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To examine whether artistic creations outstrip scientific accomplishments in defining human civilization, perhaps a fruitful place to start is to ask the question: what is true value of civilization? If we define civilization as a process that one generation constantly outperforms the previous in terms of living standards and comfort level, and our incessant efforts and success in reducing mortality rate and extend life expectancy, then a nutshell of a modern man’s modern life and the size of the world’s ever expanding population vividly illustrate that scientific progress is equally, if not more critical to civilization. On the other hand, if civilization is strictly confined to the realm of our spiritual endeavors, the sort of accomplishments that distinguish us from other animals, then scientific accomplishments does not necessarily lead to a more civilized society. On the very contrary, to some extent it has undermined our ability to create high quality arts. However, it is worth to note that art and other related areas progress along with the general society. In an era vividly characterized by the reliance on science and technology for economic development and social harmony, civilization is defined by the combination of artistic creations and scientific accomplishments.

Artistic creations tend to reflect values of a society during a specific period, which is partially influenced by the level of its scientific progress. The murals, architectures, crafts, paintings, calligraphers and novels inherited from an earlier time not only represent the beliefs and values of our most eminent ancestors, they also present us with the economical, social, religious, political status of the societies they live in, which is influenced by people’s scientific understandings. The most ancient artworks, such as cave-wall paintings and hand carvings, were full of men’s owe and admiration to their natural surroundings, and as the society evolves into a more civilized state and some of nature’s laws became fathomable, the focus of art turned to the human society, and to the preservation of kingly powers which were believed to govern the natural laws. And then Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution fundamentally emancipated humans from the shackles of religious beliefs and greatly changed our relationship with the nature----thanks to the scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs. Today’s art is less about great man and great gods, it’s more about portrays of individuals struggling in a modern, efficient but somewhat soulless world, and about the impoverished mother nature owing to man’s relentless exploitation of its resources.

On the other hand, scientific advancement shapes the environment and limits the resources available for an artist’s creation. For instance, in a booming economy, a popular artist always has enough funding and other resources to fulfill his artistic inspirations, whereas during recessions and war-period, budget on arts was usually the first thing cut by both individuals and corporations. Therefore, today’s art industry is highly reliant on the performance of the general economy, which is dependent on scientific and technological advancements. Moreover, the level of science and technology also limits an artist in his artistic endeavors---- without sophisticated computer programming, safety-proved construction materials and progresses in seismic research, modern skyscrapers would never become a possibility no matter how talented and creative an architect is. Similarly, without breakthroughs in research and new discoveries to prevent the next global outbreak of lethal diseases, not only the survival of art, but the entire human race would be challenged.

However, we should also realize that scientific progress does not always serve a positive force on our artistic endeavors. The industrial revolution has resulted in such a commercialized society as today that many of the important values of art were lost as artists, emulating the profit-seeking manufacturers, try to mass-produce artworks. Furthermore, in some countries artists were not as well respected as people from other industries, such as banks, law firms, and thousands of potential talents flock into business schools, law schools at the expense of their original life goals.

In sum, human civilization is jointly defined by artistic creations and scientific advancements. Although science focuses on the tangible part of human efforts while art addresses the intangible, the level of a society’s scientific level constantly shapes its artistic creations both in positive and negative ways. After all, science and art to a society is similar to the left and right hands to a man, although each is distinctively placed at its own place and serves distinctively different functions, it is the interplay of both hands that defines a complete human and humans have fundamentally changed the world.