beautyandtruth09
1959-2009
50th Anniversary of the “Two Cultures”: Where are we now?
It’s 50 years after C.P. Snow first described a chasm between literary intellectuals and scientists. Snow’s words touched off decades of debate on both the existence of the “Two Cultures” and the possibility of a “Third Culture” — a group that could bridge the gap between scientists and humanists. Seed asked six thinkers where we are now: Whether the Two Cultures are still divided, and what role the Third Culture plays in shaping our understanding of the world.
Steven Pinker is an acclaimed psychologist, linguist, and author. He is an advocate for evolutionary psychology and computational theory of mind, and his many books, including The Blank Slate, How the Mind Works, and The Language Instinct, explore the concept of biological bases for language and other aspects of human behavior.
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You would think he's straw-manning the humanities at some points, but he's not. It's crazy.
Pinker's the man!
@ihatekhomeini
Well, he's more of an experimental psychologist than linguist. But yeah, of course, he's not referring to every humanities department. I have a humanities degree.
(Easing lonliness through youtube? I can think of better places to do it, but whatever floats your boat.)
what are these comments – a therapy of some sort or what? Science is a similar parasite as religion because both are based on beliefs. So-called scientific facts are in fact just hypotheses that do not last for ever. Moreover, what science knows is just a small tip of a humongous iceberg, because it has just a handful of information and what's unknown is everything else.
@pawsoned Wrong. Planes, computers, space shuttles, cars, surgeries, cell phones, nuclear energy, MRI's, lasers, internet, etc, are all possible because we KNOW (not believe) some FACTS about the universe through science, and we use those FACTS to our advantage.
Do things fall because we believe in gravity, or because gravity exists no matter what we believe? Is nuclear power possible because we believe in physics, or because we KNOW at least something about physics?
@20cigarrosconfiltro true, I was badmouthing science too strongly. Yet, still my point is that scientist aren't always 100% sure what the results are going to be and oftentimes they have to leap in the dark, so to speak. Take Newton's mechanical theory of time for instance – although it wasn't correct it didn't prevent scientists to put people on the Moon. Can you see what I mean?
@pawsoned I see what you mean. But you are failing to see that "to go beyond present science is one of the chief goals of science" (Carl Sagan). Science knows its shortcomings, and embedded in the scientific method are correcting mechanisms. And if you have enough evidence to prove a scientific theory wrong, you will probably get a Nobel Prize or something.
What I mean is that science just looks at the facts, and if the facts don't support its saying, it will revise and correct its theories.
@pawsoned Just to finish, you can say whatever you want about science, but to date it is the best tool ever devised to distinguish truth from not truth. You may not conisder science reliable, that is your opinion, I'm fine with it. But you can't say that it is just the same as religion: an arbitrary body of beliefs. I suggest you read about science history, or philosophy of science, I'm sure you'll find it very interesting.
@20cigarrosconfiltro Of course it's not the same. To be clear i don't criticize science anymore but too dogmatic approach to facts is sometimes dangerous among people belonging to the Dawkins' club like Steven. They preach atheism using science and seem to claim it as a fact. imo that's too far fetched as far as science is concerned, isn't it?
@pawsoned TOO DOGMATIC?, THEY MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD, NOT BY AUTHORITY, OR TRADITION, OR REVELATION, OR EVEN FAITH, THEY DO IT BY EVIDENCE, AND THATS WHY SCIENCE IS THE BEST MENTAL TOOLKIT EVER DEVISED, THANX TO SCIENCE YOU CAN FLY AN AIRPLANE, THANX TO RELIGION YOU CAN FLY AN AIRPLANE INTO A TOWER. THOSE WHO CAN MAKE YOU BELIEVE ABSURD THINGS, CAN MAKE YOU DO ATROCITIES. VOLTAIRE…. WE NEED TO GET RID OFF PRIMITIVE THINKING, BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF SCIENCE.
If psychology had the rigor of the natural sciences, Pinker would be teaching at the community college level rather than at Harvard.