Despite that utmost passion you have in what say, believe or even think, there is always going to be someone out there who will disagree with your message with enough fury to match the passion which you possess. Whether what they have to say is beneficial or intently malicious, everyone has some sort of opinion, however, some are just better at expressing it than others. We are all exposed to criticism from the day that we are born, from the simplest form of a critique from a sibling or friend to the feedback and corrections from a teacher on an assignment. Despite the negative connotation that the word “criticism” is typically associated with, criticism can also be construed as constructive, for sometimes we get lost in our own thoughts. Criticism can be seen as a link back to back to reality through the way it offers an alternative perspective on the matter at hand. Everything is open to interpretation, but as humans we have a tendency to value our interpretation over others.
As Joe Moran reveals throughout the last chapter of Interdisciplinarity, even the concept of interdisciplinarity is subject to debate. Moran acknowledges that people such as Bill Readings have come to challenge the very basis of interdisciplinarity and its relationship with the core principles of the university. Moran, throughout his book, examines the roots of the university and explains in detail of how these establishments have helped foster the correlation between the different disciplines, which is so integral to how we approach them today. However, within his book, The University in Ruins, Readings claims that the, “contemporary Western university has become a transnational bureaucratic corporation” (166). Readings feels that the modern-day university has become more focused on profit rather than education, which in turn has had an effect on the values that encompass the concept of interdisciplinarity. He argues that by downsizing classes and combining the different disciplines, universities are essentially creating a false sense of interdisciplinarity due to the fact that they are attempting to force a link between the different disciplines as a means to cut costs. Readings suggests that interdisciplinarity is no longer the result of different disciplines’ inherent ability to relate to one another, but rather a synthetic product of the university which has fallen to capitalistic influences
Readings is critical of the ideas that Moran develops and supports throughout his book. As a result, he also downplays the true value of interdisciplinarity by solely looking at its role in the context of the modern world. Interdisciplinarity is a concept that has developed with time as the different disciplines grow, thus allowing for greater evidence to show that they will naturally have commonalties between them. Readings makes an assumption about the role of interdisciplinarity in today’s world and characterizes the concept of interdisciplinarity as something that can be manipulated or forced. Interdisciplinarity has no set boundaries, for there is no rulebook which determines the reason behind how one discipline can connect to another. Simply put: it just happens. There is some truth to what Readings has to offer through the way in which he points out that some universities are focusing more on the value of the school rather than the value of education. However, as the time goes on and the principles of these different institutions change, I believe that the connection between the different disciplines will always remain.
There is no right or wrong interpretation of the concept of interdisciplinarity, yet it is such a relevant concept that there is bound to someone who is critical of its role in our society. Just as Charles McGrath notes within the New York Times article, “Is Everyone Qualified to Be a Critic?” we, “are born picky and judgmental, and as we get older we only become more opinionated and more sure of ourselves,” (1). I believe that criticism is something that you must embrace and use to your advantage. However, as McGrath notes, you should only accept it from, “someone whose judgment you can rely on and learn from,” despite the fact that at times you may not see eye to eye (1). Despite how as humans, we are constantly looking at the world through a judgmental lens, it has dawned on me that my generation has become increasingly afraid of the idea of accepting criticism. We now put the feelings of others before our sincere perspective on the matters at hand, taking away from the overall constructive nature of criticism. We have become too comfortable with the anonymity which technology has provided us with, allowing us to dish it out, but not take it with the same kind of ease. Similar to Sara Munjack’s critique on the coddling nature that Trigger warnings exude within her blog post, “Trigger Warning: Trigger Warning,” we cannot keep on handling matters with kid gloves, because once we have our first glimpse of criticism in the real world; it is going to sting… badly. We have to start embracing criticism for what it is and its inevitability in today’s heavily opinionated society, however, that is just my opinion.