Adam Hibberd
Let me put people to rights if they have some idea that what I do is unimportant and even irrelevant. Some even make a comparison with art and culture and try to emphasize how art can transcend the material, that these pursuits have inherent worth and validity as they communicate what can’t be in any other way.
That maybe a point, but in my view it seriously misses THE point.
What I like to do is ask the question, ‘what would we do if we discovered an asteroid will collide with Earth and wipe out humanity?’
Knowledge of STEM would be crucial here in designing a spacecraft, a trajectory, a kinetic impactor to throw the asteroid off course at the calculated optimal time and save humanity.
But what good would art be in comparison? An example course-of-action might be to bring different people together and ask individuals to imagine and paint the asteroid impacting the Earth as a kind of cathartic exercise to make us FEEL better.
There is a stark difference, one is actionable and physically useful, the other is socially and psychologically comforting. One saves the Earth, the other lubricates communication.
They each have a place, and we should do our best to realise that – instead that is of succumbing to the ignorance of ridiculous accusations of uselessness.