Two Cultures

"Two Cultures" play an important role in understanding the fundamental discrepancy between the arts and sciences. The term was coined by CP Snow, who identified the two cultures as literary intellectuals and natural scientists.  Snow was convinced that the school curricula caused the separation between cultures, pointing it out as the source of the problem. 

On a campus as vast and diverse as UCLA, we are given the fortunate opportunity to explore both the arts and the sciences. Though many "north" campus majors never step foot on the "south" campus side, and vice versa, there are still many chances for individuals to explore the other side. For example, I was a psychobiology major when I first came to UCLA, which allowed me to explore Psychology (north campus) and the human body (south campus), both of which equally fascinates me.  

As a continuing psychology major, I am extremely interested in the way people think. I admit I have fallen to the misconception that right brained people are more artistic and left brained people are more linear. According to Professor Vesna, this common misconception is false. The example she gives is that mathmaticians by nature must be extensively creative. All of the genius businessmen of our time use creativity and art to catalyze the advancement of technology and science. Steve Jobs is a prime example of someone who understood the balance between the arts and sciences. 

A true scholar is one who fully understands and embraces that art and science are inexplicably intertwined.    

Fabian Oefner uses simple scientific phenomena in an unparallel way to unravel how beauty can be seen everyday, if only people take the time to acknowledge it.

At orientation, UCLA freshman ceremonially dip their hands into the inverted fountain, located at the middle ground of north and south campus. This unique piece of art is something that brings the UCLA community together at the beginning of their journey before they embark on their own separate paths at the university. 

Albert Einstein, one of the leading theoretic physicists of his time, believes that creativity can get you farther than knowledge.  

Sources:

"Fabian Oefner: Psychadelic Science." TED Talks. YouTube, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2013.

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

"Steve Jobs." UCLA Undergraduate Admissions. University of California. Web. 05 Oct. 2013.

"University of California, Los Angeles." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 05 Oct. 2013.

Wilson, Stephen D. “Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology.” College Art Association Meetings. New York, New York. 1 Oct. 2012. Lecture.