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This file is now CLOSED. The current version is TWO_CULTS
January 21, 2003
Finished: September 15, 2004
Of late I find myself making GENTLY_SNORING_SNOW
frequent reference to "The Two
Cultures", a phrase
introduced by C.P.Snow, in
his essay lamenting the split
between the sciences and the
humanities.
This was a common thread
among intellectuals of
the fifties and sixties.
I see it in Koestler's
"Sleepwalkers" (1959),
for example.
It's to this that we owe
the "interdisciplinary"
hacks in the modern
educational system.
Universities have
distribution And conversely:
requirements to force
undergrads to take Like many engineering
some classes in students, I took
subjects they're not economics classes to
really interested in, satisfy my "Social My roommate
and puffed up/dumbed Science" requirement. was really
down classes have to (The professor's pains annoyed to
be provided to avoid troubling us realize that
(e.g. "Physics for with "hard" math, like his Philosophy
Poets"). calculus was always class in
amusing.) Logic wasn't
going to count
toward his
The general thesis can be AGAINST_STUPIDITY Humanities
argued with. score.
John McCarthy has remarked: Gotta read the
really there aren't two fine print.
cultures, but maybe
their should be. Really
there are around 1.5
cultures: When the Myself, I often find I'm
humanities get sick, the looking for artists with
sciences start to sneeze. some knowledge of what's
on the other side of that
His complaint was that cultural barrier. (barriers?)
the pessimism about
the future of the I look at the vast array
human race had of small press zines full
leaked from the of random musings and
humanities to the poetry, and my sense of
sciences, even when excitement fades quickly
you might think that as I think "What are the
they would know better. odds that any of these
people really *know*
something?"
KNOWS_SOMETHING
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