My overall impressions of this talk was that it was somewhat similar to the talk linking themes from Alice in Wonderland to some issues of the current state of the environment. There are similar calls for science and the humanities to join forces, with science providing empirical evidence and data, while humanities can bring more nuance to the problems that need to be solved. However, like some of the points made in the previous talk, some of these connections are strained, and causes me to question the validity of using a humanities perspective to tackle issues such as global warming. While there are natural pairings between disciplines, such as biology and psychology, anthropology and history, some are simply not compatible, and would not be able to help each other in the grand scheme of things.
The speaker used examples from William Blake, and used his opinions on global warming among other issues to show a merging of two disciplines. And while of course poets like Blake are free to discuss any subject of their choosing, this does not represent a merging of disciplines as I personally view them, where knowledge from one discipline goes toward solving problems in another. What humanities can do towards the sciences is provide more nuance to the data being presented, and allow the public to have more of an improved understanding of the subject matter referenced in the scientific work. However, science is done with a spectrum of complex language, and many scientific papers are done with a understanding that the public needs additional awareness on this topic. For example, in the field of epidemiology, it is imperative that the public have a solid understanding of diseases and how they spread, along with any new developments surrounding the spread and natural history of disease. These findings are written in a purely scientific manner, and humanities does not play a clear role in facilitating these findings into improved public understanding.
To conclude, while it may be intriguing to suggest a new angle of studying science, the rate at which science is advancing suggests that they way things have been going recently has led to some phenomenal breakthroughs and discoveries. The realm of humanities has seen some themes of science pop up in writing or art, but in terms of a full integration between fields, both need to be able to help each other solve problems or accomplish significant things. When this speaker, along with others, continue to emphasize the need for the humanities and the sciences to be linked, it does not seem to me as pressing of an issue as these speakers (of a more anthropological background rather than scientific) are making it.