Thehumanities are an endless collection of human documentation; bounded togetherby our own values and perceptions of one another.
As individuals, it isimportant for us to connect with each other and share our ideas. The humanitiesintroduce us to many important themes that are evident throughout our lives;such as global perspective and history. An important theme presented in thestudy of the humanities is life skills. These skills may include criticalthinking, teamwork, decision making, self-evaluation, and problem solving;which are especially important in the process of communicating effectively. Themany challenges that we are faced with in different situations can be overcome throughthe development of our skills used in everyday life.Ourlife skills are significant to us in all aspects of our lives; especially inour workplace environments. Critical thinking is an example of one skillutilized in schools and other workplaces.
This skill is described as thecareful analyzation of a concept or situation to produce a logical response.Critical thinking serves as the basis for making rational, reliable, andunbiased decisions. At our workplaces, those who take on leadership roles mustrealize the importance of making precise and timely judgements, as they mayaffect the organization entirely. Thinking critically may also remove thebarrier that affects how we express our ideas effectively through developingour language—enabling us to change the way concepts are proposed to otherindividuals. As a student, my critical thinking abilities often influence theway I approach certain problems.
It is important that I choose a logical pathso that I can arrive at a proper conclusion and help my peers.Creativethinking is a skill that is defined as our ability to produce new approaches tosituations and innovations. Creativity is a trait that gives individuals avaluable sense of identity and distinguishes them from others. Creativethinking gives people the opportunity to view ideas and conceptions from a newperspective.
Seeing things from different viewpoints allows you to see theflaws presented in arguments and other discussions. Unorthodox thinking accountsfor most of the inventions that are used in modern society; such as bandages,cameras, and ear muffs. By taking new approaches and making new techniques tosolve every-day concerns, we can discover a plethora of solutions. As we journey through thepaths of life, we often begin to inspect ourselves and attempt to find a trueunderstanding of who we are and what we believe.
This is a process calledself-evaluation; it allows us to reflect on what we hold dear to our hearts andidentify our strengths and weaknesses. While studying the humanities, we mustfirst understand ourselves before we can learn about each other’s culture. Byevaluating ourselves, we can find out what we are good at, and contrarily, theareas that we lack in. We develop our moral characters and learn new skills byacknowledging our imperfections and building on them.Teamworkis one of the most common skills required when cooperating with otherindividuals. We often learn about teamwork as children in primary school, oftenworking together produce simple crafts and competing against each other ingroups. When people work together as a team, they are often in pursuit ofachieving a common goal.
Companies often create teams to perform certain tasksin an efficient manner and to maintain an effective sense of communicationbetween workers. Seldom are people able to function as a whole without workingtogether. Teamwork is one factor that enables us to have a strong work ethicand support each other.
By working together, people can begin to see the valuewithin each other and even share new ideas.Inthe short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, theauthor describes a society whose citizens thrive on an artificial mean of joyin bargain for the happiness and well-being of a child being held captiveunderneath the city. Perhaps if the citizens of Omelas were able to find truehappiness through the development of their life skills by cooperating with eachother in an emotional sense and trying to figure out a way to balance thehappiness of the child and people, then they would not have to bear the burdenof knowing that all their smiles and laughter were in vain.Thestudy of the humanities provides us with key insights to understanding eachother as humans. An important theme that I have stumbled upon in my studies islife skills, which are the necessary skills humans need to function andcommunicate effectively with each other. Some important life skills includeteamwork, creativity, critical-thinking, and self-evaluation.
These skill setsallow us to further understand each other and our cultures of the past andpresent.