<p>Art can be one of many ways to &quot;pursue the betterment of the human civilization&quot;.</p>
<p>Think back to the beginnings of human civilization. In cold climates, humans had to stick pieces of fur together to keep them warm, and thus the art of sewing was born. Twigs or straw was woven into baskets to help carrying things. Once humans were able to extract fibres from plants (or animals), they had to make them longer in order to get useful tools like ropes or fishing lines, which created the art of spinning. From this spun yarn they started making clothes and fishing nets, ship sails and many more objects that made life easier and ensured the survival of humans. Add stone masons and carpenters to the mix and humans had houses to shelter themselves from the elements and wild beasts.</p>
<p>Most forms of art originate from these basic crafts. Once you could weave fabric, you could add <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17370/17370-h/17370-h.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">patterns to the fabric</a> (<a href="https://www.academia.edu/11916994/Tablet_woven_Ribbons_from_the_prehistoric_Salt_mines_at_Hallstatt_Austria_results_of_some_experiments" rel="nofollow noreferrer">or ribbon</a>). Once you could hollow wood out to make a container from it, you could also <a href="https://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/class-projects/providing-for-the-afterlife/kohl-tube-in-the-shape-of-a-palm-column/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">carve designs into the tube</a>. Once you could knot a fishing net, you could miniaturize this net into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filet_lace" rel="nofollow noreferrer">filet lace</a>. Even the oldest extant pieces of <a href="https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/prehistoric-pottery-0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">neolithic pottery are decorated</a>, even though the decoration doesn't have any practical value.</p>
<p>Humans seem to have always possessed an inherend drive to decorate their surroundings. Whenever there had been a technique or technology to produce a practical object, it soon got improved to make the object more decorative. Inventions like the <a href="https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/jacquard-loom" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jaquard weaving loom</a> gave us the inspiration to code instruction in paper punch cards and read and write digital information for the first computers. The high towers or gothic churches gave rise to modern architecture, which allows us to build sky scrapers today. The first cave drawings developed into life-like oil paintigs, gave the inspiration to photo cameras and are now further developed into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">digital renderings of phantasy planets</a>. The same technology is also used in medicine to render internal organs of patients before surgeons operate on them. Origami is used to fold solar sails for satelites and space probes.</p>
<p>From time to time it is argued that certain old arts or crafts are useless in our modern life and shouldn't be preserved, but you never know when the next great invention builds upon the hundred and thousands years of experience of our ancestral craftsmen (and women).</p>
<p>Even if an artwork doesn't have an obvious practical use, it still makes our life more beautiful. Imagine living in a world without music, in a house with only white walls, wearing only white clothes, going to work in a white office building, going to a white temple or church without decorations... Your whole life would probably feel extremely uniform and boring, maybe even pointless. A song on the radio, a picture on your livig room or office wall, colorful clothes and sacret images in a church or temple give your life some highlights. They give your brain some distraction from the monotony of life and may increase creativity for your day-to-day work.</p>
<p>And traditional arts that may have lost their practical values today can still remind people of past generations and make them feel connected with their ancestors. That may not push the boundaries or sciense, but it's an improvement for the individual people who may otherwise feel lost and meaningless.</p>
<hr />
<p>As a personal note: Over the last 2 - 3 years I was increasingly interested in historical arts and crafts. Before that time, I thought that our ancestors were not as clever as we are and had more primitive technology, so everything they did must have been worse than what we do today. Oh boy was I wrong! Our ancestors spend much more time on the creation of a single piece of art or craftmanship and it had to last much longer (like machines and clothes that had to last several years). Therefore our ancestors developed techniques and used materials in certain ways that are much better than our modern materials - if used in the correct way. Our modern technology has led to things like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_fashion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fast fashion</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism" rel="nofollow noreferrer">consumerism</a> that is detrimental for the environment and most people working in the creation of textiles or electronics. I personally think that a &quot;betterment for the human civilization&quot; would be rethinking our relationship with textiles and re-adopting some historic techniques of our ancestors.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-26T16:18:53.987Z
2021-12-26T16:18:53.987Z
Elmy
<p>I am new in this community. Recently, a thought has been bothering me a lot and I haven't able to give myself a convincing answer about the same. Some background over here, I am software engineer who just finished his Masters in Computer Science. I am also a trained classical musician (I play the Indian classical instrument tabla, I learnt the instrument for almost 8 years). As a child, I also gave competitive exams for craft and drawing.</p>
<p>The question that is bothering me is that, &quot;Why should one pursue art?&quot; I understand that these arts (literature, painting, music, etc.) are a wonderful way of expressing the human creativity and expression. But as a human being, shouldn't life be pursued for the betterment of the human civilization? Push the boundaries of science? Help humanity? I know the argument over here seems flawed and has many holes in it, but I haven't been able to wrap my brain around it.</p>
<p>Can anyone enlighten me? Or give some direction to my thought?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-27T11:35:59.733Z
Hi Deven, this question is a very important one, but unfortunately off-topic here. I'll see if we can have a generic, one-to-rule-them-all question of this nature on our [Meta]. I'll let you know if and when, so please stay tuned :)
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-29T01:43:06.590Z
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out.
Deven Mistry
<painting>
why pursue art?
Deven Mistry
# why pursue art?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-12-26)

I am new in this community. Recently, a thought has been bothering me a lot and I haven't able to give myself a convincing answer about the same. Some background over here, I am software engineer who just finished his Masters in Computer Science. I am also a trained classical musician (I play the Indian classical instrument tabla, I learnt the instrument for almost 8 years). As a child, I also gave competitive exams for craft and drawing.

