Trying To Defend The Humanities, Ken Burns Hints At What's Wrong With The Humanities

Well, there's some ok stuff toward the end, but the first half of the story shows Burns himself exhibiting the vices of the contemporary humanities: an over-emphasis on race, some babble about "privilege"...and then this:

Unlike our current culture wars, which have manufactured a false dialectic just to accentuate otherness, the humanities stand in complicated contrast, permitting a nuanced and sophisticated view of our history, as well as our present moment, replacing misplaced fear with admirable tolerance, providing important perspective and exalting in our often contradictory and confounding manifestations,"

Yeesh, that first part...

   The humanities are full of bullshit right now, and the softer social sciences are not much better, at best. No one should be defending the humanities right now without admitting that much of what passes for the humanities these days is indefensible. They'd be easier to defend if they were more worthy of defense.