Week 1 Two Cultures Blog

Dichotomy is a concept we face our entire lives. Our first exposure to it is our gender, an assignment given right at birth. Move forward about eighteen years and here I am at a college whose campus is completely split down the middle between the humanities and sciences. As seen in the image above, people often obsess over which side of the brain they and their friends "use," and this information is supposed to give us a better idea of who a person is and how to interact with them. We shape our perspectives on a dichotomy that has been ingrained in us since birth. 

Yet with the introduction of the internet and new ways of creating art through technology, change is happening. People are bridging the gap between the two cultures and creating amazing works- works that can be classified both as scientific innovation and artistic masterpieces (Wilson 1). Thus a new "mutant third culture" is coming into play and breaking down pre-established notions on the relationship between science and art (Vesna 122). Scientists should be considered creative thinkers because their experiments are going beyond what already exists in this world- they are trying to create (Bohm).

Another example of science and art is the work of photographer Fabian Oefner.

As Snow wrote, "closing the gap between our two cultures is a necessity in the most abstract intellectual sense, as well as in the most practical" (Snow 53). I believe that with technology this gap will eventually be closed. Technology is creating a culture focused on the arts which is in turn causing more new technology to be created (Kelly). And with the innovations currently being made with 3D printing human creativity will only continue to go above and beyond what we imagined possible. Personally, I can't wait.

Sources
Bohm, D. "On Creativity." Leonardo 1.2 (1968): 137-49. JSTOR. Web. 4 Oct. 2013.

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science Magazine. N.p., 13 Feb. 1998. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Poole, Nicky. "Are You Right or Left Brain Dominant?" Blog 889 Are You Right or Left Brain Dominant Comments. N.p., 02 Nov. 2011. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.\

When Science Meets Art: Fabian Oefner at TEDxWarwick 2013. Perf. Fabian Oefner. YouTube. TedxTalks, 04 Apr. 2013. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Wilson, Stephen. "Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology" College Arts Association Meetings. 2000. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.