The Simili-difference between Arts and Science

By Artemis Freeman on May 21, 2013

    An actor, a writer and a neurobiologist walk into Starbucks. How does the joke end? It doesn’t, because they would never go together, or so the story goes. As I sip my caramel latte and sprawl on a metal chair, the argument begins. Science or theatre? The arts or intelligence? Age old feuds arise again in hopes of finding some semblance of a conclusion.

    The neurobiologist works in Boston, the heart of Ivy League City. The actor works in Chicago, the hub of non-competitive entertainment. The writer lounges in her local coffee house in whatever city she may reside in at the moment, and yet they have nothing in common. Whence derives this notion that they can’t coexist?

    The actor posits that theatre teaches compassion. Any piece of theatre, be it movement- based, classical, contemporary or expressionist, tells a story, and it is a well known fact that it is impossible to hate a person whom you understand. Empathy stems from the ability to understand and communicate someone else’s desires, hopes, dreams, fears and insecurities, creating a well-rounded character, or, as regular people call it, human beings.

    The neurobiologist rationalizes that science teaches compassion, as well. If the goal is to understand, to empathize, how can you hate something that you understand down to the molecular biology of the fusion protein of their DNA? She states that there is no difference between science and theatre, save for the spontaneous combustion of seratonin, which theatre-folk call ‘stage high.’ The writer smiles into her notebook, jotting down their words down to the silent greek vowel.

    It would seem that the neurobiologist and the actor say the same thing. The writer wonders why they are arguing. Science and theatre both teach compassion and understanding under the premise that you cannot hate what you fully understand. Realizing the hypocrisy, the writer points out that the two are arguing the same point from different views, and therefore can’t communicate.

    That’s the problem, isn’t it? Communication. Theatrical arts communicate in visuals, from stunning sets, to color schemes of light that find the audience at the edge of their seats, marveling at the spectacle. Science communicates in numbers, figures and provocative hypotheses that leave you tearing at your lab coat waiting for results. In either scenario, the desired effect is ‘What is going to happen next?’

    Science and Theatre need each other. The neurobiologist points out that the human brain has two controlled modes of thinking; one from the left brain and one from the right. The left brain controls logistics; the rational and analytic aspects of human function. The right brain mans the intuitive and creative aspects, and together, they form the human brain capable of just about anything. Even the human body knows what educators have argued over for decades; to be a fully rounded human, you need both creative intellect and rational analysis.

    In truth, science and theatre are one in the same. They are methods of communication that must pertain to the audience to help answer a question. One cannot answer a question that one does not know the answer to, so to further understand, they dig deeper, and the cycle continues. The stigma that students have to pick either science OR arts is the reason educators have feuded for years. Each teacher believes that his or her subject is more important, rather than believing that education is a cycle, and that science is reliant on the arts, and vice versa. To learn, you must understand, To understand, you must answer a question. To answer a question, you must research. Am I referring to theatre or science? Both.

    The actor states that she doesn’t believe that science is an art. She believes that science is based on fact and fact checking, whereas acting is doing research on a character and showing the results of that research in performance. The writer chuckles, seeing the irony. The neurobiologist draws a picture of the human brain, and hands it to the actor. The actor takes the image and the neurobiologist shows visually that the right and left sides of the brain work together. The writer points out that that the neurobiologist just used the arts to explain science, and that the actor understood science using the arts. The writer smirks, sets down her notepad and says nothing. Communication is a science of the arts.

The most famous works of art have involved some form of science. Da Vinci’s ‘The Vitruvian Man’ exemplifies the mix of human anatomy, physiology and the pattern of art in his famous work. The classic musical ‘A Chorus Line’ was created using data and information gathered from interviews with theatre professionals. Modern dance involves the knowledge of every human muscle and how they interact without pain, and yet the academic world continues to squabble over the difference between the arts and the sciences. If only there was something that both science and the arts taught…..something that would help us understand each side with more depth…..something like communication. In truth, science needs art, and art needs science: it’s as simple as that. They communicate with each other, creating the vessel in which we see, explore and understand the world we live in, and how we reason with it. In his book ‘The Better Angels Of Out Nature,’ Steven Pinker said “The universality of reason is a momentous realization, because it defines a place for morality.” What better facet to promote reason than the combination of art and science? I’ll bet even the writer, the actor and the neurologist would agree on that.

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