At the beginning of the semester, we talked a lot about expectations that society has for scientists and artists. Though I still think that the lists we came up with at the beginning of the semester that included
Scientists: answers, innovation, structure, a truth, improve quality of life (future minded), expected to be well educated, push experimental limits etc.
Artists: innovation, opinions, social commentary, entertainment, expected to be experienced, an embodiment of culture etc.
Still hold some validity, I think that throughout the course, we’ve nuanced those ideas a bit. For example, while scientists are expected to be well educated, a lot of what they do pushes beyond that prior education. Similarly, for an artist, experience only comes from time.
It is still really interesting to me how society seems to value scientists and artists differently. As I mentioned in my post before this one, this course has helped me see a lot of similarities between science and art that were not apparent before. I wonder why these similarities such as the need for a deep understanding, for example, are not apparent to society and people at first glance.
I think one of the most valuable parts of this course is the variety of guest lecturers that we had. With each one, we got a glimpse at a different way to consider science and art which helped me in turn reconcile the two for myself. I’m looking forward to seeing the art and science exhibition tomorrow night to see what other ways science and art come together- other than what we’ve discussed and seen in our class lectures and discussions.