The Mind of a Scientist = The Mind of an Artist??

[Karen Allendoerfer]

In article <42831.chale at sage.nrri.umn.edu>,
Cindy Hale <chale at SAGE.NRRI.UMN.EDU> wrote:
>Chris Odt Wrote " I am an artist in my other life,"...
>
>I am also and artist/biologist and there are a very large number (seems to 
>me) of my biological friends who are also artists.  Further, my artist 
>friends have great interest in biology as well.
>
I used to write science fiction, although I haven't in quite a while
(at least I hope my publications are science fact, not science fiction).
Actually, my userid, ravena, is a character in a story I wrote several
years ago.  I also play the violin--do music and writing count as "art?"

I think there's been a lot of connection between, at least, medicine
and art historically.  Anton Chekov was a doctor and a writer.  In
orchestra we recently played Borodin's second symphony, and the
conductor told us that Borodin was also a biochemist and on the faculty
of a medical school in Russia.  Interestingly, he was also apparently
instrumental (so to speak) in getting women admitted to the medical
school.  

>It makes me wonder about this left right brain stuff.  Supposedly the right 
>brain is the "artistic" side and the left the "analytical" so the more 
>scientific.  But science is very creative in practice.  You need to be 
>able to visualize and make sense of things in a very abstract way many 
>times. Great artists/musicians/etc. have an understanding of their 
>media which is very detailed and meticulous which gives them the ability to 
>DO what they want with it.  This seems more "left brainish" to me.

I have never felt the "right brain/left brain" stuff was very meaningful
to me in my own case.  I have found that conscious mind/unconscious mind
is more useful, or, "self 1" vs. "self 2", a distinction that was
described in the book _The Inner Game of Music_.

Karen