L. Ram, Week 1 Blog Post: Two Cultures

Through reading these texts and examining the videos, it is astonishing to look at and perceive the changes and separation of art and science over time. C.P. Snow first developed the concept of two different cultures, the arts and the sciences, in his 1959 Rede Lecture “Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution”.  In this lecture, Snow analyzes the specific ways in which the individual disciplines of art and science have broken all ties and communication over time. Snow writes that he believes “the intellectual life of the whole of western society is increasingly being split into two polar groups...Literary intellectuals at one pole - at the other scientists, and as the most representative, physical scientists. Between the two a gulf of mutual incomprehension - sometimes (particularly among the young) hostility and dislike, but most of all a lack of understanding" (4).Throughout the lecture, he continues to convey the way this breakdown and overall separation between the two disciplines is causing (and will continue to cause) difficulty in solving the world’s problems. Snow argues that there is a decline in the quality of education because of the fact that students are focusing on either only the humanities or only the sciences. Snow makes a comment that "...some of the very best scientists had and have plenty of energy and interest to spare, and we came across several who had read everything that literary people talk about. But that's very rare” (13). He also goes on to say that those in the humanities do not have a basic understanding of scientific laws.

I believe that the third culture, that of the arts and sciences intertwined, is the culture that is necessary for a progressive and constructive future. I agree with Snow that education needs to expand to study both the arts and the sciences simultaneously, and that there are only negative effects to be seen if they continue to chasm.

In relation to the two cultures, I myself am definitely more centered in the arts portion. Being an English major, I spend all of my time on North Campus taking humanities courses and Film/DESMA electives. However I do feel myself needing to engage the technical or more scientific part of my brain as liberal arts classes can get a bit monotonous. It’s nice to take a class that has concrete information to study, like a science class, and concepts that are not abstract but comprehensible. I think it is necessary to engage in both arts and sciences on a college campus in order to get the best educational experience.