Week 1 - Two Cultures

I am a fourth-year computer science student at UCLA, graduating in June 2018. I can relate to C. P. Snow's claim of a present, lingering divide between the arts and sciences because during my time at the university, many of my technical classes took place in South Campus while my nontechnical classes took place in North Campus. This divide is geographically and physically apparent, as South Campus consisted of industrial-looking buildings dedicated to the sciences and North Campus buildings had architecture ranging from 12th century Romanesque to modern corporate with names emphasizing the humanities. 

The California Nanosystems Institute is a building located in South Campus.

Simultaneously, I am intrigued by Snow's prediction of an emergence of a third culture, as Kelly puts it in his article called "The Third Culture." He described that art and science can indeed work together, and the offspring of this cooperation is technology, which presents exciting possibilities and generates theories to better understand and even appreciate the world around us in ways we never thought possible. Personally, I find Apple to be a personification of this third culture, through its products like the iPhone. As an iPhone owner, I marvel at its design, which in itself is a work of art. It's easy to hold and looks very beautiful at all angles. It's also a feat of engineering, since science was involved to provide the necessary specifications and materials to power a handheld device. 

The iPhone is a magnificent piece of art and science.

This newfound perspective on the two cultures and the rise of a third culture provided me a deeper appreciation for the role of technology today. Indeed, it's a phenomenon involving not just artists and scientists but also laypeople as well, with improvements happening iteratively through constant dialogue and feedback between all parties. That's what I see as iPhones get better every year for instance.  All together, technology becomes a creative process that is focused on creation, where its produced novelties become the "means to truth and experience." (Kelly, 1998). I now look more forward to building technologies when I start working!

science + art = wonder!

References:

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

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture" Science 13 February 1998: Vol. 279 no. 5353 pp. 992-993. Web.

California Nanosystems Institute. N.d. Los Angeles. Give to the California Nanosystems Institute | UCLA Technology. Web. 8 Apr. 2018.

IPhone X. 2017. Apple Details IPhone X App Development. Web. 8 Apr. 2018.

Art and Science. N.d. ART & SCIENCE :: PACKAGING & DELIVERY. Web. 8 Apr. 2018.