What do these things have in common?
There is no common stereotype portraying an individual that possesses such a broad range of expertise, yet these are just a few of the key elements necessary to understand when designing a successful modern phone application.
As a computer science major (and aspiring software engineer), C.P. Snow's idea that there is no true separation between science and the arts seems to be obvious. Try and design a user interface without taking into account psychology or aesthetics and you end up with something looking like this:
I call this "Right-Brains Gone Wild"
Go in the other direction, and you get an app that turns your phone into a beautiful paperweight.
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The arts can bring beauty to the complexity of science, but how can science affect the arts?
As coined by Kuhn, scientific breakthroughs can produce paradigm shifts.
Geocentric Model
Thousands of years ago, Greek philosophers believed in the geocentric model of the universe. That is, the belief that the universe revolves around the Earth. Such a belief gave not only explanations for things like gravity, but also affected how humanity itself viewed itself, and therefore human psychology as a whole.
What does it say about the human ego that the conclusion of wise philosophers was that Earth was special and the center of an inconceivably immense universe?
Perhaps the ancient Greeks were no less egocentric than Western society today
However, when Copernicus presented the heliocentric (sun centered) theory of the universe, it represented a paradigm shift, as coined by Thomas Kuhn, by giving humanity a dose of humility.
Another paradigm shift, showing our solar system orbiting around the center of our galaxy
An astronaut has been quoted as saying, "When we originally went to the moon,... we weren't thinking about looking back at the Earth, but now that we've done it that may well have been the most important reason we went."
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Ty.
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Sources:
"Difference Between Geocentric and Heliocentric." Universe Today. n.p, 2 August 2009. Web. 30 June 2013.
"Enter The Matrix." The Daily Wtf. n.p., 2 June 2004. Web. 30 June 2013.
"Overview." Overview The Movie. Web. Planetary Collective, n.d. Web. 30 June 2013.
"Keeping Our Monkey Minds Busy." Djsadhu.com. Web. n.p, n.d. Digital Image. 30 June 2013.
Sutherland, Rory. "Perspective is everything." Lecture. TEDtalksDirector. Youtube, 4 May 2012. 28 June 2013.
16 Stars With Texas-Sized Egos. Digital image. StarPulse.com. StarPulse, 2012. 30 June 2013.
Snow,C.P. "Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution." Cambridge University, Cambridge. 1959.
Vesna, Victoria. "TwoCultures Pt3." Lecture. UConlineprogram. Youtube, 31 Mar. 2012. Web. 28 June 2013.
