Human/IT: The Importance of Liberal Arts Education | Jared Linder | TEDxBallStateUniversity

Summary

The speaker, an IT leader and former liberal arts student, passionately advocates for the importance of humanities and liberal arts education alongside STEM. He draws parallels between the innovation of electric guitars and technology, emphasizing that while technology enhances tools, it doesn't replace the need for human creativity and understanding. The speaker shares his journey from studying music and literature to leading IT projects, highlighting the value of critical thinking and contextual knowledge in any industry. He encourages students to follow their passions, employers to recognize the potential in liberal arts graduates, and educators to create programs that bridge the gap between technology and humanities.

Takeaways

• 🎸 The speaker is a passionate guitar player who appreciates the blend of technology and musical instruments.
• 🤖 The guitar described has a battery-powered tuning machine on the back, showcasing a piece of technology that enhances the instrument without changing its essence.
• 🎵 The speaker emphasizes that technology, such as the electric guitar, is a tool that enhances music but does not replace the need for musicianship.
• 📚 The importance of humanities and liberal arts education is highlighted as it provides context and passion that can lead to innovative tools in various fields, including music.
• 💡 The speaker believes that the combination of technology and humanities leads to more useful and meaningful innovations.
• 🎓 The speaker's background in liberal arts has been instrumental in his successful career in IT, demonstrating the value of a broad educational foundation.
• 🛠️ The speaker advocates for a balance between STEM and liberal arts education, arguing that both are necessary for a well-rounded education and career.
• 👨‍🏫 A call to action for educators to create programs that combine humanities with technology, providing students with opportunities to excel in both areas.
• 👩‍💼 Employers are encouraged to seek out liberal arts graduates for their creativity, communication skills, and potential for future technical aptitude.
• 🌐 The speaker shares his personal journey from studying liberal arts to becoming a strategic IT thinker, illustrating the versatility of liberal arts education in the tech industry.
• 🎉 A final message to students to follow their passions, learn about context, and understand that there will always be opportunities to integrate technology into their chosen fields.

Q & A

What is the unique feature of the guitar mentioned in the script?

The unique feature of the guitar mentioned in the script is a robot battery-powered tuning machine on the back, which can tune the guitar with a flick of a button.

How does the speaker describe the relationship between technology and the guitar?

The speaker describes the relationship between technology and the guitar as a complementary one, where technology enhances the guitar without changing its essence or the need for a musician to play it.

What is the historical context of the electric guitar according to the script?

The electric guitar was created in the mid-20th century to ensure that guitar players could be loud enough to be heard over drummers and horn players.

What does the speaker believe about the importance of humanities and liberal arts education?

The speaker believes that humanities and liberal arts education are crucial as they provide context and passion, which are essential for creating tools that make music better and for approaching problem-solving in various industries.

How does the speaker's background in music and liberal arts relate to his current career in IT?

The speaker's background in music and liberal arts has given him critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are applicable to his current role as a strategic IT thinker in a large government organization.

What does the speaker suggest about the role of technology in the future of IT leadership?

The speaker suggests that humanities and liberal arts students are the next round of IT leadership, as they can combine their passion and contextual understanding with technology to drive innovation.

What advice does the speaker give to students regarding their career choices?

The speaker advises students to follow their passions, do what they enjoy and are good at, and not to rush into technology. He emphasizes that critical thinking and contextual understanding are valuable regardless of the field.

What is the speaker's perspective on the importance of combining technical skills with liberal arts education?

The speaker believes that combining technical skills with liberal arts education is essential for creating a well-rounded individual who can think critically and contextually, which is vital for innovation and leadership in various fields.

How does the speaker view the role of employers in nurturing talent from liberal arts backgrounds?

The speaker views the role of employers as crucial in seeking out and finding the creative pipeline of people with liberal arts backgrounds, recognizing their potential for future technical aptitude and promise.

What does the speaker suggest educators should do to bridge the gap between students and employers?

The speaker suggests that educators should create talent pipelines and mentor programs that involve creative students, providing them with opportunities and preparing them for careers that combine humanities with technology.

What is the speaker's final message to the audience regarding personal fulfillment and career paths?

The speaker's final message is to encourage the audience to do what makes them happy, to pursue their passions, and to understand that there may be a place for them in IT and other fields that value both technical and liberal arts skills.

Outlines

00:00

🎸 The Fusion of Technology and Music

The speaker expresses a deep appreciation for the guitar as a unique instrument, highlighting its technological advancements such as the battery-powered tuning machine. They emphasize that while technology enhances the musical experience, it does not replace the need for musicianship. The speaker also reflects on the history of the electric guitar and its role in allowing musicians to be heard over other instruments. The importance of maintaining the spirit of the instrument and the musician's role is stressed, along with the idea that technology should support rather than overshadow the artistry involved in playing music.

