Megan's Portfolio

The article that I have chosen to read is “Science Reveals Nature’s Hidden Beauty- Artists Should Revel in it” by Geraldine Cox from Imperial College London. She goes in depth about the science behind the beauty in nature. The author is mostly speaking to artists, saying that “nature offers valuable hints for art, science and life.” I think this will be useful in my essay because I can incorporate the nature aspect of beauty.

I think that for my first podcast, I will use Elizabeth’s. I like her sister’s description of overcoming an obstacle and finding the reward as a a beautiful experience. It also includes how the view of Greece was beautiful and that ties in with the nature part of beauty.

For the second podcast, I think I am using Taylor Fowler’s. I like how she believes that beauty is found in new beginnings and her story where she watched how the scene changed and she could see it in a different way. She also talked about how beauty elicits emotions, which is big topic that I plan to include in my paper.

I believe that in the statement “To regard beauty as a luxury adornment or a social signifier was to miss the true potential of the experience” John Armstrong is trying to say that connecting beauty to a social status or owning beautiful things is not what beauty is about. Instead, beauty is meant to “elevate the soul” as Armstrong puts it. I can agree that many people are too involved in materialism and can miss out on the potential beauty around them. However I also believe that what is considered beautiful is different for everyone, and everyone has a different taste. I think that in the American mainstream society in general, people tend to think that “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder,” which was also stated by Armstrong. I’m not sure if it can really be explained why we think things are beautiful, or why it is different for everybody. Armstrong seems to think that there are two psychological drives that are at work; the sense drive and the form drive. Together they are powerful impulses that are in our nature. I can see how this could be the case, but I’m not sure how much truth this has to it.

I chose to read chapter seven, called “So what? Who cares?” This chapter’s main purpose is to show how readers always need to know what is at stake in a text and why they should care. They say that the problem is that speakers don’t address the crucial question of why their arguments matter. I chose this chapter because I needed help with clarifying why things were important, instead of being vague about what I was saying. I found the templates for indicating who cares section was the most helpful part of the chapter.

Before revision:

He goes on about having equilibrium within all life forms, and that “only when science and the arts, critical and empathetic reasoning, are linked to the mainstream will we find a sustainable balance in society.” By which he means, incorporating art into STEM will balance out our minds because we would be using different techniques to gain high-level cognitive reasoning.

After revision:

He goes on about having equilibrium within all life forms, and that “only when science and the arts, critical and empathetic reasoning, are linked to the mainstream will we find a sustainable balance in society.” By which he means, incorporating art into STEM will balance out our minds because we would be using different techniques to gain high-level cognitive reasoning. This interpretation challenges the earlier work of Boslough, who has long assumed that good scientists don’t allow personal feelings to get in the way of evidence.

Arts and sciences are both extremely important areas of study, however is mixing them together to gain a better understanding a good idea? I believe that the arts have a different impact on an individual than science. Mark B. Boslough mentions G.K Gilbert’s view that scientific research is an investment. He explains, “Our scientific bank account has lead to… medical discoveries that have given us longer, healthier, happier lives.” With that factual evidence, “research spending is money in the bank, not money in a hole.” By this he means that despite what the budget-cutting congress thinks, scientific research is not a waste of money. With art, there is more creative thinking and imagination that expands the mind. Yo-Yo Ma suggests “the most proficient way to teach the values of collaboration, flexibility, imagination, and innovation… is through the performing arts.” according to Ma, the arts should be taught alongside the STEM system because they help teach these things. While both Boslough and Ma show the values and importance of science and art, I don’t believe that they go hand in hand. Art simply does not have the same effects on ones knowledge as science does.

Teaching the arts alongside STEM education is not a great idea. It is a waste of time to establish STEAM, which Yo-Yo Ma has come up with. He has explained that it is important to teach these classes for students to learn empathy and feelings, but I don’t that it’s necessary to have classes where the skills can be learned by basic life experience. The arts also don’t really go with the science, technology, engineering, and math categories. It is it’s own thing that doesn’t give the same amount of knowledge needed for successful career paths.

This essay by Yo-Yo Ma  was first published during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2014 on the World Post. I noticed that the author graduated from both Juilliard and Harvard, which is impressive because they are very prestigious schools. He has also won a numerous amount of awards for songwriting. This text is necessary for having an even better understanding of the arts than after we wrote the first essay. I never thought about art being incorporated into the school systems going from “STEM to STEAM” but it sounds like a good idea. The argument from Yo-Yo Ma is that “feeling and emotions as expressed in art and music play a central role in high-level cognitive reasoning.” He believes that collaboration, flexibility, imagination and innovation can be taught through performing arts.

Tandem: Having two things arranged one in front of the other.

Bandwidth: The energy or mental capacity required to deal with a situation.

Meridians: A set of pathways in the body along which vital energy is said to flow.

Original:

Art, in my opinion, is not just for self expression. In a musical sense, Zander says “it’s the music that generates the emotions that releases the human experience.” There is a song for every different emotion, every perception that you might have. Art in the form of music can help with a person’s emotional wellbeing and it is a way to form connections with others who share the same likings.

Revision:

Art, in my opinion, is not just for self expression. In a musical sense, Zander says “it’s the music that generates the emotions that releases the human experience.” I think that by this he means that there is a song for every different emotion and perception that you might have.

