Summer nights cannot go by without music. So last night, a friend and I attended a feature presentation on the Science of Opera. We got a taste of top-notch research as well as several soul-chilling musical performances.
I’ve noticed this trend in our society, that we’ve entered an age of algorithm. From business, to finance, to internet, to genetics, and now music, quantitative models have overtook our lives with efficiency and accuracy.
Anyone who had ever worked at McDonald’s can certainly relate to this transformation. Not only has the art of cuisine been boiled down to an algorithm, so did the details of running the business. In the fast-food industry, everything an employee ever need to do has been thoroughly thought through, from the cashiers to the cooks, from the supervisors to managers. Algorithms are used to find the perfect store locations, hire the exact employees, and put out just the right amount of advertisements.
Yet we are far from the limit; science and numbers have just gotten more powerful over the years. The super-computers on Wall street eliminate (and profit from) arbitrage opportunities. The efficiency of Google’s search algorithm brings us information in fractions of a millisecond. The map of human genome tells us the types of diseases we are susceptible to, how intelligent we will be, and what kind of careers best suit us. And last night, I learned that our enjoyment of music is related to the physical characteristics of our brain, and how music gives us pleasure.
As great as our achievements in understanding music, I think we can do even better.
We’ve placed so much emphasis on the “science of art” in recent years, perhaps now is the time that we should shift the paradigm back to appreciating the “art of science”. If only we can go back to the realm of non-exact certainty, if only there lies a unconventional probability that is against all odds.
We call this hope.
I find it truly beautiful.
I’ve noticed this trend in our society, that we’ve entered an age of algorithm. From business, to finance, to internet, to genetics, and now music, quantitative models have overtook our lives with efficiency and accuracy.
Anyone who had ever worked at McDonald’s can certainly relate to this transformation. Not only has the art of cuisine been boiled down to an algorithm, so did the details of running the business. In the fast-food industry, everything an employee ever need to do has been thoroughly thought through, from the cashiers to the cooks, from the supervisors to managers. Algorithms are used to find the perfect store locations, hire the exact employees, and put out just the right amount of advertisements.
Yet we are far from the limit; science and numbers have just gotten more powerful over the years. The super-computers on Wall street eliminate (and profit from) arbitrage opportunities. The efficiency of Google’s search algorithm brings us information in fractions of a millisecond. The map of human genome tells us the types of diseases we are susceptible to, how intelligent we will be, and what kind of careers best suit us. And last night, I learned that our enjoyment of music is related to the physical characteristics of our brain, and how music gives us pleasure.
As great as our achievements in understanding music, I think we can do even better.
We’ve placed so much emphasis on the “science of art” in recent years, perhaps now is the time that we should shift the paradigm back to appreciating the “art of science”. If only we can go back to the realm of non-exact certainty, if only there lies a unconventional probability that is against all odds.
We call this hope.
I find it truly beautiful.
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