Unit 1: Two Cultures
“Creativity is, in my view, something that it is impossible to define in words" (Bohm). Through the material this week, I have realized that the education system has hindered my creativity and limited my opportunities to learn. According to Bohm, creativity is impossible to define. The educational system has put my creative abilities into a definable box.
Even though I am a political science major and am required to take some classes in other majors, I still feel like I am restricted to a certain kind of learning in my major. For this reason, I feel a divide in our campus. Professor Vesna discussed the geographical division in the UCLA campus (Vesna pt3). The science and art buildings are not close. This has been the case throughout all of my education. It has created this stigma in my head that art and science do not coincide with each other.
The separation of art and science has been reinforced in television, books, movies, etc. This is where the stereotypes like the “mad scientist” and “mad artists” come into play (Vesna pt2). When I think of these terms, they have a negative connotation. It brings the thought of two polar opposites and this has been ingrained in my mind through my education.
I have learned that this separation was never intended. Art and science are not meant to be two different cultures, but be one. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was one of the finest poets and playwrights to ever live; at the end of his life, all he cared about was the discoveries he could make in science to further the connection between art and science (Vesna pt2). He believed they only worked at their full potential when they worked together (Vesna pt2). This is exactly where we have strayed from in today’s education system.
Steven Pinker is an advocate for bringing art and science together. He states that humanities in conjunction with science could shed a gigantic amount of light (Pinker). He believes that there is so much more to be discovered and the reevaluation of our education system will play a big role in furthering our discovers (Pinker). However, C.P. Snow was the first advocate for the two cultures to combine and the education system to change. Fifty years ago, he said that our education had "gone wrong" (Snow). It appears that we haven't made the change.
Citations:
Bohm, David Joseph. On Creativity. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. N.p.: MIT, 1968. Print.
"Heroes Out of a Box." Dreaming Hobbit. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe | Biography - German Author." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web.
"Mad Scientist." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web.
Pinker, Steven. "SEEDMAGAZINE.COM Two Cultures Steven Pinker."YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BUbVc7qVpg>.
Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.
Vesna, Victoria. "Two Cultures Pt2." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20&v=GUr4xxZ_0gw>.
Vesna, Victoria. "Two Cultures Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=4FOEuxrwxd0>.
Cody, I can really relate to your two cultures because I am also a political science major and understand your restrictions with class and being creative. Your blog really portrayed the two cultures and how your education experience has "trapped you in a box" when it comes to your creativity. I really enjoyed reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteCody, I totally agree with you! I am a physics major so I see the same thing from the science end of the spectrum. We hardly ever get to collaborate with anything art at all. I feel like some of the higher courses such as lasers and light could easily be coupled with art. However, our school system just does not work that way. Thanks for your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHello Cody, I really enjoyed reading your post. I like the fact that you mentioned the medium that Leonardo Da Vinci used in the "Vitruvian Man". I think its important that you said he drew it with ink because I don't think that Da Vinci would have gotten the same reaction if if was done with a different medium, and the same goes for the other painting we saw in lecture because canvas and oil adds a whole different perspective to art. Moreover, I also thought that the vanishing point was interesting because its almost like a form of control that the painter has on a person/observer without him even knowing us.
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