05:01

🎓 Embracing Humanities in the Tech-Driven World

The speaker, an IT leader, shares their journey from studying liberal arts to becoming a strategic thinker in IT. They advocate for the importance of humanities and liberal arts education, arguing that these fields provide essential context and passion that can enhance technology. The speaker believes that the combination of technology and humanities leads to more meaningful innovations. They also discuss their career path, which began with a liberal arts background and evolved into a role in IT, demonstrating how critical thinking and problem-solving skills from the humanities can be applied to various industries, including technology.

10:04

🚀 Encouraging Passion and the Integration of Arts with Technology

The speaker addresses three groups: students, employers, and educators. They encourage students to pursue their passions and not to rush into technology fields but to understand that technology will always be there. They advise employers to value liberal arts graduates for their communication and creative abilities and to look for potential rather than immediate technical skills. Lastly, they call on educators to create opportunities that combine humanities with technology, forming talent pipelines that prepare students for careers that leverage both their artistic and technical skills. The speaker concludes by urging everyone to do what makes them happy and to consider how they can enhance their natural talents with technology.

Keywords

💡Guitar

A guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is played by either plucking or strumming the strings, either with fingers or a pick. In the video's theme, the guitar symbolizes the core of musical expression and tradition, which technology enhances rather than replaces. The script mentions a 'unique instrument' and the 'electric guitar,' highlighting the guitar's evolution with technological advancements.

💡Technology

Technology, in this context, refers to the application of scientific knowledge to create tools, machines, systems, or methods to serve a purpose. The video discusses how technology, such as a 'robot battery-powered tuning machine,' has been integrated into traditional instruments like the guitar, improving functionality without altering the essence of the instrument.

💡Musician

A musician is a person who composes, performs, or conducts music. The script emphasizes that regardless of technological advancements, being a musician requires skill and passion for music. The speaker mentions that 'you still have to be a musician,' indicating that technology supports but does not replace the artistry of a musician.

💡Electric Guitar

An electric guitar is a type of guitar that uses magnetic pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into an electrical signal, which can then be amplified. The video mentions the creation of the electric guitar in the mid-20th century to allow guitarists to be heard over other instruments, showcasing how technology has historically been used to empower musicians.

💡Innovation

Innovation refers to the introduction of new methods, ideas, or products. The script discusses 'technological innovations' that have not changed the spirit of the guitar but have enhanced its capabilities, such as automated tuners, illustrating the positive impact of innovation on traditional instruments.

💡Humanities

Humanities are academic disciplines that study human culture through mean such as literature, philosophy, and art. The speaker argues for the importance of humanities education, stating that it provides 'context' and enables individuals to create tools that improve upon existing ones, like the guitar, without losing sight of their original purpose.

💡Liberal Arts

Liberal arts are a broad education that imparts more than professional skills, encompassing critical thinking, creativity, and communication. The video emphasizes the value of a liberal arts education in developing well-rounded individuals who can approach problems with creativity and context, as opposed to a narrow technical focus.

💡IT Leader

An IT leader is someone who guides the information technology strategy and operations within an organization. The speaker identifies as an IT leader, using their personal experience to illustrate how a background in the humanities can be leveraged to excel in technology-focused roles, emphasizing the importance of combining technical skills with a broad educational foundation.

💡Strategic Thinker

A strategic thinker is an individual who can plan and foresee the implications and consequences of actions and policies. The script mentions the speaker's role as a 'strategic IT thinker,' highlighting how the ability to think critically and contextually is valuable in strategic planning within IT and other fields.

💡STEM Education

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and the education in these fields is critical for developing technical skills. The speaker does not advocate for less STEM education but rather for a balanced approach that includes the humanities, ensuring a well-rounded education that fosters both technical proficiency and contextual understanding.

💡Contextual Understanding

Contextual understanding refers to the ability to comprehend and interpret situations within their broader setting. The video stresses the importance of this skill, stating that it allows individuals to apply knowledge effectively across various disciplines, including technology and the arts, and to create meaningful innovations.

Highlights

The speaker is a guitar player who appreciates the beauty of the instrument and the joy of making music.

The guitar features a unique technology: a robot battery-powered tuning machine that can tune the guitar with a button press.

The technology is an enhancement to the instrument, not a replacement, preserving the spirit of the guitar.

Electric guitars are a relatively new technological advancement, created to ensure musicians could be heard over louder instruments.

Both technological innovations, like the electric guitar and automated tuner, have not changed the essence of being a musician.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of humanities and liberal arts education, providing context and passion for creating in arts.

The speaker, an IT leader, believes that humanities and liberal arts students are the future IT leaders.

