1)John Lehrer’s main argument is that there are major questions in the science world that have been left unanswered and that we must combine the world of science and art to help answer those questions. One thing that stood out to me was how he uses metaphors as an argument to support this as he states how most scientists use metaphors to help them understand the great scientific implications and mathematical equations that the brain may have a hard time grasping. He talks about how not all metaphors are perfect and how artists can help perfect these metaphors for example poets and their use of words to help better define their metaphors at a more meaningful and specific level. I believe he has a strong argument because it is true that in science we use metaphors to better understand difficult concepts and if we are trying to understand something more, we may need the help of art to perfect and better our metaphors. Metaphors are also a good example of art as when we use them we often use images to help connect the concepts together.
2) Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle- that the position and velocity of an object cannot both be measured exactly, at the same time, even in theory.
“the bridging principle”- in neuroscience what explains how the activity of our brain cells creates the subjective experience of consciousness
Reductionism related philosophical ideas that regard the associations between phenomena that can be broken down into simpler phenomena
Synapse a junction between two nerve cells
Epiphenomenon a secondary effect that comes from but does not necessarily influence a process.
Holistic perspective a perspective in which many different factors are taken into account.
Metaphor- a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
3) A physicist Albert Einstein created the theory of relativity which states that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers. He was able to understand this by thinking of moving trains. Einstein is used as a support for Lehrer’s argument that many scientists use metaphors to understand theory. Richard Serra is an artist who created sculptures using sheet metal usually in large scales in different shapes. Richard Serra was also used as a support for Lehrer’s argument of how art can be used to help scientific metaphors as he says how his sculptures may help you see curves in space-time in a different view.
