…and it occurs to me that I haven’t pissed anyone off yet today–so to the Internets, away….
Who would think an article in honor of National Poetry Day could start such a brouhaha: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/steve-jones/8043205/National-Poetry-Day-unlock-the-mathematical-secrets-of-verse.html. I thought it was an interesting take on the human experience. We tend to think of math and science as completely distinct from artistic pursuits, but that, of course, is nonsense. Try drawing a reasonable representation of anything with no attention to ratio or perspective. But boy howdy, try telling a bunch of poets that they are actually occult mathematicians and watch the fur fly! The undisguised sense of artistic superiority represented in the comments section is rather nauseating. I felt compelled to add my own two cents:
“The fact that so many ‘artists’ are posting defensive comments about how their skill transcends mere dull scientific bounds like mathematics pretty much proves the premise of the article. Good grief people, lighten up. No one is trying to take your superior artistic sensibilities away from you–just pointing out that there are fundamental principles that tie art and science together.
As someone who is a creative writer (and therefore artistically superior, like many of you) and who also dabbles in biological science due to a genetic illness in my family, I for one am thrilled that ‘scientific minds have taken over’ (delphivci) critical parts of human life. I seriously doubt Maya Angelou or Carol Ann Duffy would have provided much assistance in ferreting out the genetic causes of cystic fibrosis, or in helping come up with treatments. Their contributions are no less important, but they are no more important, either. This isn’t an all or nothing proposition–science bad, art good–and it is astounding to me that we clearly still haven’t matured past this simplistic view of the world.”
Given how reasonable and open-minded this group is, I’m sure they feel suitably chastened by my reasonable and not at all controversial commentary.
