Third Culture
The Third Culture is an eye-opening look at the intellectual culture of today - in which science, not literature or philosophy, takes center stage in the debate over human nature and the nature of the universe. Thirty-five years ago, C. P. Snow, in a now famous essay, wrote about the polarization of the "two cultures" - literary intellectuals on the one hand, and scientists on the other. Although he hoped for the emergence of a "third culture" that would bridge the gap, it is only recently - when books such as Daniel C. Dennett's Consciousness Explained, Stephen Jay Gould's Wonderful Life, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind, and Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct became bestsellers - that science has changed the intellectual landscape.
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What Hacker News says
- Mentioned in this article is "The Third Culture" by John Brockman of Edge.org. That book is worth a read, even nearing 20 years in publication. It introduces the ideas of several fascinating scientists (among them Dan Dennett and Lynn Margulis) whose work manages to transcend the stated "two cultures," bringing science to bear on what were traditionally seen as "humanist" problems and vice-versa. These are thinkers who've taken responsibility for bringing their ideas directly to the public, rather than waiting for writers, journalists and, ahem, "insight pornographers" (if you follow HN) to do it for them. I first read it after obtaining my English degree, and it felt like I'd been shot with a sudden antidote to a haze of intellectual nonsense. I wonder how well it contrasts against the current trend in glossy pop science, which I suspect may be the flip-side of the same coin.
- A huge loss.
Here is the chapter Roger Schank wrote for the 1997 book, The Third Culture (ed. John Brockman)
https://www.edge.org/conversation/information-is-surprises
At the bottom of the page are a number of comments about Schank and his work by other chapter authors: Steven Pinker, Danny Hillis, Marvin Minsky, etc. E.g.
> It was quite hard to persuade our colleagues to consider these kinds of theories. Sometimes, it seems, the only way to get their attention is by shocking them. Roger Schank is good at this. His original discussion of conceptual dependency used such examples as "Jack threatened to choke Mary unless she would give him her book." ... I once asked Roger why so many of his examples were so bloodthirsty. He replied, "Ah, but notice how clearly you remember them!" -- Minsky
- It was a popular book that has many dimensions. The subtitle "An Inquiry Into Values" hints at Pirsig's core thrust: a philosophical exploration of what we call "quality". The title and Zen references made for me, a techie-nerd, the concept of Zen very concrete and my personal Zen tagline, "mindfulness through mastery, mastery through mindfulness" applies to most things I care about. The book was also my gateway to Plato and ancient Greek philosophy.
It's not touchy feely. Pirsig is a scientist and technologist exploring Zen and quality. It is the best example of what John Brockman calls "The Third Culture" in reference to C.P. Snow's famous essay.
