Entry #3 - The Two Cultures

 According to C.P. Snow, there are two cultures, and those two cultures are constantly clashing with each other. These cultures in question are those of scientists (specifically, "physical" scientists) vs. intellectuals (specifically, "literary intellectuals.") Throughout his lecture, C.P. Snow stresses that the two groups have such differing opinions of each other that it's difficult to find common ground. While intellectuals pessimistically believe that scientists are too optimistic about mankind, scientists are troubled by the intellectual's lack of concern for mankind, and are anxious to "restrict both art and thought to the existential movement." (p. 6) C.P. Snow suggests that the reason there is such a clash between the two groups is because of not only a sense of superiority each group has over the other, but also a mutual lack of understanding. 

 

Our class’s novel of note, Childhood’s End, was published in 1953, while the Two Cultures lecture was given in 1959. During the 50’s, the Cold War was going strong, having been started just a few years earlier, and during the Cold War, one culture was strongly prioritized over the other: science over art. Technological innovation and advancement in everything from mathematics to computing and nuclear warfare was all the rage. Advancement after advancement occurred in almost every scientific field, and even in entertainment and home life, from the televisions that are now in everyone’s homes to Sputnik and other spacial hovercraft - because that was what we focused on. Sure, there was music playing on the radios and books were being published; Childhood’s End is a prime example of this. There was plenty of art being made and debated in the 50’s- but when you think of the 50’s in America, you don’t think of that art. You think of science - and the vision of the future that Americans back then had, the ones that contrast starkly to the present we live in now.

America has been an international powerhouse for advancements in science and technology for decades. We’re constantly competing with China and Russia, always determined to have the best scientists, always in a race to do things first and to do them the best we possibly can. The race to space we had with Russia is only proof of this. America has quite the sore loser mentality- if we can’t do something first, nobody else can, and everybody else’s way of doing it is wrong. Every other country has Celsius; we have Fahrenheit. Every other country uses kilometers; we use miles. We run under a capitalist “democracy,” and if any other country wants to try living any other way, we have to get involved - especially if they dare to become… socialists! Or, worse, communists! 

Fast forward to 2024, and the Cold War has been over for nearly 33 years, having ended just one day before the Soviet Union collapsed. Yet, despite the decades that have passed, we are still #1. America still dominates so many different fields. I don’t think that we, as Americans, ever moved on from that science vs. art mentality America took on during the Cold War.

 I would say that this divide still persists in the modern day; maybe not as strongly, but the biases are still present in both groups. Humanities and “intellectual” majors are typically discouraged, while biomedical and science majors are never looked down upon. Those with English, philosophy, and history majors are told they will never find a job with that sort of major, and if you want to major in art? You’re lucky if you’re even told “good luck.” Now, things are definitely different from how they used to be. You can be both an intellectual and a scientist; I, personally, am conflicted between an environmental science major and an English one. These days, people are encouraged to keep an open mind in college and to not limit them
selves to one side, or one culture. However, while the divide between the two is slowly mending itself, it is not nonexistent. I think that this divide mainly has to do with how intellectuals (such as English and History majors) tend to focus on the past, and the history of mankind, while scientists tend to focus on the future: on making innovative, groundbreaking changes that will change the course of scientific history. The two groups have two very different time periods in mind as they operate, and neither seems to focus on the present.

However, I think that America's focus has greatly shifted from these two cultures - the cultures of science and art. I think America's focus is almost entirely on politics now. Art, of course, can be political; but science is objective fact, and therefore cannot take a side to anything. It's why science and statistics these days are constantly being lied about, misinterpreted, or just flat-out ignored in favor of the opinions of others. Instead of focusing on art and science, America focuses on the every corner of the political spectrum, from the far, fascist right all the way to the anarchist left. The "two cultures" of the past are now "too liberal" for the present. Now there are several, new political cultures, though everybody seems to focus on two specific ones; conservative/Republican and liberal/Democrat. 

Republicans (Elephants) vs. Democrats (Donkeys)

 I don't think artists and scientists ever hated each other, though, because at least they've always had one thing in common. As the first graphic symbolizes, scientists and artists both wonder about everything the world has to offer. Democrats and republicans don't seem to share that whimsical ideal. They really don't have much in common, either. Because of this, they are constantly clashing with one another, and not in a manner that is in any way constructive or beneficial. Perhaps this is why the political divide in America is the strongest it's ever been; perhaps this is why those on opposing sides hate the other. 

Instead of America's "two cultures" being those of intellectuals and scientists, those two cultures, in the modern day, have become Republicans vs. Democrats. Notice how it isn't Republicans and Democrats - it's versus. The polarization between the two is stronger than C.P. Snow could have ever anticipated the divide between scientists and intellectuals would be.