On Fri, December 18, 2009 18:38, Ruey wrote: > Why is it that in earlier times science and art could coexist > comfortably and today so many artists seem scared to death of learning > any science and so many engineer-scientists find no value in art or > desire to create it? I wonder if this modern extensive degree of > specialization and complete distrust of the other or their knowledge, > hasn't a great deal to with our inability to solve the problems we face > in the world today? What could an instructor do to bridge that gap? I don't know that the divide is as sharp as you say; I know lots of artists with lots of interest in science, and some scientists with an interest in art. It is true that it's harder and harder to be an expert in just one field; so being an expert in two is really difficult. We know a lot more than we did 100 years ago. Another factor, I think, is that lots of academic cutting edge art just isn't accessible; it's part of a conversation that went private about 80 years ago, or else maybe it's just faking it (not being part of that conversation, I wouldn't know). This means pragmatic practical types, like most scientists, glance at a few things, laugh, and move on to something else. Art is a standing joke today. -- David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b@xxxxxxxx; http://dd-b.net/ Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/ Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/ Dragaera: http://dragaera.info
