During my time as a graduate student in Duke University's MFA program in Experimental and Documentary Arts, I've heard my peers, as well as my students as a teaching assistant, express fear and doubt about the "practicality" of pursuing an education in the arts. This ambivalent attitude and cognitive dissonance seems to stem from a combination of factors, not the least of which is a presumption that the purpose of education should be to prepare students to compete for lucrative careers. This view is usually reinforced by conservative families in which art is often regarded as a hobby, decoration, or superfluous entertainment that is less important to society than medicine or law. If the products of an artistic practice can't be sold, or if an artist is unable to somehow make money from their talent or skills, then an education in art is a worthless investment, at least from the market perspective that has hijacked mass culture's relationship with life and the world.