On Mazes and the LIS Degree

The difference between a labyrinth and a maze is a center. In a maze there's an exit, there's a goal. A maze has no center, it's about the terrestrial goal. The echoing chambers and the walls of ivy or stone or corn are an obstacle. A labyrinth has a center. A maze is something you go through, a labyrinth is something you go to.

What does this have to do with Liberal Studies? It's a question. A standard degree, one that focused upon a vocational or marketable skill, is a maze. If we had some kind of machine that could implant the knowledge without all this hustle and bother, all the better.

A Liberal Studies degree then, is . . ? Because going into this, you have to know that the journey is at least if not more important than the destination. If we had a certainty about exactly what we wanted, why we wanted it, and where that life goal fits than we would simply take that path. Instead, we LIS students opt out to wander the halls of knowledge at our own pace and direction.

I don't know what the best way for people to live is. There are too many outlooks, and I've seen too many people ruin themselves trying to live up to the ideals of others to think that we've found "the best" way to live yet.

That, I suppose is the method to the madness of this degree. It's about internal learning and self-discovery as much as it's about external knowledge acquisition. It's also why I don't think I would have fit in anywhere else. If you can handle the introspection, and have an idea about where you'd like to take yourself, I'd highly recommend the course for those considering it.