Week 1 | Two Cultures
Growing up in the Bay Area, my parents wanted me to go into a STEM-related field because they believed
it would give me the best shot at being ‘successful’ in life. I really enjoyed it, but I felt like something would
be missing with a purely engineering-focused education because I enjoyed the other subjects like history
and literature. As a result, I applied to UCLA as an economics major. I think I subconsciously knew there
had to be more than just being in STEM, but I didn’t understand why until doing the readings and
watching the lectures.
As an economics major, I think that it’s a compromise between STEM and the humanities. As an
economics major, I was able to take literature, philosophy, political science, and history classes rather than
taking solely course requirements. This has allowed me to navigate the two cultures as a person who is
interested in both sides and wants to bridge the gap between them.
In the reading, the part of C.P. Snow’s Two Cultures that impacted me the most was the example of
natural scientists not reading Shakespeare and literary intellectuals not knowing what the Second Law of
Thermodynamics is. Both sides were ignorant of the fundamentals of the other side, so it is no surprise
that there is a divide between the two cultures
The divide persists even at UCLA. There are incredibly modern buildings like Engineering VI that are
contrasted with classical buildings like Dodd Hall. The difference in the architecture between these two
buildings (and by extension South vs. North Campus) is reflective of a different approach to solving
problems that require both sides.
As for the intersection of technology and art, something that has continued to amaze me is r/place.
It’s a blank canvas of 1000 pixels by 1000 pixels and users can place a colored pixel every five minutes.
As a result, a collaboration between people is needed to create something beautiful.
C.P. Snow. The Two Cultures and The Scientific Revolution. Cambridge University Press, 1959.
Accessed 1 Apr. 2022.
Place Atlas. The /r/place Atlas, draemm.li/various/place-atlas/about.html. Accessed 1 Apr. 2022.
SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. "SEEDMAGAZINE.COM Two Cultures Steven Pinker." YouTube,
SEEDMAGAZINE.COM, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BUbVc7qVpg. Accessed 1 Apr. 2022.
UC Online. "TwoCultures part1." YouTube, UC Online, 30 Mar. 2012,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNI7dF3DIAM. Accessed 1 Apr. 2022.
Victoria Vesna Leonardo, Vol. 34, No. 2. (2001), pp. 121-125.
Hi Darion! I find your academic background very interesting. I think it's great that you have been able to find a compromise of your parents' wishes and your own passions. I also find myself taking both STEM and humanities classes here and I think it's so eye opening to be studying both fields at once. It appears like you have found yourself as the bridge or the third culture and I think that's super cool that you can find interest in both fields simultaneously. Also, I've never heard of r/place before I read your post! Thank you for sharing!
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