Hi As one comment notes, this is essentially Snow's "Two Cultures" argument from the 1950/60s and later. Snow argued that ignorance of the other perspective was greater for the Humanities than the Sciences. That is, scientists were less likely to be "non-literate" about the arts and humanities than humanities types were to be innumerate or ignorant of the sciences. I would guess that this imbalance is probably still true overall, and furthermore, speculate that ignorance of numbers and science among humanities people in media, government, education, and other central domains of life is far more dangerous than ignorance of arts and letters among scientists. At our institution there is no required math requirement, and even the science requirement can be satisfied by "history of science" and like courses (i.e., more humanities courses). How many institutions have rigorous math/science requirements for non-science students?
Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> "Christopher D. Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 04-Aug-08 10:09 AM >>> Here's a column from today's /Inside Higher Ed/ that claims it is socially acceptable for academics to know nothing about math and science, but not to know nothing about art and music (and then gets all self- righteous about the former while personally admitting to the latter). http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/08/04/orzel I'm don't think I fully agree with this fellow. On the one hand, I know boatloads of academics who know nothing about art and music and, on the other hand, I think that academics who proclaim their ignorance of math and science "drop slightly in [the] estimation" of their colleagues just as much as this columnist does when he admits his ignorance of art and music (whether they "feel" it like he does or not). Still, it was an interesting read. It might have been more interesting if it had been written by someone who thought that remedying his own educational lacunae was at least as good an approach as sheepishly admitting it and then immediately moving to decrying those of the "other side." Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ "Part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his or her views." - Melissa Lane, in a /Guardian/ obituary for philosopher Peter Lipton ================================= --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
