What do you want to be when you grow up?

This can be a downright agonizing question for a generalist.  Tugged at by so many interests, choosing a single focus can mean leaving so much neglected and undiscovered.

I have always been drawn to both art and science.  But like many others, I’ve struggled to somehow choose between what appear to be two opposing disciplines.  Now, the more I learn, the clearer it becomes that these two are not at odds, after all.  That notion is far too simplistic.  They are really on a long continuum, each expressing a different way of approaching the same fundamental human questions and needs.

So I’ve made a choice NOT to choose.  And there may be no better time than the present to make that decision.

For we are at a turning point, entering into an era that promises an unprecedented rate of human progress, and hence, the need for equally speedy human adaptation.  Now, more than ever, we need the input of both artistic and scientific perspectives to help us move gracefully through such great paradigm shifts.  To form them into shapes that resonate with us and make us eager to embrace them.  Only in this way will we ever truly become one with our technology.

Art + Science = Beauty

I also believe that deep at their roots, motivating and uniting each discipline’s separate approach is our inherent appreciation of, and endless search for, beauty itself.  And though specific concepts of what constitutes beauty in art and science often differ in quality, they don’t differ in quantity.  Aesthetic ideas and motivations are abundant not only in our artistic creativity but also in our joy of scientific discovery, and both studies can be equally capable of evoking a powerful emotional response.

The late Richard Feynman, beloved and outspoken twentieth-century physicist, relates his own scientific appreciation of beauty with obvious passion during a famous BBC interview from 1981:

The more we learn about our world and ourselves, the more layers of beauty we find to enjoy.  That, in turn, drives us to uncover ever more layers.  They can be found everywhere and across all disciplines.  The thrill of this search is a vital part of what makes us human, of what gives our lives meaning.  It compels us to dream, experiment, and create.  It drives us to learn our purpose and our place among the stars.

Even those of us who may never decide exactly what we want to be when we grow up.