The Only Thing That Can Stop This Asteroid Is Your Liberal Arts Degree

April 22, 2010

The Only Thing That Can Stop This Asteroid Is Your Liberal Arts Degree

Sure, we’ve got dozens of astronauts, physicists, and demolitions experts. I’ll be damned if we didn’t try to train our best men for this mission. But just because they can fly a shuttle and understand higher-level astrophysics doesn’t mean they can execute a unique mission like this. Anyone can learn how to land a spacecraft on a rocky asteroid flying through space at twelve miles per second. I don’t need some pencilneck with four Ph.D’s, one-thousand hours of simulator time, and the ability to operate a robot crane in low-Earth orbit. I need someone with four years of broad-but-humanities-focused studies, three subsequent years in temp jobs, and the ability to reason across multiple areas of study. I need someone who can read The Bell Jar and make strong observations about its representations of mental health and the repression of women. Sure, you’ve never even flown a plane before, but with only ten days until the asteroid hits, there’s no one better to nuke an asteroid.

9:19am | URL: http://wondertonic.tumblr.com/post/540637300/the-only-thing-that-can-stop-this-asteroid-is-your
(view comments)

(No. OF NOTES: 25)

FILED UNDER: literary fame