Why the arts matter to us all
Creativity is absolutely essential in both work, and life itself.
We would physically wallow in our own existence without creative minds from the past, present and future painting our black and white lives in vibrant colours. So why is 'art' still categorised under the titles of 'lazy', 'self-absorbed' and, ultimately, 'absolutely useless compared to science and maths'? Even Education Minister Nicky Morgan has waded in to suggest that arts subjects are an inferior option. No one can effectively argue that visual art is an academic subject, because that would be, in essence, just the same as trying to argue that Donald Trump is relevant, humane, and all-in-all a hunky-dory down-to-Earth chap with a nice haircut and an equally nice demeanour. It's just not correct. But 'academia' is not synonymous with 'intelligence' - and this is the crucial error that so many individuals on this planet will make on a regular basis.
In fact, the wobbly line between academia and creativity all comes down to that one thing that every human being has pulsing away in their skull at this very second - the common denominator between us all. The brain. And for all you creatives reading this - no, this is not going to descend into a science lesson, for I have about as much scientific knowledge as Trump has working brain cells. And similarly, I apologise to the science-lovers of you on my hole-filled understanding of the functions of the brain. BUT, to my (limited) knowledge, I understand that the reasons behind why some people favour arty subjects over those that are book-learnt and vice-versa are actually really interesting.
The brain has two sides: left, and right. It's been said that the left side controls the analytical stuff, whereas the right tends to focus more on the creative side of things. More specifically, it is thought that the right side is associated with recognising faces, expressing emotions, music, reading emotions, colour, images, intuition and creativity, whereas the left is more associated with language, logic, critical thinking, numbers and reasoning. If you want to known the snazzy-science name for this, it's called the 'left brain, right brain dominance theory', and it was conjured up by a guy called Roger W. Sperry.
You may have even come across people in life that identify as 'left or right-brained', as if to say that one side was more dominant for them. But in actual fact, this theory is really more myth than truth. And more than that, these two sides of the brain actually work in harmony with one another; the left side controls the muscles on the right, and the right side controls the muscles in the left. In fact, in most recent research, studies have shown that individuals that thrive specifically in maths tend to do better because they use both halves of their brain in equal measure. So if this was anything to go by in modern life, academics and creatives globally would surely be able to work in harmony...wouldn't they? Unfortunately, it's just not that easy an idea for some to grasp.
For some reason, an unfair stigma has been attached to subjects that require fewer books, and more ideas, in that they are supposedly the 'easier option'. But what would we listen to if music didn't exist? How would we visualise stories if there were no theatres, or more importantly, no actors and actresses? What if TV programmes hadn't been invented...or the television itself? How would we entertain ourselves? How would we escape and find catharsis without this supposedly unintelligent, unimportant, irrelevant concept of art itself?
Life would certainly be very grey without it. But similarly, we wouldn't be able to thrive without academics. Both creative-thinking and analytical-thinking are crucial elements of existence, and the sooner people start to realise that, and understand that taking art as a subject and taking science as a subject both require the use of two completely separate parts of the brain, but don't require any more actual 'intelligence', the sooner life will become far easier for everyone.
So, the next time someone tries to mock you for taking that Art BTEC, or tries to tell you that you’re just doing a ‘soft’ subject, or that Drama is pointless, summarise this article into a short/long rant about how intelligence is a mark of how hard you work, and how hard you think and not about the number of equations you can do. That the concept of value is one they ought to reconsider. The arts require just as much intelligence as the sciences. And they’re essential to a rounded, meaningful cultured life. Anyone saying otherwise should definitely walk away now.
Lucy Powderly, Year 12
We would physically wallow in our own existence without creative minds from the past, present and future painting our black and white lives in vibrant colours. So why is 'art' still categorised under the titles of 'lazy', 'self-absorbed' and, ultimately, 'absolutely useless compared to science and maths'? Even Education Minister Nicky Morgan has waded in to suggest that arts subjects are an inferior option. No one can effectively argue that visual art is an academic subject, because that would be, in essence, just the same as trying to argue that Donald Trump is relevant, humane, and all-in-all a hunky-dory down-to-Earth chap with a nice haircut and an equally nice demeanour. It's just not correct. But 'academia' is not synonymous with 'intelligence' - and this is the crucial error that so many individuals on this planet will make on a regular basis.
In fact, the wobbly line between academia and creativity all comes down to that one thing that every human being has pulsing away in their skull at this very second - the common denominator between us all. The brain. And for all you creatives reading this - no, this is not going to descend into a science lesson, for I have about as much scientific knowledge as Trump has working brain cells. And similarly, I apologise to the science-lovers of you on my hole-filled understanding of the functions of the brain. BUT, to my (limited) knowledge, I understand that the reasons behind why some people favour arty subjects over those that are book-learnt and vice-versa are actually really interesting.
The brain has two sides: left, and right. It's been said that the left side controls the analytical stuff, whereas the right tends to focus more on the creative side of things. More specifically, it is thought that the right side is associated with recognising faces, expressing emotions, music, reading emotions, colour, images, intuition and creativity, whereas the left is more associated with language, logic, critical thinking, numbers and reasoning. If you want to known the snazzy-science name for this, it's called the 'left brain, right brain dominance theory', and it was conjured up by a guy called Roger W. Sperry.
You may have even come across people in life that identify as 'left or right-brained', as if to say that one side was more dominant for them. But in actual fact, this theory is really more myth than truth. And more than that, these two sides of the brain actually work in harmony with one another; the left side controls the muscles on the right, and the right side controls the muscles in the left. In fact, in most recent research, studies have shown that individuals that thrive specifically in maths tend to do better because they use both halves of their brain in equal measure. So if this was anything to go by in modern life, academics and creatives globally would surely be able to work in harmony...wouldn't they? Unfortunately, it's just not that easy an idea for some to grasp.
For some reason, an unfair stigma has been attached to subjects that require fewer books, and more ideas, in that they are supposedly the 'easier option'. But what would we listen to if music didn't exist? How would we visualise stories if there were no theatres, or more importantly, no actors and actresses? What if TV programmes hadn't been invented...or the television itself? How would we entertain ourselves? How would we escape and find catharsis without this supposedly unintelligent, unimportant, irrelevant concept of art itself?
Life would certainly be very grey without it. But similarly, we wouldn't be able to thrive without academics. Both creative-thinking and analytical-thinking are crucial elements of existence, and the sooner people start to realise that, and understand that taking art as a subject and taking science as a subject both require the use of two completely separate parts of the brain, but don't require any more actual 'intelligence', the sooner life will become far easier for everyone.
So, the next time someone tries to mock you for taking that Art BTEC, or tries to tell you that you’re just doing a ‘soft’ subject, or that Drama is pointless, summarise this article into a short/long rant about how intelligence is a mark of how hard you work, and how hard you think and not about the number of equations you can do. That the concept of value is one they ought to reconsider. The arts require just as much intelligence as the sciences. And they’re essential to a rounded, meaningful cultured life. Anyone saying otherwise should definitely walk away now.
Lucy Powderly, Year 12