Week 1: Two Cultures

I found my passion for science at a young age. Math and computers fascinated me, and my parents encouraged my interests by enrolling me in local clubs and competitions.

Me at a robotics competition in 6th grade.

At around the same age, I also developed a strong interest in design in form. I barely acknowledged this interest and instead dismissed my ideas as effeminate and useless. I continued to explore science and eventually decided to pursue a degree and career in Computer Science.

It wasn’t until after I began college that I started to explore my latent interest in the arts. I pursued painting, drawing, fashion, graphic design, etc. These mediums helped me “express myself” and further understand my own personality. I found great joy in creating something so subjective that it did not have a right or wrong answer.

I soon noticed that many of the conventions and preferences in the sciences are driven by the same artistic-intuitive aesthetic drive that I felt when drawing or painting. For example, let’s examine the art of formatting computer code. Given some chunk of code, there are usually several ways (depending on the language) to format the code (add/remove newlines, capitalize letters, etc.) without changing its semantic meaning. Programmers choose the format that looks the neatest, best conveys their ideas, is the easiest to change, etc. - in other words, the format they find most “aesthetic”.

An example of formatting code. Most programmers would consider the formatted code (on the right) easier to read and manipulate. (Unhammer)

It excited me to realize that I could use my knowledge in the two domains to complement one another. Prior to beginning this class, I thought about the intersection of art and technology from only a personal perspective. However, listening to Professor Vesna’s discussion of the third culture and reading CP Snow’s commentary on it has shown me the scope of this intersection. I now realize that this “third-culture” I feel in me is a global phenomena instead of a personal one (Snow 18). I am excited to further explore this intersection with others, instead of just in my own head.

In the above video, Dylan Beattie discusses how programming is an art form.

Beattie, Dylan. “The Art of Code - Dylan Beattie.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 Feb. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6avJHaC3C2U. 

Bohm, D. "On Creativity." JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." The Third Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 1998

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Wilson, Stephen D. “Myths and Confusions in Thinking about Art/Science/Technology.” College Art Association Meetings. New York, New York, 2000. Print

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo. 34 (2001): 121-125. Print.