Is science the only point of knowledge needed to be successful? Steven Pinker, the author of “Science Is Not Your Enemy” discusses in his article how science is the key to success. He introduces several great thinkers that have crafted their ideas with the background of science. One thinker was Rene Descartes, Descartes was a french philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. One of Descartes hobbies was cosmology, which is the study of the galaxy and outer space. Another individual mentioned by Pinker was Rousseau, who was not only a philosopher and a writer, but a composer in music as well. Pinker argues that “all great thinkers learned mathematics, physics, and physiology.” Yo-Yo Ma, the author of “Necessary Edges: Art, Empathy, and Education” would disagree with Pinker. Ma is a cellist who has a passion for music, similar to Rousseau. Ma believes that art and science create an “equilibrium” of our necessary edges. Ma argues that critical thinking and empathy thinking are needed for science to help develop creativity and a stronger understanding of emotions. Rousseau as a composer may have been a “great thinker” because of his passion for art in the form of music which may have helped him discover new ways of constructing new ways of thinking about how the universe and society interact and behave. Could it really be true that art increases your flexible thinking and discipline imagination?
There is one way to put the power of art to the test. Ma comes up with the idea of transforming “stem” to “steam.” Stem is the most common form of curriculum in schoolinging systems today. Stem stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Stem is looked at as the most relevant topics of education for students to develop a well-rounded education for a successful career in the future. Ma disagrees with this system, Ma believes that art should be intergrated into the schooling circulium. Ma argues that “the values behind art integration-collaboration, flexible thinking, and disciplined imagination-lead to the capacity to innovate.” To Ma art and science need to be combined to understand empathic and critical thining. As introduced before by Pinker, Descartes was a french philosopher but also has a passion for cosmology. In the study of cosmology art is needed to explore the ideal image of the galaxy and outer space. Astronomical art is the aspect of space art devoted to visualizing the wonders of outer space. This tool helped scientist discover and develop creativity to assist the thinking of how we can obtain more information on the outerspace. This isn’t the only place where the knowledge of art can help improve learning. In today’s society is seems we are all focusing to deeply on critical thinking, rather than empathetic thinking. Art is a key tool used to help develop empathetic thinking. Art and music can teach us to cope with tough situations, help us express our emotions, tell stories, and help develop cultures and traditions. Art can also help improve the way health professionals treat their patients.
