Larry D. Lauer

Early in my academic career I had a student remark: “I don’t think I ever met a ‘broadcast philosopher’ before!”  I was teaching a television production course and I had just handed out a library reading list.  Another student quickly protested: “We don’t expect to have reading requirements in production courses!”

What the students didn’t know was that my undergraduate education was heavy in the liberal arts. I took courses in pyschology, history, international affairs, as well as communications. I always saw media studies as grounded in the world of ideas. I could not imagine producing television programs without a thorough understanding of the nature of the medium, and a familiarity with those who were studying the affects of television on society and individuals. While I eventually knew I would want to study communication in graduate school, especially international communication, I ended my undergraduate days with a degree in philosophy… and have been forever grateful.

Philosophy teaches you to question assumptions.  It reqires each student to organize ideas and facts into systems of thought. And its’ immersion in the world of ideas inevitably results in a healthy skepticism… an extremely valuable world-view for a professional communicator.

Philosophy teaches how to use logic. It confronts you with the ethical implications of your thoughts, and requires you to clarify your overall values. It plunges you into the world of the history of ideas, and shows you how intellectuals and whole civilizations made decisions over the centuries.  You discover that there is little that is new, and there are serious lessons to be learned from those who came before.  You see how civilizations thrived, and you see how they failed!

As my career moved on, the philsospher in me has remained.  Now that I focus on how to make organizaations work more effectively, I begin all presentations, and most of my writing, with the assertion: “Marketing is a way of thinking.”  I firmly believe that all communication begins with carefully developed ideas. The more informed they are, the more effective they will be. Problem-solving is a complex undertaking, and first attempts usually must be adjusted along the way.  One thing is certain:  simplistic ideology is dangerous for the survival of a society. That is a lesson of history.

All of this came to me again this week as I continued to reflect on the wonderful meeting I had last week with some private university presidents.  Most of their institutions are liberal arts-based, and much of our conversation was about the potential consequences of our current focus on “practical” career preparation. What could get lost is the “practical” understanding and skills taught in the liberal arts. It renewed my commitment to persist with my belief that effective professional communication must begin with solid thinking and informed ideas. 

 God bless the philosophers, and the humility they teach us.