Karl Marx, in his theory of labour, writes that Humanity has been endowed with a particular capacity which makes it different from the other living creatures, their ability to manifest their imagination. Humanity can produce in reality what they have conceived in abstraction. Human beings have always progressed and tried to advance themselves through the utilisation of their primal capacity. We were nomads, then we create settlements, with settlements we started agriculture. For better agricultural practices, we developed tools of metals and stones. After we created markets, we built an empire and authority for better allocation of power.
All these developments and progressions would not have been manifested if there were no ways of transferring knowledge. Education and its communication has been the fundamental pillar of all the advancements of human society.
Earlier, the study of one particular branch was done in isolation with the other, Sociology was studied separately from Psychology, History was seen as a separate entity from Geology, et cetera. However, with the growth of a modern homogenised world, we have become so interconnected, that knowledge cannot be achieved in isolation. To know the reality of a particular topic, we have to connect every link that the topic has with other subjects. We cannot study politics separate from history or geography as a separate subject from botany and geology.
To propagate the idea of a multidisciplinary approach to knowledge enhancement, Northeastern University started a summer program called “Dialogue on civilisation” where students are taught about the links and interconnectivity among the different fields of study, basically focusing on the Scientific Revolution and Computational Revolution. Northeastern University student Carissa Lellos says, that she was amazed when she found the inception of psychology in anatomy and botany. The need of the era, the next step of human advancement can be achieved only through the interlinking of various fields of study in a coherent manner that transcends the limits of specialisation and singularity.
Nafis Haider
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