Week 1: Two Cultures

     C. P. Snow was right to distinguish between the intellectuals of the world of Humanities/Literature and Natural/Physical Sciences. Our very own UCLA portrays this through the separation of North and South Campus. Society often forces us to pick from one of these cultures when the Modern Era paved for a third culture that bridges the gap. Victoria Vesna mentions the “something else ” to suggest technology as the source of the emerging third culture. Technology allowed for the widespread creation of social media, movies/tv shows, and interactive museums. Without bridging the technical and the creative ideas to create new projects, we would still be living in a world without much access to popular media. Not to mention how creativity fuels new scientific questions to be asked.

Special Effects in The Avengers found in www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnQLjZSX7xM&t=187s&ab_channel=ILMVFX.

    Sir Ken Robinson, however, attributes this overstimulation of technology to the rise of ADHD. Students are easily distracted from school and are unable to focus, thus an increase in diagnosis and medication is injunction with standardized testing. This connection is misleading. The rise of technology allows for the increasing recognition of the complexity and differences of the human mind. In turn, mental illnesses are becoming more of a prevalent issue. Mental health is gaining its rightful priority in school due to its growing acceptance. Diagnosis is going up because people are becoming more comfortable with the idea that mental illnesses are a reality. School systems indeed follow an archaic set of rules and teaching styles, leading to a disconnect for students of the modern age, but diminishing ADHD as to a simple as getting distracted by technology is undermining this progress; not to mention inattentiveness is only a portion of it.

Pina Varnel ADHD comics found in http://adhd-alien.com/2019/07/16/what-it-is-like/

    Ultimately, the move into interdisciplinary concepts of the two cultures is the future. As a pre-Human Biology and Society major, I actively pursue the connections between the biological world and the current world crises. I found that focusing too much on scientific knowledge forces me to perceive life from an empirical view, so for me to focus on my mental health, I have to step away. I often spend my free time sketching, yet still implementing my love for math and anatomy. 

My personal sketch, learning how to draw facial features using proportions though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ofld4qVZc&ab_channel=XabioArts 

References:

Bohm, D. “On Creativity.” Leonardo, Vol. 1, No. 2. (Apr., 1968), pp. 137-149.

ILMVisualFX, director. ILM: Behind the Magic in Marvel Studios' The Avengers. YouTube, YouTube, 10 Jan. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnQLjZSX7xM&t=187s&ab_channel=ILMVFX.

Shaw, Toby. “ADHD from the inside | Toby Shaw | TEDxYouth@ISPrague.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOZyzoj7eh8&ab_channel=TEDxTalks.

Snow, C. P. “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Culture.” The Reed Lecture. The Reed Lecture, 1958.

TheRSAorg, director. RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms. YouTube, YouTube, 14 Oct. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&ab_channel=RSA.

Varnel, Pina. “What It's like VS. What People Assume.” Adhd, 19 July 2019, adhd-alien.com/2019/07/16/what-it-is-like/.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2001, pp.121-125.

Xiabio Arts. “How to Draw a Face: 10 Common Problems and How to Fix Them.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Jan. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ofld4qVZc&ab_channel=XabioArts.