Two Cultures (Week 1)

I am a second-year Math Economics major at UCLA and I feel that I am very lucky to study this major because it allows me to experience both of the “two cultures.” My major requires me not only to compute numbers and analyze mathematical graphs, but it also requires me to write reports and report different economic situations through writing. I have to take various math classes in order for me to understand the numbers, analyze them, and create graphs that can demonstrate the current economic situations. I am not sure which path in economics I want to pursue in yet, but I am thinking of accounting, so math and numbers play important parts of my major. Similarly, writing skills are emphasized for my major as well. In addition to creating graphs, I have to be able to coherency explain each graph in words, and write detailed reports on what does the graph show, how does the graph reflect a problem, and how the problem can be solved. All of these requires the two cultures of both science and literary. Therefore, I am actually able to study in both the North and the South Campus. I really do enjoy this major because it is almost like I am double majoring. It allowed me to have more chances to explore a wider range of studies.

It is true that when Snow first published his idea back in 1959, the intellectuals of the time where split into two worlds occupied by “scientists and writers” on two extreme ends (2-4). However, I think that just like what Professor Vesna stated in her article and lecture, the distinction between these two cultures has blurred through constant improvement in education and new findings. I think that we all “contribute to the creation of a new, mutant third culture” (Vesna 122). We are the ones who will lead to future achievements, so by learning both literary and scientific knowledge in school, we close the gap between these two cultures. Even in college, this idea of well-rounded education still carries on with the requirement of general education. 

Furthermore, new findings close the gap between the literary world and the scientific world. Nowadays, scientists constantly develop new findings, such as medication and technologies, and like what Brockman said, “scientists are communicating…with the general public” (2). By incorporating science into daily lives, we live in the third culture that benefits from both of the worlds.

Works Cited

Williams, Christopher M. "A Dangerous Divide: The Two Cultures in the 21st Century." Academy eBriefings. The New York Academy of Sciences, 24 July 2009. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://www.nyas.org/Publications/Ebriefings/Detail.aspx?cid=74e271bd-4ba6-47cd-8f0a-add2ef8234cd>.

Graham-Rowe, Duncan. "John Brockman: Matchmaking with Science and Art." Wired March 2011 (2011): n. pag. Web. 24 June 2014.

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

Vesna, Victoria. "Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between." Leonardo, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2001), pp. 121-125 The MIT Press. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577014>.

Business Reports. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://abhservicesinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/paper.jpg>.

Economic Graphs. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2014. <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwdPvBpifpYs-SvTnHcHq8i_PhZBvYmp4D7LBbrfe3xA7H_6L3R5pp0xOQ8r1d7wJnWlSF5e2CjQkDfr8vlDqFHyuthfNqf68uAOjV8WVqDaeXfJ30OlidFqqaakk7bkB2d0B4EFlH1wuC/s1600/31juluscaseshillerconcon.bmp>.

Technology and Medication. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2014. <http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/sites/healthcare-informatics.com/files/u509/DSC_1296.JPG>.