5. ART, MEDIA AND CULTURE

Version 1.3 March 2013                                               (Previous Version)

If science is complicated, consider the arts, media and culture – almost infinite diversity!

All humans spend a huge amount of their time participating in cultural activities and consuming media and the arts.  Indigenous people say culture dominates their lives.  So called ‘modern people’ may not go to the theatre to see a live performance of opera, a play or classical music, and claim they have no interest in ‘culture’.  But culture in the broadest sense includes not just visual and performing arts but all the ways in which members of a society interact with each other, and the underlying assumptions and hidden narratives that these practices reflect.  Reading your phone while travelling on a train or bus, or sitting with friends, is participating in local and global culture.

Part 5 addresses the diverse forms of communication, through art, the media and cultural pursuits.

·       Some people think that the best way to communicate a message is to state it as clearly as we can, using language as close to that of science as possible.  Some call this reductionist, clinical, objective or rational.  Sometimes it is jargon, “management speakâ€�, or political spin.

·       Others think that some things can only be said indirectly, in allegories, metaphors, images or religious stories.  Some call this gobbledegook.  Others call it poetic licence, or literature.

·       Some think some things cannot be said at all.  How can we hear a message that can’t be said?

Many artists are pleased if their works raise questions.  Here, we are concerned with the answers.

Journalists avoid perjury if they tell us the truth.  But do they tell us the whole truth?

• Some say the arts provide moral guidance.  But art provides insights and examples, sometimes through stories, and we still have to choose our path!
• The arts, media and culture provide us with a wealth of works that we must interpret.  We must react appropriately to what they provide: facts, insights, models to follow, warnings of what to avoid and so on.  These change our understanding, affect our choices and influence our values.

We look at art, media and culture under these headings, to see what we can learn from them:

The Arts:	How does, or should, the arts and culture help us to learn and express reasonable beliefs and values?	Is it reasonable to break down art, media and culture into these two (immensely complex) areas, to understand how we should express our ideas and communicate with each other? Click on feedback, or add a comment below, to tell us if you agree or disagree, or suggest improvements.
The Media:	How does, or should, the media help us to discover the truth about the world, and to express our values?

As we discuss the arts and media, we learn how they can provide factual knowledge and emotional insights that help us to effect our values, to be part of our shared heritage and be more humane.