The speaker's career started in IT without a background in the field, highlighting the transferable skills from liberal arts.

The speaker pursued a master's degree to gain technical knowledge while maintaining a liberal arts foundation.

The speaker's consulting work involves strategic thinking about IT problems, leveraging research and problem-solving skills.

The speaker encourages following one's passion and learning technology when necessary, rather than rushing into a tech field.

The importance of not losing sight of context when combining technology with humanities is stressed.

The speaker uses the example of digital assistants understanding human language nuances, showcasing linguistics' role in tech.

Employers are advised to look for the potential and promise in liberal arts graduates, not just immediate technical skills.

Educators are called upon to create programs that combine humanities with technology, preparing students for diverse careers.

The speaker concludes by encouraging everyone to do what makes them happy and to consider IT as a possible career path.

Transcripts

this is a beautiful instrument play this

guitar all the time I'm a guitar player

I love making music it's something I

really enjoy this this is a wonderfully

unique instrument that possesses a very

cool piece of technology that allows it

to do some things other guitars can too

and so what I'll show you is this guitar

has on the back of it

a robot battery-powered tuning machine

that with a flick of a button turns the

guitar now we're not going to sit here

and listen to this tune because quite

frankly that's the reason to have an

automated tuner but that technology is

bolted on to this piece of equipment

this musical piece of equipment it

doesn't replace it it doesn't change

what it can do in fact an electric

guitar is a relatively new technological

advancement anyway this was created mid

20th century if you can look that far

back to basically make sure the guitar

plower

players could be loud enough to be heard

over those surly drummers and horn

players that's what this is formed right

so relatively new in itself now what I

think's important about both of those

technological innovations is they've

never really changed the spirit of the

instrument it's still a guitar you still

have to be a musician and as cool as

this thing is and as much as I like it

I could play any guitar because I know

how to play guitar right not very well

which is why we're not doing that today

but the concept is it's it's novel and

that you still have to be a musician the

technology just enhances and amends what

you can do it takes away the the need to

tune and spend time on those things

which we all should know how to do in

the in the musical space and it lets you

get back to that mission which is

actually playing the instrument

engineers typically would build things

like electric instruments right

you've seen them keyboards computers

digital technology for music has come so

far the tools are amazing I cannot deny

that but I've never stood up for a

laptop solo alright I love listening the

guitar and so the element of the

humanity that exists in the combination

of technology and you know again a

musical instrument or the things that

make it's human I find very very strong

and dear to my heart we're not talking

about the singularity here this isn't a

Kurtz while argument anyway but I want

to point out that I think that that's

terribly important that something as

novel as a guitar possesses some

technology that can help it be a more

useful tool to its user so why is that

important I think this is exactly why we

need to encourage that we never abandon

humanities and liberal arts education in

the country and in the world humanities

and liberal arts provide context an

engineer build a keyboard a person with

a contextual understanding of music and

the passion for creating things in arts

comes up with a tool that makes music

better that's what I believe and I think

it's that context that we can never lose

sight of as we go out and think about

how do we solution things in the world I

I'm an IT leader so I'll talk about

myself for just a second I'll explain

why I think this is so important and why

I think humanities and liberal arts

students are the rock stars of the

future I think they're also the next

round of IT leadership in the world now

explain why I I've got a really cool job

I happen to be a strategic IT thinker

for a very large government organization

focusing on Health and Human Services so

we talked about big-time IT enterprise

systems that basically try to make sure

that people get health insurance people

get services they need and we do it all

statewide here in Indiana so I'm gonna

warn you none of those words or words I

studied in college

none of them IT government health care

Human Services what does that even mean

well now I know and the reason I know is

because I started out as a person that

studied music I studied art I studied

literature I loved reading I will never

not read like Latin basically liked all

the classes the cute girls were in right

I didn't do a real good job with the

science and the math but when I went

into college I continued to do English

creative writing English literature and

I wanted to write the Great American

Novel I think like lots of English

majors and so when I got out though they

weren't hiring for that job so I got a

job at the lowest rung at a really big

IT company timing was right the

universal lines and I started my career

out of college in the IT business and so

what happens is you get into an IT field

and somebody says hey you can write and

you go yes I can and they go hey you're

pretty good at talking to people and you

go you know it and then they say hey can

you go talk to those folks write down

what they want and let's build the

things of their dreams and you go oh

absolutely hear what they say next they

say what if you ran these teams and you

did all these projects and you helped

make all of this come true here you go

oh wow absolutely I can do all of those

things and the the thing that's really

great about that is I still don't know

if I know how to do any of those things

but but that ability to be able to craft

in any type of career in any type of

space the critical thinking and the

components that you can bring to any

industry with a liberal arts background

and a thinking person's background I

