On 3/20/2015 3:43 AM, Telmo Menezes wrote:
On Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 9:25 AM, LizR <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
On 20 March 2015 at 20:57, Telmo Menezes <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
A fundamental difference in science is that peer reviewers are other
scientists,
working on their own research. There are no professional critics in
science.
That's true (I think). But there are plenty of commentators and so on, as
well as
science popularisers, and some scientists who are critical of others
outside their
areas of expertise. And some who are just critical of others full stop
(Fred Hoyle
was one I believe).
True, but notice that art critics are not merely commentators. They more or less decide
which artists become financially successful, which will then influence what you are
likely to see at a museum of modern art or an exhibition. In science, although it
doesn't hurt to have good press, your success is mostly determined by your colleagues.
Peer-reviews and citations. In sports it's perhaps even more meritocratic: the
commentators can say what they want, but a football player who converts a high
percentage of kicks into goals will be hired by a top team.
I sense that Brent is perhaps suggesting that art is mostly bullshit.
Not that it's bullshit, but that it's social - at least "high art" is social. Art critics
don't generally work in the field of popular art, e.g. popular music. "Popular" means the
hoi polloi know what they like. So we mainly need art critics to tell us how we should
appreciate something new and NOT popular. But I do find it amusing when an art form
starts to draw critics who will "refine" it. But of course they don't argee on what is to
be refined. A few years ago there was an "artistic" feud between a couple of L.A. DJs who
had elevated themselves to critics of hip-hop.
I don't think there are science critics (except maybe theologians and creationists). But
investment advisors, the kind who write weekly newsletters, are very close analogs of art
critics.
Brent
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