wrong; in many parts of the world, even in the Western world among other wealthy nations, oral traditions offer the most vibrant ways to express group solidarity (Farrell et al., 2003). Communities circulate oral traditions in the form of stories and songs as alternative takes to the world and its workings. They often focus on communalism and counterhegemonic tendencies. They are usually used in areas where literature, especially the formal discourse, tends to suffer from state power domination.

Oral traditions serve to place humanity in the universe as they try to explain how the world works towards humans. That means oral traditions remain the most immediate or natural way that humans can bring the past and the present together. It shows that oral traditions have not disappeared; rather, their setting may be changing but their power remains. The oral tradition image may indeed be caught on camera, filmed, and stored in whatever digital format, but their meanings and teachings remain. The intents in the way oral traditions are used around the world tend to be similar. For instance, both in Africa and in the Western world, there are two purposes why a story is told which are to entertain and educate. When it comes to entertainment, awareness, and knowledge of the audience are required. Secondly, there has to be a lesson that the story intends to pass to the audience, and it should be directly applicable to the needs of the listener. For instance, if a parent wants to teach a child to behave in a selfish way, as a traditional teller, he might decide to share a story of a monster that decided to keep all the water to itself and ended up drowning in it and died.

A deep divide does not separate modern technology and oral tradition as most would presume. Technology should not be considered either good or bad since it only depends on who is using it and its use. Humans have come up with sophisticated technologies that aid in storing stories for the longest time possible (Bear et al., 2012). Early on, people curved different wood and stone shapes with the intention of keeping mnemonic devices since they understood the importance of oral traditions to future generations. Anthropologists, especially those who majored in ethnography, use these resources among other sources of oral traditions in their analysis of cultures and communities. Initially, anthropology began as a study of a phenomenon outside the mainstream of "Western civilization." Like folklore, it quickly transformed into a study of culture as it is broadly defined. Ethnographies continue to draw heavily from different forms o genres of oral tradition in an effort to portray various cultures in the most credible way possible. Just like in folklorists, the historicity of oral tradition is also emphasized in anthropology. They use them as a means to promote solidarity among group members, as noted before. Also, oral traditions are used in defining social norms though they are entirely flexible to suit the changing circumstances.

Oral tradition has great significance when it comes to African religion. Most African traditional religions were based on morals, values, beliefs, and culture among several other things that were believed to play a major role in the society. Africans considered upholding societal norms as a sacred affair, especially through religion which was their way of life. The culture of oral tradition was maintained through word of mouth since they did not have any written texts. Oral tradition serves to cater to the preservation of culture and old knowledge that continues to be fed to the minds of new entrants to society. Most of the information about African countries was learned through archeology, anthropology, and the study of animals among other ways. However, thanks to the Egyptians who discovered the art of written text most of the stories of the past were put on record. However, considering that most countries pass the information through word of mouth, oral tradition remains a great source of African traditional religion to date. For example, before marriage, a young couple is given instructions orally, which means that there are no handouts or written manuals for them to use in preparation for the new life. Also, when girls attain puberty they are taken to a senior elder who offers them guidance on how to look after herself and her family when she finally gets married. Thus, oral traditions remain as important as they were before and should not be considered as a thing of the past.

Conclusion

In summary, despite that humanities continue to be disregarded as "useless subjects" that do not offer any practical skills other than "soft skills," there is enough evidence that discredits these arguments. For instance, modern literature borrows heavily from oral traditions whereby all the genres are readily applicable. Also, archeologists and ethnologists use oral traditions to gather the information used in the study of culture. Humanities give students the ability to deal with uncertainty and unfamiliarity with much ease, a quality that separates humanity graduates from other fields. Also, humanity allows us to quickly understand the world around us and deal with other people regardless of ethnicity or culture. In other words, humanity studies make it possible for people to live in harmony with each other without judging each other busy on color, age, race, origin, and so on. Besides, oral traditions aid in strengthening social norms and promoting group solidarity. As covered in the paper, there are various advantages that learners enjoy from specializing in humanities compared to other fields. For instance, humanity aids in understanding others through their language and history, they foster equality and social justice and also help in dealing with complex and imperfect information. Also, a humanity student is more capable of measuring the evidence skeptically considering all the possible outcomes. Hence, humanity and various frameworks are applicable in the modern world as they were in the past and hence the field ought to receive equal weight just like other areas of study. Also, oral tradition is an important aspect of African culture and it is still applicable in the modern day. As stated earlier, Africans did not have written methods to preserve their history and religious beliefs. As a result, they opted to use word of mouth to ensure that information was delivered to the entrant generations.

References

Bates, R. H., Mudimbe, V. Y., & O'Barr, J. F. (Eds.). (1993). Africa and the disciplines: The contributions of research in Africa to the social sciences and humanities. University of Chicago Press..