Two Cultures

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The article “On Creativity” by David Bohm presented an interesting perspective on the intersections between arts and science and how they draw from each other to produce two distinct, but cohesive, fields of study. Although the creativity necessary for artistic endeavors is obvious, the same imaginative and innovative thinking is required to achieve new heights in the loosely defined areas of scientific exploration. The ability to successfully intertwine original thought with pre-existing knowledge and experiences is crucial for both of these areas of study as they attempt to understand and provide different perspectives on our world.

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In my life, the two areas of science and art have played big parts in my development and how I chose what I wanted to study here. Growing up, math and science classes regularly piqued my interest in school and led me to develop a rigid and analytical way of thinking. Outside the classroom, however, my passion for music grew steadily and the skills I had cultivated in school helped me mature and grow as a pianist. Both of these passions, for science and music, helped me decide to pursue neuroscience in college. I view the brain as an important intersection between creativity and science because there are so many blurry lines between biological and emotional processes that determine the way we think, feel and act. I think that to approach this subject with a blended foundation of scientific and artistic thinking would produce an interesting result that I am excited to work towards at UCLA especially given that various members of the UCLA community have already attempted to develop a connection between art and neuroscience.

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Coming to UCLA, the two cultures of art and science definitely define themselves rigidly in the two separate parts of campus. Although the debate of which side of campus is superior does tend to divide south and north campus majors, to draw from both sides is crucial to excel in either field. Even though i have not been here long, my experiences on both sides of campus are of equal importance in my development as a neuroscience major and overall person. I hope I am able to continue taking advantage of both of these cultures and discovering new similarities between them in the rest of my time here and especially while taking this class.

Sources

Badhwar, Amanpreet, and Estrid Jakobsen. “The Interplay between Neuroscience and Art.” Organization for Human Brain Mapping, 3 June 2017, www.ohbmbrainmappingblog.com/blog/the-interplay-between-neuroscience-and-art.

Bohm, David. "On Creativity" file:///Users/allisonlcarr/Downloads/Bohm_OnCreativity%20(1).pdf

Davis, Madison. “UCLA's North V. South Campus: The Debate Debunked.” The Odyssey Online, 30 Sept. 2015, www.theodysseyonline.com/north-south-campus.

Eason, Ryan. "Why North and South Campus Majors Need to Shut Up" http://theodysseyonline.com/ucla/why-north-ca/39840

“Welcome.” The UCLA Conference on Art, Neuroscience, and Psychiatry, 2017, www.artneurosciencepsychiatry.com/