Because I am a stem major, I am inclined to say that Enlightenment is most agreeable, while Romanticism is a distraction. However, I recognize that I am not a perfect person. I am only human, and as a result, I am not a perfect rational being. So while I would like to only agree with Enlightenment, I do also believe in Romanticism. As a person, I make decisions that are not always perfectly rational (like playing games and sleeping in). However, they help me relax, and as a person, I want to be happy. So I agree with both Romanticism and Enlightenment.

For me, humanity helps me differentiate the different views my traditional immigrant parents gave me, and the ones western culture forced on me. For example, in lecture Professor Watkins stated how having children was completely irrational (as it gave him no profit). However, my parents come from poor farming families. As a result, their parents had them, so that they would take care of them when they get older (my grandma lives with my parents). To my grandparents, my parents were in an investment or a retirement plant. As a result, I am my parents’ retirement plan. The obligations that I have are much different than what western culture sees. Humanities helps me differentiate my obligations and values.

For me, the most important takeaway is that I am not a perfectly rational being. For example, I really enjoyed Goethe’s text as it presented a perfectly different view from Enlightenment and rationalism. Through his text, I realized just how irrational we are, even though we always preach about rationalism. Humanities help me learn more about myself and how irrational humans can be.

This is my favorite romantic era painting