The question that is bothering me is that, "Why should one pursue art?" I understand that these arts (literature, painting, music, etc.) are a wonderful way of expressing the human creativity and expression. But as a human being, shouldn't life be pursued for the betterment of the human civilization? Push the boundaries of science? Help humanity? I know the argument over here seems flawed and has many holes in it, but I haven't been able to wrap my brain around it.

Can anyone enlighten me? Or give some direction to my thought?

**Tags:** painting

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi username_0, this question is a very important one, but unfortunately off-topic here. I'll see if we can have a generic, one-to-rule-them-all question of this nature on our [Meta]. I'll let you know if and when, so please stay tuned :)  
> **username_0**: Thanks, I'll keep an eye out.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-12-26. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Art can be one of many ways to "pursue the betterment of the human civilization".

Think back to the beginnings of human civilization. In cold climates, humans had to stick pieces of fur together to keep them warm, and thus the art of sewing was born. Twigs or straw was woven into baskets to help carrying things. Once humans were able to extract fibres from plants (or animals), they had to make them longer in order to get useful tools like ropes or fishing lines, which created the art of spinning. From this spun yarn they started making clothes and fishing nets, ship sails and many more objects that made life easier and ensured the survival of humans. Add stone masons and carpenters to the mix and humans had houses to shelter themselves from the elements and wild beasts.

Most forms of art originate from these basic crafts. Once you could weave fabric, you could add [patterns to the fabric](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17370/17370-h/17370-h.htm) ([or ribbon](https://www.academia.edu/11916994/Tablet_woven_Ribbons_from_the_prehistoric_Salt_mines_at_Hallstatt_Austria_results_of_some_experiments)). Once you could hollow wood out to make a container from it, you could also [carve designs into the tube](https://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/class-projects/providing-for-the-afterlife/kohl-tube-in-the-shape-of-a-palm-column/). Once you could knot a fishing net, you could miniaturize this net into [filet lace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filet_lace). Even the oldest extant pieces of [neolithic pottery are decorated](https://archaeology.uiowa.edu/prehistoric-pottery-0), even though the decoration doesn't have any practical value.

Humans seem to have always possessed an inherend drive to decorate their surroundings. Whenever there had been a technique or technology to produce a practical object, it soon got improved to make the object more decorative. Inventions like the [Jaquard weaving loom](https://www.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/jacquard-loom) gave us the inspiration to code instruction in paper punch cards and read and write digital information for the first computers. The high towers or gothic churches gave rise to modern architecture, which allows us to build sky scrapers today. The first cave drawings developed into life-like oil paintigs, gave the inspiration to photo cameras and are now further developed into [digital renderings of phantasy planets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)). The same technology is also used in medicine to render internal organs of patients before surgeons operate on them. Origami is used to fold solar sails for satelites and space probes.

From time to time it is argued that certain old arts or crafts are useless in our modern life and shouldn't be preserved, but you never know when the next great invention builds upon the hundred and thousands years of experience of our ancestral craftsmen (and women).

Even if an artwork doesn't have an obvious practical use, it still makes our life more beautiful. Imagine living in a world without music, in a house with only white walls, wearing only white clothes, going to work in a white office building, going to a white temple or church without decorations... Your whole life would probably feel extremely uniform and boring, maybe even pointless. A song on the radio, a picture on your livig room or office wall, colorful clothes and sacret images in a church or temple give your life some highlights. They give your brain some distraction from the monotony of life and may increase creativity for your day-to-day work.

And traditional arts that may have lost their practical values today can still remind people of past generations and make them feel connected with their ancestors. That may not push the boundaries or sciense, but it's an improvement for the individual people who may otherwise feel lost and meaningless.

---

As a personal note: Over the last 2 - 3 years I was increasingly interested in historical arts and crafts. Before that time, I thought that our ancestors were not as clever as we are and had more primitive technology, so everything they did must have been worse than what we do today. Oh boy was I wrong! Our ancestors spend much more time on the creation of a single piece of art or craftmanship and it had to last much longer (like machines and clothes that had to last several years). Therefore our ancestors developed techniques and used materials in certain ways that are much better than our modern materials - if used in the correct way. Our modern technology has led to things like [fast fashion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_fashion) and [consumerism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism) that is detrimental for the environment and most people working in the creation of textiles or electronics. I personally think that a "betterment for the human civilization" would be rethinking our relationship with textiles and re-adopting some historic techniques of our ancestors.


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