Abstract
In Scott Hartley’s book, The Fuzzy and the Techie, he proposes an intellectual argument. In the burgeoning world of technology, there is powerful precedent, that a liberal arts education will be increasingly needed to help create, guide, and implement technology to increase its human utility and ethical application. While the present-day argument for what seems to be becoming part of the zeitgeist of our modern era, that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is the only promise for future employment security, liberal arts provides the transformative learning to make that technology more pragmatic and humane. The liberal arts argument has certainly been made profusely for the acquisition of fundamental thinking and communication skills, and Hartley additionally points out the fundamental necessities found in topics like the humanities and the social sciences, the sciences devoted to the study of human nature, culture, and our larger societies as whole. It is from this viewpoint that much of the creative innovation that alters our lives and the ensuing implications of those innovations are discovered. He proposes that, “The ideal is that a broad liberal arts exposure tugs on the mind, forcing a student to consider positions and opinions that make him or her question perspectives and biases, often fueling late-night debates with classmates” (p. 26). It provides the critical thinking skills that are necessary to challenge old ways of thinking and develop new models that can be accessed and/or enhanced through technological development.
There is a plethora of real-world examples provided throughout the entire text to reinforce his argument. Countless “fuzzies” with liberal arts degrees have used their skills to identify opportunities, needs, and approaches for technology to solve some of the world’s most intractable challenges. They have formed new companies and found spaces in some of the largest existing tech companies to provide intellectual dexterity, coupled with new technology, both needed in order to survive such a fast-paced market.
Scott Hartley’s approach challenges the norm in that his ultimate argument is for an interdisciplinary approach that harnesses both the benefits of STEM and those from a liberal arts background. It is not a conflicting argument that one is perpetually more significant than the other. He no doubt draws on his own experience as a fuzzy political science major at Stanford, eventually working as a venture capitalist evaluating tech start-ups. He is his own proof in the pudding and has interviewed and studied the stories of a myriad of others.
Another topic within the book that may have a monumental impact on transformative learning is the integration of technology into education, what has been termed as blended learning. Loosely defined, blended learning uses technology in a way that allows more self-guided instruction, which requires more student participation, and is largely a project-based approach. Students often find this method engaging, and studies are suggesting that the method has measurable benefits over the lecture-based model of teaching.
Multiple examples are provided of technology being used to enhance deeper learning and human interaction in this way. One example is a company called Remind, which uses push notification to help parents know what their children have studied throughout the week, so they can engage the topics at home. In addition, the technology behind Remind allows for further teacher, student, and parent interaction around the student. Another example is Breakout EDU that helps develop critical thinking skills by having students use several items and clues to figure out how to open a locked box. Students are forced to work collaboratively as a group using this method to develop critical thinking skills in order to solve each step while developing many of the skills needed within the workforce. Other models and companies are discussed to help the reader understand some of the ways education is currently being facilitated through technological enhancements.
The book remains consistent within its basic premise throughout the text. Arguing that many of the soft skills taught in the liberal arts tradition are providing some of the essential elements for technology start-ups and companies. The book begins with setting the foundation about the world of technology, adding in liberal arts and the human factor, followed by a synthesis of the two and how they both add value to each other, concluding with steps to take going forward.
An opportunity was available in the book to explore a current central debate in the technological field, which is the role of women and the cultural milieu in technology, along with the STEM fields that are exerting so much influence in the industry. Debates over workplace discrimination for woman in Silicon Valley and beyond have certainly caught the attention of media outlets. These debates have recently been fueled and will likely continue in the near future. Even in the beginning of this book, Katelyn Gleason, founder of a health-care tech company called Eligible, was interviewed and expressed a similar sentiment. She is quoted as saying, “As a woman with no technical background,” she recalled, “I met lots of skepticism, but again, my acting experience developed my resilience to keep forging ahead in the face of so many turndowns”(p. 4).
The Fuzzy and the Techie truly does deliver on helping the reader to explore the argument of superior results via blending liberal arts and STEM backgrounds. It still takes humans to deal with abstract cognitive tasks, genuine problem-solving, intuition, and so on. There is no doubt that technology will continue to impact our lives in unprecedented ways, but what that impact is, and how it effects humanity, is also being shaped by many of those from the purview of the liberal arts. While in many instances, machines may be able to learn at a pace far greater than humans, it could be argued that one of the greatest distinctions between the two is humans ability, if not hard wiring, for transformative learning. To quote the author in summation, “The point of emphasizing the role of fuzzies is not to say they have an exclusive on the opportunities opening up; it is to say that the fuzzy combined with the techie is the formula for the most transformative, and most successful, innovations-the ones that will most effectively solve the many vexing problems to be tackled and will most humanely enhance our lives” (p. 229).