Week 1: Two Cultures

Growing up I could always feel the divide between the two different intellectuals. My mom always told me that I was ADD and that I was right brained. I was raised in an environment that did not encourage me to use the non-dominant side of my brain, it just made me feel like I wasn’t smart because that wasn’t my first instinct. Schools do not support real learning, instead they medicate the kids and force information into their brains. Ken Robinson brings up this issue with medication in his talk at the RSA and how schools are supporting real education.

Playing at UCLA

I have always had an issue with my self identity because I grew up in a creative environment, but also an athletic environment. There was always a divide between the two just like there is a divide between the scientists and the artists. I play beach volleyball at UCLA and I am also trying to study film but they might as well be two completely different worlds. I know plenty of athletes who are sociology or psychology majors and they have never been to the south side of campus.

Photoshoot from high school

Our societies thrive off of collaboration and working together and we see the most growth and change in the world when people come together to work on projects and issues. On top of that I believe that everything can be connected some way or another. I agree with C.P Snow that there is a divide between the science side of the world and the literary side, but I think that we need to focus on bringing together the two cultures instead of waiting around for a third culture to arise. There is so much overlap in the world and it would be beneficial to the scientists to have a creative side and it would be beneficial to the artists to understand why things work the way they do. Vesna talks about in Toward a Third Culture how the scientists are mad at the artists because they are talking about things they do not understand and the people listening are receiving false information. These two groups of people could be helping each other if they would communicate and share ideas instead of isolating themselves.

References

1. Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.
2. Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.
3. “C. P. SnowThe Two Cultures.” C. P. Snow - The Two Cultures Debate Controversy Rede Lecture 1959, www.age-of-the-sage.org/scientist/snow_two_cultures.html.
4. SAlsberry, Christina. “Left Brain, Right Brain: Ms. Resillez and Mrs. Bock.” Somerset Sentinel, 16 May 2018, somersetsentinel.com/1758/features/left-brain-right-brain-ms-resillez-and-mrs-bock/.
5. RSA, The. "RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms." Youtube, Youtube, 14 Oct. 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U