Tensions.
In an episode of The Studio-The Pediatric Oncologist (spoiler alert, sorry), Matt, the newly appointed studio, is dating this all-important pediatric oncologist. She invites him to a charity gala.
At the gala, he meets her other equally important oncology friends. Things quickly took a turn when they tried to convince him that medicine, especially finding a cure for cancer, is more important than something as soft as making movies, especially the type of movies his studio is churning out.
Matt isn't having any of that, though. He argues that movies make life worth living, and when a doctor saves your life, what is it that is hanging in every hospital room? TVs and what plays on those TVs? The argues that movie foundations fund their research.
Hilarious episode and show in general, but all too familiar, isn't it? This age-old debate of science or the arts, which is more important? And the elevation of certain careers over others.
While the world has changed significantly and the concept of careers is becoming more fluid, a lot of us had parents who only deemed a handful of subjects worthy to study growing up, the majority of these were the sciences and then law.
In school, the science students were the smart and serious ones with their future shiny and bright, while the art students were the rowdy, “their future is in God’s hands” types, despite them being the coolest kids. Always this tension, which as a parent is probably born out of fear of the children being employable and self-sustaining adults.
While in practical terms, when we strip out the fluff, it is a no-brainer to say that in an emergency, one would pick a doctor over, say, a movie producer, because first things first, right? They ensure our well-being after all. Using the COVID period as an example, doctors and healthcare workers were everyone’s heroes.
But we are not always in crisis, are we? Can we imagine a life without music or books? It would be like eating cardboard paper, wouldn't it? You will be alive, but life would be so colourless and tasteless. Again, during COVID, some of the moments that stayed with us and gave us hope were the random musical performances from people’s balconies.
While trying not to state the obvious, science, medicine, technology, agriculture, engineering, infrastructure, and communication have given us vaccines, bridges, clean water, electricity, and the internet.
It helps us understand the laws of nature, solve complex problems like climate change or cancer, and create scalable systems that serve billions.
It drives innovation, boosts productivity, and leads to industries that have pushed humanity significantly forward, think renewable energy to AI, etc.
Science ensures we survive, evolve, and solve the real-world challenges facing humanity.
But the arts, music, film, literature, design, poetry, visual arts, etc, tell us who we are. They preserve history, challenge power, shape our belief systems, and help us imagine better worlds.
It gives us a voice and self-expression. It helps us connect across differences(what unifies people like music), understand emotion, and reflect the complexity of the human condition.
Humans, by nature, don’t live by logic alone; we are not always rational; we are emotional and messy. Arts help us connect with our emotions; they help us grieve, hope, celebrate, and cope. They are crucial for our emotional well-being, community building/cohesion, and resilience, especially in difficult times.
Art keeps us human. It offers what science cannot: purpose, soul, and shared stories.
My point is, for a society to thrive, we need everyone, the sciences and the arts.
While science solves problems, art raises questions.
While science builds the tools, the arts build meaning.
While science focuses on “how”, the arts ask “why”.
While science creates systems, the arts tell stories.
While science fuels innovations, the arts feed our imagination.
While science saves lives, the arts give depth and beauty to life.
As Einstein said, “The greatest scientists are artists as well.” And as Toni Morrison said, “This is precisely the time when artists go to work.”
This debate is close to my heart now as I'm at that point as a parent where the children are making career choices, and out of fear, and their ability to cater for themselves in the future, I’m being logical.
Our human experiences shouldn't be stripped down to just survival, but to live life and live life to the fullest.
Keep going,
Ije.