The
division between arts and sciences is something I’ve never really put much
thought into. This division has become clearer at UCLA.
I
entered as an applied math major, which placed ne solidly in south campus. This
identification as a ‘science-y’ person resonated with me, as I’ve always liked
math better than writing or history, but I didn’t give thought to this division
between north and south as directly influencing my thoughts. Last quarter I switched to economics, and it
was a little weird being closer to the middle of the spectrum. The parts of
Snow’s essay about the perceptions literary intellectuals and scientists have
of each other stood out to me. I fear I had fallen into that trap a little last
year, segmenting UCLA students and ‘identifying’ with a group, further
solidifying the division between arts and sciences.
These
differences pointed out in Snow’s essay reminded me of a story I had read in a collection
of stories- Surely You’re Joking, Mr.
Feynman! Richard Feynman was an accomplished physicist, and his friend was
an artist. They decided to try and teach each other some of their vocations,
and so a physicist learned to sketch.
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=380
Part
of why this interested me was their discussion about beauty; I linked a quote
from Feynman below that illustrates it.
I
think this shows how science can enhance something generally thought to belong
to art- beauty. This goes into questioning beauty as something simple or
deriving from understanding, as a simple flower is much easier to relate to for
me than some of the more abstract sculptures in the sculpture garden, which I
know absolutely nothing about.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Murphy_Sculpture_Garden
Similarly, there are many ways in which the
humanities can enhance scientific education.
Some
of the division possibly derives from the perceived worth of the subjects. As
stated in the Changing Education Paradigms animation, our education system is
very industry focused, and its ‘purpose’ is to get employed. A running jokes is that south campus
majors are guaranteed good jobs, while north campus majors aren’t. Though said commonly
as a joke, this hints at a difference in perceived worth between the humanities
and sciences. Some hurdles to overcome are these perceptions: stigmas and stereotypes
associated with different subjects, and making positive connections- such as what
each can contribute or how they can enhance each other- instead of reasons why
they’re different.
Citations:
UCLA
Snaps community Facebook page. Photograph. n.p. Web. 4/5/2015 <https://www.facebook.com/pages/UCLA-Snaps/517894448330147>
Richard
P Feynman, Ralph Leighton, Edward Hutchings. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!. 1985. New York : W.W. Norton.
Richard
P Feynman. Dabney Zorthian. Alphonse
Mucha Fine Art. 1964. Photograph. n.p. web. 4/5/2014.
<http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=380>
Richard
Feynman quotes, Goodreads. Web. 4/5/2015. <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/184384-i-have-a-friend-who-s-an-artist-and-has-sometimes>
Springer-Verlag. The Algorithmic
Beauty of Plants. Algorithmic
Botany at the University of Calgary. 1990. Web. 4/5/2015. <http://algorithmicbotany.org/papers/>
Jacques
Lipchitz. Song of the Vowels. Wikipedia.
Photograph. n.p. web. 4/5/2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Murphy_Sculpture_Garden>
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