{"id":401,"date":"2019-03-12T23:09:07","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T23:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/?p=401"},"modified":"2019-03-12T23:09:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T23:09:07","slug":"science-or-humanities-a-false-dichotomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/2019\/03\/12\/science-or-humanities-a-false-dichotomy\/","title":{"rendered":"Science or Humanities? A False Dichotomy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In some ways, Dr. Wai Chee Dimok\u2019s lecture reminded me of a previous talk in the series, Dr. Hensley\u2019s lecture on the parallels between the transitionary periods of the beginning and end of the Industrial Revolution, and therefore climate change, through the lens of Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland<\/em>. Both talks made the extremely interesting connection between the literary and scientific worlds. I was fascinated by this lecture\u2019s comparison between Bishop and Blake, and how selected works by those two poets could represent a tension between different frames of mind concerning knowledge, much in the same way Hensley compared Carroll\u2019s work to modern attitudes.<\/p>\n

Dr. Cook neatly summed up the two attitudes this lecture explored in her question about that tension, as \u201cthe need to know\u201d and \u201cfuture facing vulnerability.\u201d Dr. Wai Chee Dimok purported Blake\u2019s confident attitude in his \u201cAuguries of Innocence\u201d as one that claimed to fully understand the world, to the point that the speaker felt comfortable reducing the whole universe to a microcosm that fit in his palm. I think I can make the connection, then, that in this instant Blake could stand for \u201cthe need to know.\u201d That leaves Bishop to be the one who faces the future with vulnerability. This seems entirely appropriate to me, given the overall fear and definite lack of confidence displayed in Bishop\u2019s poem, \u201cThe Sandpiper.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main point of the lecture was to focus on non-intentional logic that aligns these old poets and their focus on nature with modern scientific logic about environmental issues. The uncertainty and feeling of insignificance in Bishop\u2019s \u201cThe Sandpiper\u201d is reframed in a more urgent manner, considering the modern problem of ocean acidification and the decrease in viable food options for the eponymous bird. Blake\u2019s long list of animals in \u201cAuguries of Innocence\u201d proclaim a very emotional diatribe against those who abuse animals and nature, which aligns with modern research into the huge environmental damage caused by the capitalist meat market in America.<\/p>\n

One audience member questioned why it is that even with overwhelming and ever-increasing evidence to the contrary, many people just cannot seem to engage with the fact that climate change is real and happening right now, and is largely caused by reversible human actions. Dr. Wai Chee Dimok posited that this is because science can be hard to grasp or connect with for many people who do not want to spend lots of time doing their own research. So, this lecture was the suggestion that it is time for science and the humanities to collaborate. If science can inform and educate with objective, tested facts and statistics, then the humanities can go on to do what it does best; that is, to craft words into feelings and create a means through which to convey emotions. Already this purported non-human movement is shifting writers to come to the same conclusions as hard scientific fact, if not for the same reason. If the bridge could be made between these two fields of studies, then together they could form a full picture and maybe create a more definite impact and a plan of action moving forward in the coming catastrophe of climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In some ways, Dr. Wai Chee Dimok\u2019s lecture reminded me of a previous talk in the series, Dr. Hensley\u2019s lecture on the parallels between the transitionary periods of the beginning and end of the Industrial Revolution, and therefore climate change, through the lens of Alice\u2019s Adventures in Wonderland. Both talks made the extremely interesting connection … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Science or Humanities? A False Dichotomy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8724,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[441438],"tags":[125491,209538],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8724"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":402,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions\/402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/presence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}