According to CP Snow’s “The Two Cultures And The Scientific Revolution”, closing the gap between the arts and sciences is necessary for a society to function properly. Before this week, I was not aware of how our educational system created the divide between the arts and sciences. I have always just accepted how the arts and sciences are complete opposites; yet according to the lectures and the RSA's "Changing Education Paradigms", this segregation is a relatively new theory.
http://memegenerator.net/instance/60654965
Ever since I was in primary school, I was taught that everyone had a dominant left or right brain. As I showed promise in mathematics at a young age, my teachers were convinced that I should follow the sciences path in my future studies. When I picked my GCSEs and A-levels (standardised high school exams in England), my teachers encouraged me to pick science subjects. Even at UCLA, the North (arts) and South (sciences) campuses are quite far from each other; it literally took me around 20 minutes to walk from Botany to Broad Art Centre! Also, my maths major is quite a long major, requiring a lot of courses; thus, the opportunities for me to explore arts subjects seriously apart from GEs are rather scarce. The divide between the two cultures is fairly prominent from my personal experience.
http://www.ucmas.ca/our-programs/whole-brain-development/left-brain-vs-right-brain/
Another idea from the readings that fascinated me is the one about creativity from David Bohm’s “On Creativity”. He explained that in fact scientists are also creative, but in a different way than artists. Scientists have always been labelled as overly pragmatic and unimaginative, having dominant left brains. This theory debunks the age-old “left-right brain” theory, which I thought was true for years. Perhaps scientists and artists are not as different as I thought they were.
Last but not least, Kevin Kelly’s “The Third Culture” mentions the emergence of a third culture from the two cultures: the nerd culture. I could not help but think of the Big Bang Theory, and how nerd culture has taken over popular culture nowadays. Steven Pinker also suggests that the third culture will bridge the gap between the arts and sciences.
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/011/946/bazinga-with-sheldon-tshirt-logo-hr.jpg
Having gained new perspectives as to how intricately linked the arts and sciences are, I will try to stop caging myself in the sciences field and maybe start using my right side of my brain from time to time, embracing the arts and sciences simultaneously.
Sources
Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
Changing Education Paradigms. Prod. Abi Stephenson. Perf. The RSA. Changing Education Paradigms. The RSA, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998
Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
Changing Education Paradigms. Prod. Abi Stephenson. Perf. The RSA. Changing Education Paradigms. The RSA, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998
Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.
Two Cultures Steven Pinker. Perf. Steven Pinker. Two Cultures Steven Pinker. Seedmagazine.com, 18 May 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
Two Cultures Steven Pinker. Perf. Steven Pinker. Two Cultures Steven Pinker. Seedmagazine.com, 18 May 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2015.
I really enjoyed reading your post for this week! I definitely agree with you on not noticing how present day educational systems compartmentalize the arts and sciences until this course.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that you mentioned The Big Bang Theory as an example of nerd culture and, coincidentally, I also used that show as an example in my own post! However, I can't help thinking that this is representative of a kind of more pseudo-nerd culture that attempts to make science accessible to the general audience, but just ends up only exploring the subject on a surface level. If this is true, then I don't think that this "nerd culture" is the true third culture that C.P. Snow was searching for. I was wondering what your thoughts on this are!