Journalists often ask scientists what the applications are of scientific breakthroughs.........?

Question

Why do they never ask musicians or writers the same question?

Answer 1

I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment. Science is a human endeavor, like music, that we do because we're human ... it does not need justification.

However, the question is understandable for two reasons.

First, unlike music or literature, many science breakthroughs *do* have practical applications. It's just often hard to predict them at the time of discovery. If you had asked Einstein about the practical applications of relativity, I doubt he could have predicted the laser, or atomic energy, microwave vaccuum tubes, or its applications in the semiconductor industry.

Second, science, unlike music or literature, is often perceived as unintelligible to the layperson (although many people find Philip Glass or James Joyce quite unintelligible). A journalist will often look for something to make the story applicable to people's daily lives. But this is where the difference between a journalist and a science journalist comes in. A good science journalist needs to have enough science background to be able to understand scientific breakthroughs enough to explain them, and make them interesting, to laypeople. Discussing possible applications is *one* way ... but it is the lazy journalists's cop-out if that is the *only* way to make a story interesting.

Answer 2

Two reasons come to mind.
Firstly, journalists have a job to do, like everyone else, and want to access information quickly. By asking a scientist about the applications of their own research, they will get answers directly "from the horse's mouth", so to speak. Although there are obvious advances in music (synthesisers, mixers, etc) and writers (word processors, software, digital photography etc), it appears perhaps more logical to ask a scientist. It makes more sense to ask, say, a chef how to best cook a steak, rather than a nuclear physicist...

Secondly, perhaps journos are trying to catch the scientists out. There are certainly ethical issues surrounding scientific development (GM foods, cloning for example). Scientists may be so caught up in their work, working away with science for sciences own sake (an important enough cause), but perhaps without due consideration for the applications of its development. The Manhattan project comes immediately to mind.

Answer 3

I think the answer to your question has to do with at least a couple of things... First, from a purely pragmatic perspective, despite the great number of people who listen to music (nearly all of us), what scientists do can have a bigger impact on our lives than what musicians, artists, or writers do. Don't get me wrong... artists, writers, musicians (less so lately on that last one) can have truly profound impacts on the world, but not typically. Instead, they often represent variations on a theme.

More importantly, I think the reason has to do with the nature of the disciplines. Science is characterized by "progress," or in other words, moving ever more close to "the truth" as dictated by the laws of nature (i.e., physics). So as science moves forward, we come closer and closer to a better understanding of reality. The arts simply don't work in the same manner. What represents progress in art? ...literature? ...music? Yes, one might argue that "innovation" represents progress, but the truth is that artists don't agree on what represents progress. One artists concept of progress is another's definition of back-sliding.

Indeed, visual art used to be considered a science actually (17th Century I think...), complete with goals. At that time, progress was defined as representations which more closely approximate reality (i.e., toward photo-realism which was still a long way off back then). But artists themselves (that is... illustrators) essentially broke from these goals and elected to judge their work on other grounds. So as a result, there is no emperical measure of "progress" in art, but rather only subjective ones.

Food for thought anyway...

Answer 4

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