Week 1: The Two Cultures

 Through reading about the two cultures discussed originally by C.P Snow, it is clear that the separation of art and science has not only affected our history, but continues to today especially in an educational setting. Up until reading “The Two Cultures,” by C.P Snow, I was unaware of this extreme separation between the two fields, and especially how it continues to plague schools and students. 


I started by looking at how this separation may have an affect on me and my education as a college student. I’m a student at UCSB, and I can say that there is an obvious separation of the location of the arts and science buildings. They are situated on opposite sides of campus, almost trying to keep each group only within their field of study's boundaries.


Directions to the Museum | Art Museum - UC Santa Barbara

Elementary aged students are also affected by the "two cultures" idea, and it is extremely important for children to be exposed to all fields. This video notes that as children advance in education, they become less dynamic in learning, and it's more difficult for them to switch and relate amongst multiple fields. Personally I can relate to this, as I wasn't good at math in elementary school. With all of the talk about being math versus art minded, I lost all confidence in any math or science related topics, and to this day I’ve continued to avoid this field, due to the influence my elementary education put on me.



As stated by Snow, science is the newer of the two studies, meaning developments and advancements are being made everyday. While this is wonderful for our modernizing world, it also makes scholars and students of today feel that science is superior, and that they are the true intellectuals. This idea is very similar to how humanitarians acted when the ideas of science were in its first stages. Due to this continued separation and competition between the two groups, students like me, a more artistic and literary grounded individual, feel inferior and less intelligent even at university.

Source: Art vs Science (The Varsity)


Vesna mentions a third culture that would provide a bridge between science and art. I not only think this important in terms of all intellectuals coming together to fix some of the world's major problems, but also to provide a healthy educational environment where students are encouraged to be well rounded in both fields, not having to chose one. 


Source: We Must Drop the ‘Arts’ vs ‘Science’ Narrative


“." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. . Encyclopedia.com. 21 Mar. 2023 .” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 8 Apr. 2023, www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/two-cultures. 

“A Dangerous Divide: The New York Academy of Sciences.” Nyas, www.nyas.org/ebriefings/a-dangerous-divide/?tab=overview. 

“Seedmagazine.com Two Cultures Steven Pinker.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 May 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BUbVc7qVpg. 

Snow, C P. The Two Cultures and Scientific Revolution. The Cambridge University Press, 1961. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, vol. 34, no. 2, 2001, pp. 121–25. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014. Accessed 8 Apr. 2023.



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