The Asymmetry Between Artists and Scientists
- The separation of science and art also follows from the different ways that
the two are practiced in modern society.
- Most scientists are salaried employees.
- Most artists are "self-employed".
- Both situations introduce some "noise" in their creative life.
- Salaried employees are concerned with the bureaucracy they work for and
its rules (in particular, for promotion).
- Small businesses are concerned with delivering a product that sells (in
particular, with marketing).
- Both are stimulated to innovate, but one has to innovate within a bureaucracy
(the research laboratory)
that rewards innovation whereas the other has to innovate within a free market
(the art market) that rewards innovation.
- Therefore the relationship between art and science cannot be symmetric.
Artists need inspiration from anything in order to innovate.
Scientists only need inspiration from within their bureaucracy.
- Artists are interested in learning about science.
Scientists have little to gain from learning about art: it is not required
by their bureaucracy in order for them to progress within it.
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