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Julia Smith's picture

Sciences vs. Humanities

          I've been thinking about our group discussion with Professor Dalke on Thursday and the differences between the sciences and humanities. I think we reached a conclusion that in the humanities, it's more about "the self", whereas there is more collaboration within the sciences, but both groups are on a "search for truth". As a theater student, I have to disagree. Theater is all about collaboration, and perhaps it is the only art form that works in that way, and perhaps it is unique to the humanities in that way, but I still can't justify that definition based on my personal experience. In theater you have so many people "searching for truth", the playwright, the dramaturg, the actors, the director, the designers, the crew, the stage manager, even the audience, etc. 
          I therefore would like to propose that the difference between humanities and sciences is what we percieve as "truth". We agree that all participants of both fields are searching for truth, (and of course, inevitably always getting it less wrong), but our ideas of truth are different. In theater, for example, the actors may think that they know "the truth" about their character, they may have created a backstory, but the playwright may know a different truth. It is completely acceptable in humanities to find multiple "truths", or at least to search for truth in myriad ways, whereas in science, everyone is searching for the same thing and wants to arrive at one truth. There are many "correct" ways to interpret a novel, whereas there is only one "correct" answer to why humans are here on earth.
          Last week I posted about how we can never achieve the truth because we cannot trust anyone's observations or stories, including our own. I've been thinking more about this as well, and I think that that's why I enjoy humanities more than sciences. Perhaps in humanities, at least in theater, you can find some form of personal truth, although it may not be "correct", whereas in science you can never get to that level because there is only one "truth" that everyone is searching for.
          Additionally, oddly enough, while doing research for another class, I stumbled across this painting:http://www.singhtwins.co.uk/gals/for_web/paradise.jpg
          I thought it accompanied this class very well. It seems as though the painting itself is asking for truth.

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