Here is another rare update from everyone’s favourite Yemeni paint-splattered social recluse.
As I contemplate which disciplines to study in graduate school that would be worthwhile (interesting, challenging, and practical), I may as well do some leisurely reading :) Most of the world values STEM more than ALPH — i.e., Arts, Literature & Linguistics, Philosophy, and History.
One trend that seems to hold true is that graduates of ALPH disciplines cannot excel, earn enough, or gain the respect from the STEM community or the rest of the world . . . unless they were to be highly exceptional in their fields, have a PhD, solve a problem and have a practical use for society. It takes longer for us to get where we want to be in the world, but we eventually arrive.
My goal for the decade of 2020 to 2030 is to bring about an era of enlightenment in the Middle East by eradicating dogmatic systems . . .
by returning all looted museum artifacts . . .
by restoring crumbling monuments and ancient temples . . .
by reviving languages on the verge of extinction . . .
by building dams in flood-prone areas of Yemen . . .
and by educating the newer generations how to think, and not what to think . . .
AND IT ALL STARTS WITH THESE BOOKS.
I yearn to go to graduate school; I would have to fight my way to gain admission, on top of being costly financially and costly in cortisol. But it is worth it and it is necessary. Everything I have listed above are but a few practical solutions that could be implemented by myself and other serious ALPH graduates who have so much to lose if they do not leave their marks on society. Together, ALPH folks and STEM folks build civilisations (notice how there is no R or P for religion and politics, heh). Here in the Pacific Northwest, the two options nearest to me are University of Washington’s NELC or University of British Columbia’s Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies programme. The Atlantic Northeast offers plenty more, so hopefully I can get a PhD from there. I may or may not get into graduate school anytime soon, but I will continue to learn either way, until the time comes to influence a golden age for the generations to come.
Inner Voice: “Or you could just fulfil your latest whimsy of becoming a bee-keeper on an isolated mountain.”
Me: “NO!!!!” (Although I have a high respect for all the hardworking bee-keepers and only purchase my honey directly from their farms.)
Description of Photo (clock-wise from upper left corner):
(1) The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels, by Alexander Heidel.
(2) Extinct Languages, by Johannes Friedrich.
(3) Modern Aramaic: Assyrian and Syriac, by Nicholas Awde, Nineb Lamassu, and Nicholas Al-Jeloo.
(4) An Introduction to Islamic Philosophy, by Massimo Campanini.
Beyond Babylonia 
Leave a Reply