Two Cultures

    Hi, I'm Jingyi Xie. I'm a sophomore now and I study civil engineering in UCLA. As a south-campus student, I seldom go to the north campus, since most of my classes are taken at the south campus. Usually when my friends come to visit me, I'm confident to show them around south campus because I'm familiar with it, but I'm not sure I know every building in the other side of the campus.

My cognition to the school maps is only a small aspect of the gap between science and humanity in my mind. In my subconsciousness, science is logic, systematic and provable, and liberal art is romantic, humanistic and abstract. That reflects the topic of two cultures we just discussed in the lecture. Just like what C.P. Snow says, "Literary intellectuals at one pole - at the other scientists, and as the most representative, the physical scientists. Between the two a gulf of mutual incomprehension - sometimes (particularly among the young) hostility and dislike, but most of all lack of understanding". To me, science and humanity are quite different of course, but they are not completely separated; instead they are closely related to each other, and we can live a harmonious life without either one of them. According to C.P.Snow, "This polarization is sheer loss to us all". The development of the society depends on the development of both of the two cultures." Separating the two cultures apart will only cause more serious problem in the world. Closing the gap between our cultures is a necessity in the most abstract intellectual sense, as well as in the most practical". Being cooperated might be the method to close the gap, which can be applied to society like UCLA or even the whole world.

    Speaking about my interest to this class, the reason why I want to take DESMA9 is because I love painting and drawing, so I want to know more about art and things related to art. Also, as I said above, being a south-campus-major student doesn't eliminate my enthusiasm to approach art. In fact, studying about art can make me understand science better. Therefore, I'm looking forward to joining the lecture and discovering the world of art. I'm sure it will be a great experiment!

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

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