"What are three reasons for studying chemistry?" Immerse Education
I'm Jaela Manuel and I’m part of south campus as a chemistry major. With that being said, I see the two cultures of south and north campus as separate entities. Like in RSA Animates "Changing Education Paradigm" video, right away, people will associate my major with the image above. Subjects north campus teaches aren’t always fully applicable to south campus and vice versa. I also see that the two campuses have distinctly different attitudes and work ethic which makes it easier for respective campuses to bond with one another rather than with the other. This perspective creates an idea of otherness and less appreciation for the other. I, myself, wanted to minor in film but found it hard to see its applications in chemistry.
“An Update on C. P. Snow’s ‘Two Cultures.’” Scientific American
However, upon reading C.P. Snow's argument in “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution” about the formation and separation of the two cultures, I can understand how he sees that the division had only caused one perspective of the world through science. Art no longer became a valid approach to understand the world, especially in schools. Victoria Vesna’s paper: “Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between” states the significance upon the two cultures to work together rather than not seek help with one another. Many contemporary art pieces wouldn’t be without the input of science. However, she also establishes her perspective that it is not an easy task as the respective cultures’ lack of understanding of the other leaves for out of context interpretations. So she introduces the idea of a third culture by John Brockman which involves contemporary scientists who work to bridge the gap between the two cultures.
"The world without art is just eh" QuoteFancy
With this new perspective in mind, I can see how ignoring one culture or deeming it as unusable develops a narrow perspective of the world. We need art and humanities to understand and spark things like the human’s nature of hope while science is able to make that hope come true. Capitalism has affected people's approaches to the importance of art over science, but if we can bridge the gap especially in schools where brains start to develop, this could change. With my dream being a cosmetic chemist, there are a lot of ways where my scientific approach to developing products will need the understanding of art to produce the best of both worlds.Sources:
Jake. “Do the Arts Even Matter?” Everyday Psych, 21 Jan. 2021, everydaypsych.com/do-the-arts-even-matter/.
Krauss, Lawrence M. “An Update on C. P. Snow’s ‘Two Cultures.’” Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024, www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-update-on-cp-snows-two-cultures/.
“RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Oct. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U.
Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. At the Univ. Press, 1960.
Vesna, Victoria. “Towards a third culture.” Art, Technology, Consciousness, 1 Sept. 2000, pp. 7–12, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv36xw15f.5.
Hi Jaela,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post. I just had a quick reminder that the requirements of the post include three embedded images and a works cited section in MLA format. As for the content of your post, I felt that you clearly captured your prior perspective, the views of the authors, and your shifted perspective after reviewing the readings. I agree with you that we need both science and art/humanities in order to have a broader perspective. It's common to narrow in on your own discipline since you spend so much of your time learning and thinking in that point of view, but that can create limitations if you do not consider the creative aspect of a potential solution. Both disciplines can co-exist and collaborate for a holistic approach, and I think that's a very beautiful and important thing to consider.