Week 1: Two Cultures

In “The Two Cultures,” Snow discusses the gap in communication and understanding between literary intellectuals and scientists despite their vast similarities, including their perspectives and methodologies. This is something I’ve experienced for the better part of my life, beginning with my primary and secondary education.

             Growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley, the general consensus was that science was the key to success. As a result, my childhood was filled with extra-curricular activities such as Math Club and Science Olympiad. The arts were disregarded to the point that engineering modeling fulfilled my high school art credit and I wasn’t assigned to read any of the top 100 classic novels [7].

Do I exemplify the stereotype you have of scientists?
Myself at the California High School Science Olympiad medal ceremony, 2006

            Coming to UCLA as a Mechanical Engineer with an interest in design, I was surprised by the extent to which the lack of interaction and understanding persisted. I’ve had engineering professors make jokes at the other culture’s expense and can’t say that I’ve met more than a couple art students. “Even geographically [the campus is] designed in a way that these disciplines are separated and it’s quite a bit of a walk to go from one side of the art campus to the other side of thee science campus [9].”

            While I agree with Kelly’s overall idea that our modern technology industry has created a third culture, I believe his statement that the third culture as described by Snow “never really happened” takes the idea of literary intellectuals too literally [2]. Today’s technology market is dominated by consumer electronics, which are created by interdisciplinary, engineering-trained product designers who “combine art, science, and technology to create new products [5]” [4]. “[This type of] design is really an act of communication, [3]” reinforcing that successful design today benefits from this third culture.

"Meet Sphero 2.0"

Art meets technology in consumer electronics: an innovative product that interacts with consumers

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43tctP24Xmo

"28 Sphero Holiday Dance: Union Square NYC"

Technology as art: 28 smartphone-controlled spheres perform a choreographed dance

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S95KiPws54M

These readings helped show that there’s much I could be missing out on by pigeonholing myself and spurning other disciplines. I’ve become a victim of the education system’s dismissal of divergent thinking. Luckily, faculty such as Dennis Hong are doing well to hold interdisciplinary brainstorming sessions that encourage communication between the two cultures [1].

"My Seven Species of Robot"

Dennis Hong discusses his robots and touches on his famous brainstorming sessions

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyMaqh2ELR0

If I am to become an excellent designer, I need be able to “think laterally” and not neglect the aesthetic experience as described in changing education paradigms [6]. While there are still big steps to be made in progressing towards the third culture, I believe companies such as Disney Imagineering that create interdisciplinary project teams are doing a good job of making headway [8].

Works Cited

1. DE VISE, DANIEL. "An Engineering Professor Who Combines Mechanical Know-how with Creativity, Dennis Hong Is the U.S. Star in Humanoid Robotics." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 29 June 2014.

2. Kelly, K. "ESSAYS ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY:The Third Culture." Science 279.5353 (1998): 992-93. Web.

3. Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic, 2002. Print.

4. "Product Design." Stanford University: Explore Degrees. Web. 29 June 2014. <http://web.stanford.edu/dept/registrar/bulletin1112/7251.htm>.

5. "Product Design." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 June 2014. Web. 29 June 2014.

6. "RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 29 June 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U>.

7. "The Top 100 Books of All Time." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 08 May 2002. Web. 29 June 2014.

8. Vaughn, Bruce. "Introduction to Walt Disney Imagineering." Imagineering: The Art and Process of Entertainment Design. UCLA, Los Angeles. 27 Sept. 2012. Lecture.

9. Vesna, Victoria. "TwoCultures Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 June 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FOEuxrwxd0>.