On Nov 25, 2010, at 2:20 PM, William Conger wrote:
> Yes. We still denigrate the sciences and the arts, each for different
reasons. Math is denigrated by schemes to make it look like kids are
competent. The arts are denigrated because they foster creativity.
I don't think that's the case, William. I think the various arts and the
sciences are denigrated (1) as a defense mechanism by those who are not
accomplished in them; and (2) as an inadvertent residue of the dissociation of
sensibilities (T.S. Eliot's term) that set in after the Renaissance.
Nowadays, it's popular to refer to "right-brained" and "left-brained"
"intelligences"--as if the two hemispheres could be separated and as if
intelligence could be disaggregated into separate enclaves of
competencies--and use other, similar expressions ("from the heart instead of
the head," "speaking as an artist [writer, mathematician]," etc.) that .
Moreover, understanding or comprehending any kind of mastery requires
attention, concentration, and an appreciation of the history of the endeavor.
Externalized skills, e.g., dance, athletics, masonry and carpentry, are easier
to perceive (they're already visible) and are easier for the viewer to
associate with because the viewer can correlate his own physical experience
with the dancer or carpenter. For the most part, that cannot be done with
mental work (art, writing, composing, etc.). The viewer's correlative in the
artist-doer is not visible. All that is left is the result of the mental work,
and much of the creativity or insight is only implicit. The proposition that
there are unseen animators of art and intellectual endeavors has led to a form
or expectation of mysticism and mystery surrounding the production of creative
intellectual work.
This goes back to Pythagoras and the association of "math, music, and
mysticism," such as in the music of the spheres, which were derived from
mathematical proportions, and from the mysticism of the esoteric practices of
Pythagoras and other teachers. The 20/21st century period is awash in its own
variations on mystical powers, from the "mystery cults" from the east (i.e.,
Christianity) to Surrealism and its espousal of other forces, to the
near-cult-like awe in the presence of computers, arcane science,
back-to-nature proponents, art-without-limit boosterism, etc. Fervent devotees
of art and other endeavors are often called "enthusiasts," a word that came
from the Greek roots meaning "possessed by a god," i.e., motivated by an
unseen power to perform certain things.
I don't think this society denigrates creativity: The prevailing attitudes
misunderstand creativity and infantilize it, more than anything else. As far
as watering down mathematics to make kids look competent, that is the result
of widespread antipathy toward competition (besides athletic) and the
inevitable ranking of intellectual work. If Johnny scores less than Sammy and
if Sally scores less than Mary, it's unfair. Etc. You know the arguments.
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Michael Brady
