The Science Geeks and the Artsy Cool Kids Need to Get Together, Says Brian Greene

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Artists and scientists alike strive "to figure out the deep truths of reality," explains physicist Brian Greene. The ways they pursue that goal are different, but there's no reason why two segments of society seeking answers can't work together. That's why Greene advocates for the convergence of art and science. When the two camps share insights and ideas about the world, the results can be wonderfully potent.

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BRIAN GREENE:

Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds (concretely, relating the conifold to one of its orbifolds). He also described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, showing that topology in string theory can change at the conifold point.

Greene has become known to a wider audience through his books for the general public, The Elegant Universe, Icarus at the Edge of Time, The Fabric of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and related PBS television specials. He also appeared on The Big Bang Theory episode "The Herb Garden Germination," as well as the films Frequency and The Last Mimzy.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Brian Greene: For a long time I think there has been this unfortunate sense that you’ve got the science geeks over here and you’ve got the cool art kids over here and that sort of extends further on into life where there’s a sense that these two worlds are somehow separate. And the fact of the matter is we’re all in it for the same reason. We’re all just trying to figure out the deep truths of reality. I mean think about it. We’re all thrust onto this weird planet going around this star and we’re all given a little bit of time. And we don’t know what to do with our time. What’s important? Why are we here, right? I mean it sounds woo, woo, but I’m talking about really when you think about your life, what matters? And at the end of the day scientists do what they do because they’re searching for the deep law, the deep understanding of how we got here and where we may be going. And artists, the ones that I’ve had interactions with they’re also looking for the truth. Some kind of insight into why we’re here and what it’s all about. And what’s amazingly potent is when these two communities come together and allow the underlying insights of science to inform the poetry of art, then there’s some wonderful things that can emerge. Because at the end of the day these disciplines are not separate. These disciplines are all part of humankind’s search for understanding.

Artists and scientists alike strive "to figure out the deep truths of reality," explains physicist Brian Greene. The ways they pursue that goal are different, but there's no reason why two segments of society seeking answers can't work together. That's why Greene advocates for the convergence of art and science. When the two camps share insights and ideas about the world, the results can be wonderfully potent.