Week 1: Two Cultures
Week 1 Post: Two Cultures
It's crazy to think how my life, especially right now, has been shaped by me trying to decide whether I like Science or Humanities better. Me trying to decide whether I would be a better worker in the Humanities or the Scientific fields. Me trying to make up my mind as to whether I am a North or a South Campus major. When I started reading these articles and watching the lecture videos, it gave me a sense of relief to know that this has been brought up since 1959, when Charles Percy Snow pointed out that this separation is dangerous and a threat to very capable of minds. He is worried about this separation and claims that the school and universities system is the major source of this problem. I am not an expert and I have only been at UCLA for seven months, but from my experience I could totally agree with his statements. Personally, I have been a victim of this separation and I had never taken my time to realize that I am not the only victim, that all of us who have been affected by this "separation" between the literary intellectuals and the scientists.
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| Dr. Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer, "Effective Communication, Better Science," Scientific American, Springer Nature, February 24, 2015, blogs.scientificamerican.com, 09 Apr. 2017. |
It's crazy to think how my life, especially right now, has been shaped by me trying to decide whether I like Science or Humanities better. Me trying to decide whether I would be a better worker in the Humanities or the Scientific fields. Me trying to make up my mind as to whether I am a North or a South Campus major. When I started reading these articles and watching the lecture videos, it gave me a sense of relief to know that this has been brought up since 1959, when Charles Percy Snow pointed out that this separation is dangerous and a threat to very capable of minds. He is worried about this separation and claims that the school and universities system is the major source of this problem. I am not an expert and I have only been at UCLA for seven months, but from my experience I could totally agree with his statements. Personally, I have been a victim of this separation and I had never taken my time to realize that I am not the only victim, that all of us who have been affected by this "separation" between the literary intellectuals and the scientists.
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| Dorothy Dalton, "Career Managers Understand the Art and Science of Recruitment," Connecting Organizations, Individuals, and Opportunities, July 23 2015, dorothydalton.com, 07 Apr. 2017. |
Throughout this quarter I have been trying to decide whether I want to study Communications or Neuroscience, and when I tell my friends and family this, they all make that face and say “how are you confused if those are completely opposite poles?” I know these are different, but I also know these can be combined with CP Snow’s idea of a “third culture.” I have been taking classes from both fields and have felt in love with both disciplines, so I have decided I want to continue this path and try to get a major in Comm and a minor in Neuroscience. Believe it or not, content of these two fields have indeed overlapped in my classes, for example understanding how the brain behaves in specific situations or disorders. I know learning from both North and South campus will help me become a better divergent thinker and I believe that this gap between Science and Art can indeed be bridged, there is no need to choose either or.
“Neuroscience Symposium." Roche. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., 09 Apr. 2017, www.roche.com/research_and_development, 09 Apr. 2017
Sources:
Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.
Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.
Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998
Throughout this quarter I have been trying to decide whether I want to study Communications or Neuroscience, and when I tell my friends and family this, they all make that face and say “how are you confused if those are completely opposite poles?” I know these are different, but I also know these can be combined with CP Snow’s idea of a “third culture.” I have been taking classes from both fields and have felt in love with both disciplines, so I have decided I want to continue this path and try to get a major in Comm and a minor in Neuroscience. Believe it or not, content of these two fields have indeed overlapped in my classes, for example understanding how the brain behaves in specific situations or disorders. I know learning from both North and South campus will help me become a better divergent thinker and I believe that this gap between Science and Art can indeed be bridged, there is no need to choose either or.
 |
“Neuroscience Symposium." Roche. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., 09 Apr. 2017, www.roche.com/research_and_development, 09 Apr. 2017
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Sources:
Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.
Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.
I found it very interesting how you discussed how in both neuroscience and communication studies you need to understand how the brain functions in response to certain disorders. I find it fascinating that you are studying two subjects that in the eyes of other UCLA students are seen as total opposites because one resides in north campus, the humanities and the other in south campus, science and mathematics while in reality both the humanities and the sciences overlap in various ways. I can very much relate to what you have experienced on campus with your major and minor being seen as not being compatible and I am glad you have decided to do both communication studies and neuroscience!
ReplyDeleteHi Paulina, I also like how you talked about the overlap between neuroscience and communications, I came into UCLA as a neuroscience major but have recently decided to change to psychology. With these two majors I have taken some philosophy classes or social science classes that end up talking about the same thing that I was learning in one of my science classes. I agree that there is a third culture that CP snow talks about in his writing.
ReplyDeleteI really found it interesting how you say that you say that the two areas you wanted to study are polar opposites because in a way I feel like they can be interconnected together. I wanted to go Engineering and Theater similar to you every time I would throw that idea people would say they are opposite. But after doing research Engineering can play a vital role and actually be closer to theater then most think. Although I didn't do Engineering I still think people don't realize that humanities and sciences are actually more connected then they expect it.
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