well, wait, wait, wait — there's a big difference between the utility of writing and the practice of teaching writing — two different things. now, i've made the point that writing, or art in general, doesn't do anything tangible in the world. it doesn't fix the toilet the way a plumber can fix the toilet. it doesn't fix a broken arm the way a doctor can fix a broken arm. it is, in a sense, useless. but this uselessness, i think, is the very definition of what makes human life so exciting to live, is because we do have this ability to think and to reflect on what we are thinking and to think about the world and to make art out of that. and to value beauty. but it — exactly — but it doesn't have any concrete purpose in life in the way that all these practical occupations do.