Week 1: Two Cultures

C.P. Snow introduces the two cultures as the literary intellectuals and scientific intellectuals. These two spheres are divided by what Snow characterizes as “a gulf of mutual incomprehension… sometimes hostility and dislike.” 

C.P. Snow

Vesna elaborates, attributing this mutual feeling to stereotypes, which can be observed on campus today. The students of South Campus are often seen as pontificating scientists, while the North Campus students are accused of being unnecessarily rooted in theory and abstract. I am a Math/Economics major, a major that Snow may see as a step towards reimagining education, a move to incorporate the third culture. Even then, the very title of the major suggests a distinct divide between the humanities and the hard sciences, a formulaic construction rather than a fluid synthesis.

UCLA, Math and Sciences Building

I see the two cultures as overlapping, and believe that this will only be more common in the coming years. Elements of both cultures are become more prominent in the work of the other, as observed in a New York Times article where professor Edward Frankel describes mathematician Yitang Zhang’s solution as “a renaissance beauty,” emphasizing the importance of precise aesthetics in mathematics. Furthermore, British neuroscientists have discovered that “the same part of the brain that is activated by art and music was activated in the brains of mathematicians when they looked at math they regarded as beautiful.” 

Mathematician Yitang Zhang

I agree with Snow and Vesna that the presence of “middlemen” would only benefit both cultures. An increased understanding of the other culture would allow for increased collaboration and innovation.

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.

Wilkinson, Alec. "Solving an Unsolvable Math Problem - The New Yorker."The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 06 Apr. 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture Part 2." Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=382&v=GUr4xxZ_0gw>.

"Two Cultures: Steven Pinker." Interview. N.p., 18 May 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BUbVc7qVpg>.