Original:

An effective altruist might be “doubtful that art had much power to alter the world for the better” but I strongly disagree. I can’t imagine a world without music, books and movies, or any other form of art because they have such a significant impact on an individual and a society.

Revision:

An effective altruist might feel “doubtful that art had much power to alter the world for the better” but I strongly disagree. I think that statement shows a direct message of what the EAs believe, that art has no genuine effect on a society that makes it better. I can’t imagine a world without music, books and movies, or any other form of art because they have such a significant impact on an individual and a society.

Before changes:

Being creative and making or using any form of art gives someone the ability to express themselves and to be their own person. I can’t help but think of how boring the world would be without books, movies, and especially music, considering I indulge in all of these activities on almost a day to day basis. For some people, music improves their productiveness in the activity they are involved in. An example being something as simple as going to the gym. Working out with music is much more enjoyable and keeps you on task. Music is a way of expressing yourself in the sense that you could be interested in a unique set of certain genres that you find very compelling. This is also a way of making connections with other people who have similar tastes as you, there are many benefits to music. The same thing goes for movies, TV shows, and books; you can always find someone who shares the same interests that you have. Creating art is another way of self expression. As a kid I used to write short stories, and that was my way of bringing my imagination to life. This was self-rewarding in a way, because I felt proud of myself as I would show off my ‘masterpieces’ that I would create. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was essentially expressing my emotions and thoughts that I had at that moment, and I think that is important. Everyone needs to communicate their feelings to stay sane.

After Changes:

Being creative and using any form of art gives someone the ability to express themselves. I can’t help but think of how boring the world would be without books, movies, and especially music, considering I indulge in all of these activities on almost a day to day basis. For some people, music improves their productiveness in the activity they are involved in. An example being something as simple as going to the gym. Working out with music is much more enjoyable and keeps you on task. Music is a way of expressing yourself in the sense that you could be interested in a unique set of certain genres that you find very compelling. You can also use your interests to make connections with other people who have similar tastes as you. The same thing goes for movies, TV shows, and books; you can always find someone who shares the same interests that you have. Creating art is another way of self expression. As a kid I used to write short stories, and that was my way of bringing my imagination to life. This was self-rewarding in a way, because I felt proud of myself as I would show off my ‘masterpieces’ that I would create. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was essentially expressing my emotions and thoughts that I had at that moment, and I think that is important. Everyone needs to communicate their feelings to stay sane.

Before changes:

Living like an Effective Altruist is simply not a good way of life. They might get some joy out of helping people, but they aren’t doing anything to give joy to themselves, which I believe is important to live a satisfying and enjoyable life. The fact that EAs don’t give creative people a chance and “require that they give up what they love to do most” breaks my heart. How can you tell someone to drop what they are passionate about when they could have impacted so many people, possibly in need of emotional help? Their beliefs actually go against doing what you’re interested in and passionate about when I was told all my life to get into something that I actually find interesting so that I wouldn’t be miserable. The way I see it is that the EAs think that you can’t do anything for yourself because it doesn’t benefit everyone. That to me seems like you can’t even live your own life the way you want and you end up feeling depressed. In my opinion, I believe that you don’t need to just give your money away to benefit others. What you need is a way to communicate emotions to others and connect through powerful artwork to have a better lifestyle for yourself.

After changes:

Living like an Effective Altruist is simply not a good way of life. They might get some joy out of helping people, but they aren’t doing anything to give joy to themselves. I believe this is important to live a satisfying and enjoyable life. The fact that EAs don’t give creative people a chance and “require that they give up what they love to do most” breaks my heart. How can you tell someone to drop what they are passionate about when they could have impacted so many people, possibly in need of emotional help? Their beliefs actually go against doing what you’re interested in and passionate about. Most parents tell their kids to get into something that they actually find interesting so that they wouldn’t be miserable, which is the complete opposite. The way I see it is that the EAs think that you can’t do anything for yourself because it doesn’t benefit everyone. That to me seems like you can’t even live your own life the way you want and you end up feeling depressed. In my opinion, I believe that you don’t need to just give your money away to benefit others. What you need is a way to communicate emotions to others and connect through powerful artwork to have a better lifestyle for yourself.

The changes I made in my paragraphs were subtle. I broke up run on sentences and changed them a little to sound better in the paragraphs. I also got rid of some of the parts that don’t go along with the topic of the paragraphs. Overall these changes help give an easier read to the reader because it makes more sense now.

When I read Anne Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts” I noticed that she mentioned the fact that all first drafts written by even famous writers are a complete mess.  She also said that you are supposed to just let it all pour out and let it go all over the place, because nobody will read the first draft. You can clean and shape it later. This was not the case for our experiences because we knew that other people were going to be editing and reading through our work thoroughly. I think this gave us more pressure to write something somewhat good the first time around, at least it was like that for me. Although I definitely wouldn’t consider this my best work, I tried not to make it my worst. This was the point of the “Shitty First Drafts,” that it is supposed to be bad the first time around, and I feel like that was not what I experienced.

My goal for my second draft is to reorganize the paragraphs because they are in an order that doesn’t really make sense. Some steps to take to achieve this goal is to read each paragraph carefully and then determine what place makes the most sense for each one. Then I can make better transition sentences between the paragraphs to make them flow more smoothly. My biggest challenge might be realizing that some paragraphs don’t go with the paper and cutting them altogether since I spent so much time writing them.  If this becomes too challenging I might have someone read the paragraphs out loud so that I can see what I need to get rid of.