find to be critical now I don't really

want to make this about about me but to

talk a little bit about my career

basically after getting kind of the nods

on you know stepping up and taking the

reins in a few places I really decided I

did need to learn a little bit about

technology so I actually got a master's

degree in information and communication

sciences basically bolted that

technology onto this instrument right

and while I was here at Ball State I

actually learned how do you do

problem-solving about IT and research

around IT and how to look at big

challenges around IT the context is

different but the problem-solving is the

same the same methodology probably

applies in most industries so when I

left the University here I got into

consulting because I really wanted to

help people think through their problems

love the job and I ended up becoming

really what I do today which is a

strategic position or in a strategic

thinker about large IT problems how come

because I know how to research you know

how to problem-solve I know how to think

in context I know how to bolt something

on to a guitar instead of building you a

brand new keyboard okay

there's times and places for everything

and the context I think is that you can

learn how to how to apply to that space

so why is this important and what does

this really mean for everybody

well I think it really means that we all

have choices to make out there on what

we do for a living and where we go but

I'm here to tell you that I think you

need to follow your passion I think

there will be time to learn technology

there will be time to learn complicated

subjects I'm never going to tell you we

should do less STEM education I will

never tell you that I believe there's a

need for that

but I will also say I encourage us to

never then shift the balance to where we

are eliminating artistic education and

learning from our educational

institutions you owe it to yourself to

learn these things you owe it to

yourself

actually Oh what I think to society that

critical thinking is what you're all

capable of and what we are capable of

when you learn about context so again

why is that important how many of you

Siri or digital assistants or Alexis

things like that right okay

pretty cool tech right so let's talk

about specific example I love this one

the word bottle in English okay

pretty common word Bo TT le something

you drink out of you don't spell it that

way when you say it when you say it the

phonetic alphabet that would get drawn

out would probably remor resemble a D

than a team human language is a little

you're lazy bottle take say aspirated

note duh does not as humans were a

little lazy sorry to break that video so

phonetically you don't spell it that way

and so a linguist has to know that let's

say you're from England you probably

found spotl more like Bowl it's got a

glottal that's an entirely different

phonetic chain on the alphabet there

right but when you talk in weather it's

you me or no Gallagher somewhere in

England when you talk into that device

it knows how to make that happen

so sure there's a lot of Technology in

there there's army linguistics people

working on this how cool is that

linguistics saves in the day right so

that kind of concept of that that

amalgamation and that concatenation of

different types of subjects they pull

together to equal contextual

technological advancement is where I

think I want you to all leave here today

with the understanding you don't have to

go into technology you don't have to

pick one thing to do so I guess I'll say

it this way in summation I'd like to

address three groups students

you'll all be okay you don't have to

move so fast on say a field like

technology today do what is passionate

to you do what you're passionate about

do the things you enjoy and the things

are really good at technology will

always be there my technical chaps

change all the time the the field

changes all the time I think the ability

to contextualize say great short stories

and talk art at cocktail parties is

probably just as valuable again nobody

stands for laptop solos right so learn

learn how to find what you like to do

and study those things I'm a prime

example that I didn't study i tee out of

the gate I study the things I enjoyed

and I this profession found me hard work

and the right kind of luck and the right

kind of network and you'll do just fine

a second group with talk of employers

liberal arts people are rock stars man

they are super good at self they

communicate well they're pretty good at

writing they're usually you know

relatively agreeable I stay up late they

drink a lot of coffee and they don't

know that there are jobs like this out

there and so employers you must look for

and you must find that pipeline that

creative pipeline of people that are

really talented at things you have to

question as an employer are you looking

for technical capability and prowess

today or technical aptitude and promise

for the future I usually go for the

latter and I think as students again

that you need to remember that that you

need to work for that next job that that

person you want to be and third I think

I'll end on educators what I would ask I

guess of all of us educators is that we

string together those two populations

students and employers whether it's at

universities or at any other type of

level or we're creating basically talent

pipelines for creating programs that

involve creative students that give them

opportunities that they can find

employment in the field that's relevant

that combines both humanities and modern

enhancements and careers like technology

I think it's critical that we create

launch pads spring boards

and other types of talent and mentor

pipelines that allow students to be as

successful as possible when they don't

know what they're gonna be at 23 I had

no idea what I want to be at 23 I don't

really know what I want to be but but

this is a pretty good job this is a

pretty good place to be and I think that

encourage all of you to think about how

do you not lose the instrument but you

merely enhance it because we can bolt

the technology on I guarantee you so do

what makes you happy yeah

whatever your parents say do it do what

makes you happy

read a book learn to write study the

humanities but always think there may be

a job for you and IT thanks for having

me

[Applause]