Re: Art and science

From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Wed Aug 29 2001 - 02:32:59 MDT


It is interesting to note that the journal Nature has a section for art
in science / science in art. I wonder how many art journals have that?

The renaissance involved trying to create something new that unified the
old knowledge with the new scientific/economic/artistic discoveries, and
then change society accordingly (although this later part only really
got underway during the enlightenment). I see many similarities with
today: we need a new renaissance to unify the old knowledge with the new
discoveries and then find ways of changing our societies accordingly.

The fact that there are people trying to bridge the two cultures and
create a new synthesis isn't enough, as long as they stand fairly alone
and unsupported. What made the daring transdisciplinary work of the
renaissance so important was that it took place in a cultural context
where it gained support and influence - the actual number of humanists,
scientists, artists and engineers were fairly low, but they affected
society profoundly through various channels. Had these channels not
stood open, their effect would have been marginal and the renaissance
soon forgotten. We need to find the modern counterparts of these
channels of reaching into society and for creating a cultural context
that promotes synthesis.

-- 
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Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
asa@nada.kth.se                            http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/
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