Scientist -v- artist

Here's an interesting thought.  Daniel Pink writes that we are moving from an age defined by logic to an age defined by creativity which he defines as the ability to see new connections between existing ideas and concepts.  Being creative involves being able to form, breakdown and rebuild, which sort of reminds me of what we did as children playing with Lego - this was in the day when you just got boxes of bricks and no plans of how to assemble them.  By the time I had my own children, however, Lego came as kits - pirate ships, castles and so on.  There was a huge booklet showing where every brick had to go.  There was structure and consistency, but not a lot of creativity.

This is what George Siemens writes about the science and art of learning:

It's important to understand and measure ... the impact of training and learning.  Unfortunately the scientists of learning have the dominant voice in the learning space.  The artists are not being heard.

The scientist's role is one of determining best approaches to knowledge discovery, creation and dissemination .... What is the role of the artist in the learning space?

The artist is the individual who sees the magic in learning.  They may not know exactly why something worked well, but can see that the learners are changing, growing and developing ... the artist sees the beauty of uncertainty and values learning as both a process and a product.

We need the voices of both the scientist and the artist  Nether one is necessarily better than the other.  Both, held in balance and for appropriate task, are needed for learning and knowledge sharing.  

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