Unit 1 - Two Cultures
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| My friends and me (on the right) at the top of Mammoth Mountain. |
Hello! My name is Victor Sia and I'm a senior at UCLA majoring in computer science. I aspire to work developing some leading edge computer software technology in the coming years; from the looks of things, I am looking to score a job in the cloud computing industry.
Being a computer science major, I have spent a vast majority of my university career holed up within the deep, dark, and wifi-less confines of Boelter Hall. As such, my last recollections of north campus is that it is a magical wonderland filled with rainbows and butterflies. Indeed, studying what is considered one of the "south campus-iest" majors makes the "two cultures" phenomenon readily apparent. This class will hopefully help me expand my understanding of both arts and science.
Snow's "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" describes the two cultures that Western society has split itself into: arts, "the literary intellectuals who incidentally while no one was looking took to referring to themselves as 'intellectuals' as though there were no others", and science, the ones that are "shallowly optimistic, unaware of man's condition." These two cultures have a distorted view on the other, sprouting from a lack of understanding. UCLA's division between north and south campus epitomizes this split: north campus is the home of arts, filled with peaceful gardens to lounge in and elegantly designed buildings, while south campus represents science, complete with utilitarian buildings, lacking any traces of whimsy or wonder (or wifi).
Vesna introduces a third culture into this mix: the cult of technology. As a computer scientist, this is a culture that I hold dear to my heart, and my wallet. This culture, eloquently named by Kevin Kelly as "nerd culture," is a culture aimed not at discovering truth, but novelty. Any wayfarer of the internet seeks new ways to entertain himself, while also keeping in the back of his mind the mantra "never believe anything you read on the internet." This third culture seeks to shed light on the human condition not by philosophizing as students of art would do, not as studying the natural world as students of science would do, but by essentially creating their own reality within technology and exploring its depths.
Exploring each of these three cultures is sure to be quite the journey.
Resources
Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.
Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2013. <http://www.sciencemag.org/content/279/5353/992.full>
Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.
"UCLA Boelter Hall" Digital image. Web 5 Apr. 2015
http://www.bruinwalk.com/listings/manage/detail/boelter-hall-entrance/1142/
"Coastal Environments" Digital image. Web 5 Apr. 2015
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/geog/walter/geog163/Methods%20Workshop.htm
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| The prison known as Boelter Hall. |
Snow's "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" describes the two cultures that Western society has split itself into: arts, "the literary intellectuals who incidentally while no one was looking took to referring to themselves as 'intellectuals' as though there were no others", and science, the ones that are "shallowly optimistic, unaware of man's condition." These two cultures have a distorted view on the other, sprouting from a lack of understanding. UCLA's division between north and south campus epitomizes this split: north campus is the home of arts, filled with peaceful gardens to lounge in and elegantly designed buildings, while south campus represents science, complete with utilitarian buildings, lacking any traces of whimsy or wonder (or wifi).
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| The blissful wonderland of north campus. |
Exploring each of these three cultures is sure to be quite the journey.
Resources
Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.
Kelly, Kevin. "The Third Culture." Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2013. <http://www.sciencemag.org/content/279/5353/992.full>
Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being In Between." Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.
"UCLA Boelter Hall" Digital image. Web 5 Apr. 2015
http://www.bruinwalk.com/listings/manage/detail/boelter-hall-entrance/1142/
"Coastal Environments" Digital image. Web 5 Apr. 2015
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/geog/walter/geog163/Methods%20Workshop.htm
Hi Victor! First of all, your writing style is hilarious and very entertaining. Unlike you, I am a deep north campus major. You are right about the beautiful buildings and scenery, but as for wi-fi, we have it bad also. I think it's so interesting that because of our different choice of majors, we have experienced our time here at UCLA so differently. I wish you the best of luck in your career endeavors, and that you could get a job in the cloud computing industry like you want. I look forward to reading your future posts.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Botany has amazing wi-fi connection!
--Zonia