Art Makes Science (And Everything!) Better
The Science Blogs website has an awesome article about the connection between art and science, and how scientists who make art become better scientists.
This kind of lateral thinking, the celebration of creativity in any realm, is sadly lacking today. What does it do? What is it good for? Why should I bother? How is this useful? Why should we spend money on it? And the next thing you know, schools' art class budgets are being slashed across the board.
A lot of people don't think of themselves as creative. Their disdain for artistic pursuits springs, most often, from a sort of bitter sour grapes. But we are all creative. It's coded into us, along with the ability to speak and walk and the desire for more. As children, we let our creativity roam free. We don't draw distinctions between what is and isn't art. Look at the classic childhood science fair project, the baking soda volcano. Crafting the display takes as much art as science; there is no fixed boundary, the way there is in adulthood.
Somewhere along the way, we lose that freedom. We start tamping down our creative urges. We become too critical - of ourselves, and of others.
But the truth is, making art will set you free, in the way that no other pursuit can.
"I don't have time for that kind of thing!"
"What a waste of time!"
"That person obviously has way too much free time."
Let me drop a number on you. It is a number which has been much on my mind lately:
This kind of lateral thinking, the celebration of creativity in any realm, is sadly lacking today. What does it do? What is it good for? Why should I bother? How is this useful? Why should we spend money on it? And the next thing you know, schools' art class budgets are being slashed across the board.
A lot of people don't think of themselves as creative. Their disdain for artistic pursuits springs, most often, from a sort of bitter sour grapes. But we are all creative. It's coded into us, along with the ability to speak and walk and the desire for more. As children, we let our creativity roam free. We don't draw distinctions between what is and isn't art. Look at the classic childhood science fair project, the baking soda volcano. Crafting the display takes as much art as science; there is no fixed boundary, the way there is in adulthood.
Somewhere along the way, we lose that freedom. We start tamping down our creative urges. We become too critical - of ourselves, and of others.
But the truth is, making art will set you free, in the way that no other pursuit can.
"I don't have time for that kind of thing!"
"What a waste of time!"
"That person obviously has way too much free time."
Let me drop a number on you. It is a number which has been much on my mind lately:
