Shoots himself in the foot

We will add an eighth: the Opposition has an understanding of the relevance for society at large that doesn't samfunnsrelevant. Especially this goes out of the humanities.

When the progress Roy Steffensen states that we are under the corona the pandemic not "have called for philosophers", it says more about Steffensens a lack of understanding of the time we live in, than it says about the philosophers and humanisters contribution to pandemihåndteringen and society in general.

A pandemikrise is all about much more than the number of health care professionals, respiratorer and a face mask. As we point out in a recently published commentary in the journal Lancet, is the cultural and social assumptions are equally important.

the Humanities can help to understand and improve these assumptions: Historians highlight the past, pandemics and the relationship between pandemiutbrudd and social structures; the philosophers discusses ethical implications of actions and priorities; retorikere and linguists provide input into what information the general population takes and how this information can best be translated.

Covid-19 is the only one of our time's great challenges. Environment and flyktningkriser, conflicts in an increasingly divided world, and the need for innovation in the field of health, working life and IT is the second time trials. As the Un bærekraftmål stresses, such challenges to be solved within one sector alone, but requires breddeperspektiver and long-term thinking.

Neuroscientist and former Ywam-rector Ole Petter Ottersen points out in an article in the Khrono, that our time the most lucrative innovations - such as Airbnb, Facebook, Amazon or PayPal in the limited degree is about technology. It is the cultural innovations. For that new technology to work, the needed knowledge about the society and the culture where the technology is going to exert its effects.

But these tasks also sets new requirements for humanists and humanistic knowledge. Research and education in the humanities must nytenke their tasks and gjenstandsområder, not holding onto the past. Here is not least the connections to the other disciplines is important. New and more interdisciplinary humanities disciplines such as environmental, medical and digital humanities can play an important role in making humaniorafagene less self-centred and more open to a changing world.

the Problem with opposisjonspartienes input to the funding model is not, therefore, the requirement of relevance as such.

Humanists are and should be samfunnsrelevante. But when the requirements for relevance becomes so narrow that Steffensens philosopher-statements testify, shoots forslagsstillerne himself in the foot: such A relevanskrav do not correspond with our modern knowledge society needs.

Want to discuss?