First Draft
STEAM
Some people would say that art is only good for finger painting or for making that handprint Thanksgiving turkey; but these are the people that are very narrow minded. Have you ever looked at a picture of the galaxy taken by NASA? It is a beautiful sight to see, the millions of stars, the rainbows of color all across the sky, light contrast, and different patterns everywhere, it is art. The world is full of many mysteries that go unsolved everyday, but are we approaching theses questions in the right way? Art can help mold the mind in ways in which can help scientist. It can give people many different points of views, allowing them to maybe think outside of the box when trying to solve some questions. In an ideal situation the arts and science should work together side by side, and even in some cases hand in hand as one unit together.
One of the greatest inventors and artists ever was Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci is always brought up in conversation when discussing some of the greatest works of art in history; “The Last Supper”, “Mona Lisa”, “Vitruvian Man”, and many more. But he is also known for his works in science and engineering. What made Leonardo such an important man in history? Was he just an utter genius or was it maybe his combination of the arts and sciences that helped him do so many things? Da Vinci combined arts and sciences to help him do many of his works. The idea of transforming STEM to STEAM seems to be a great idea when discussing Da Vinci.
Art opens up the mind and expands the ways that people think. The problem with science is there is only way way to look at it, with a scientific view. But when they run into some issues in which science may not help them solve this problem so easily they become stuck, they meet a wall that stops them dead in their tracks. Any of these questions can be extremely difficult and time consuming to figure out “The greater one’s science, the deeper sense of mystery” (Lehrer). It comes to a point that maybe the scientist should start thinking that maybe there is not just one way for them to approach each question in science.
The fundamental point is that modern science has made little progress towards any unified understanding of everything. Our unknown have not dramatically receded. In many instances, the opposite has happened, so that our most fundamental sciences are bracketed by uttar mystery. It’s not that we don’t have all the answers. It’s that we don’t even know that question. (Lehrer)
It is an interesting thing to think about. In some instances they have seemed to take steps backwards and create even more of an issue for themselves to solve. Art adds this aspect of questioning everything, but not in just one way. It helps people formulate questions in all types of forms and ways. This can be vital in science, allowing people to look at theses questions through many different ways.
Final Draft
Do our Minds Need an Update?
Some people would say that art is only good for finger painting or for making that handprint Thanksgiving turkey; but art can also help people expand their minds to help them figure out the world. Have you ever looked at a picture of the galaxy taken by NASA? It is a beautiful sight to see, the millions of stars, the rainbows of color all across the sky, light contrast, and different patterns everywhere, it is art. The world is full of many mysteries that go unsolved everyday, but are we approaching these questions in the right way? Through the use of art in the educational world, students can learn how to answer some of these questions by approaching them from many different angles, claims famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma in his article “Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education”. With this usage of art, not only would students but also scientist would be able to think more creatively. Author John Lehrer talks about how this creativity can be helpful for scientists to answer some of the world’s mysteries in his article “The Future… Is Art?”. Art can help assist the minds of scientists by giving them many different points of view, allowing them to maybe think outside of the box when trying to solve some questions. Art should be used to dilate the intelligence and intellect of those within the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) world.
Typically there seems to be a perception that a border exists between scientific thinking and artistic thinking. The problem with science is there is only way way to look at it, with a scientific view. Obviously, scientific thinking has made amazing strives in solving modern science and modern medicine questions. As we keep on going though, will it still be completely valid for use as it is now? For instance, scientist could run into some issues in which scientific thinking may not help them solve this problem so easily and they will become stuck.This is just something to think about for the future when they meet a wall in the middle of the road.
As scientists get deeper into scientific research, however, the more questions arise, and the more creative thinking can help them answer some of these unknowns. Art opens up the mind and expands the ways that people think. Some questions seem to be abstract when contemplating some off sciences great questions. Any of these questions can be extremely difficult and time consuming to figure out “The greater one’s science, the deeper sense of mystery” (Lehrer 2008). The more in depth these scientist go, the more difficult it can be for them to solve these questions. It ends up coming to a point that maybe the scientist should start thinking that maybe there is not just one way for them to approach each question in science. There seems to be some many questions to ask about the world and about humanity, but with adding artistic thinking into the world of scientific thinking maybe we can fix Lehrer’s quote of “It’s not that we don’t have all the answers. It’s that we don’t even know the question”.
The use of art can enhance the thinking of these scientist and help them better explore modern science. With the style of thinking right now “modern science has made little progress towards any unified understanding of everything. Our unknown have not dramatically receded. In many instances, the opposite has happened, so that our most fundamental sciences are bracketed by utter mystery. It’s not that we don’t have all the answers. It’s that we don’t even know the question.” (Lehrer 2008). It is an interesting thing to think about. In some instances they have seemed to take steps backwards and create even more of an issue for themselves to solve. Art adds this aspect of questioning everything, but not in just one way. Ma said that with this “new consciousness by which we purposely seek to bolster the integrative feed-back loops of our dual neural pathways could provide a new energy for creativity in our weary civilization”, we will be able to add this new energy to the world of science with hopes of propelling them even forward with future research and advancements. It helps people formulate questions in all types of forms and ways. This can be vital in science, allowing people to look at theses questions through many different ways.
One of the greatest inventors and artists ever was Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci is always brought up in conversation when discussing some of the greatest works of art in history: “The Last Supper,” “Mona Lisa,” “Vitruvian Man,” (which is famously used when talking the anatomical position) and many more. Da Vinci once said “The painter’s mind is a copy of the divine mind”, the creativity that is within the minds of painters and artists is so great and according to Leonardo, god-like. But he is also known for his works in science and engineering. What made Leonardo such an important man in history? Was he just an utter genius or was it maybe his combination of the arts and sciences that helped him do so many things? Da Vinci combined arts and sciences to help him do many of his works. Da Vinci was many years ahead of his time.
The possible potential that is there in the minds of those in the STEM world is so vast. Something just needs to tap that untapped potential, just to get the wheels rolling allowing them to explode with knowledge. We need another Enlightenment, a period of huge advancements in the world. The Enlightenment was a time of reason and thinking, but one thing that is not thought about is that the big contributors to this movement were people that had previous backgrounds in science. And now they were using the artistic style of thinking with their scientific style together which helps make the Enlightenment what it was. This “new Enlightenment — that brings the arts and science back together” (Ma, 2014) would introduce art into STEM making STEAM with hope of helping not just scientist but everyone with making strides in improving their minds and themselves. We have “dual neural pathways, one for critical thinking and one for empathetic thinking” (Ma 2014) but only one seems to be known as the important one. Yes, critical thinking is extremely important and has done so much but why does empathetic thinking get tossed to the side? This style of thinking could still be on the same level of regards if it was used correctly. The mind is like a ball of clay, always changing shape and form, it has such great plasticity. It would not be that difficult to bring in this empathetic or artistic style of thinking into the minds of scientists. It may be odd or be considered unorthodox but in the long run it can help so much.
Using attributes of an empathetic mind and adding them to the critical thinking or scientific mind will truly be a great thing for the future of humanity. Lehrer believes that “Art will become a crucial source of scientific ideas, this will ultimately lead us to take a broader view on the truth” we will be able to view the world through different eyes and from so many new and unexplored views. Ma said that “We all get into trouble if we think the universe only exists of the matter that we can see and measure, and not the anti-matter that is the counterpart that holds it all together” we know there are things that many scientists cannot explain by just science. So, instead of continuing the same thing over and over again maybe we should make a few changes and see the possibility that art holds for the minds of the world.
