In reading Nikhil’s post I came across an interesting argument: the idea that hybrids are not meant to exist.  I intend to use evidence from this class to the contrary.

To begin, I’ll list off some hybrids.  One of the first ones this class encountered in literature was named Roberta Walton, a software tester originally trained as a linguist, who later developed skill in programming.  I stated in one the earlier posts that her quality of empathy when it came to developing a program for her client and this new found ability to program would make her much better than Ethan Levin, who exclusively focused on programming, to the point where he thought in code.  Next, we have Mitchell Zukor an obsessed futurist who was also an amazingly good actor.  He combined these oddly different fields to the point where his clients would pay just to hear him rant.  Of course Danielewski is next on the list, and he clearly shows that the humanities hybridized with mass quantities of Data makes for an interesting read.

The Intuitionist seems somewhat lacking in this category as the two things that could be hybridized are empiricism and intuitionism, but even when characters are converted from one to the other, they are focused on that to which they have been converted.  If a character were to combine the methods, perhaps they would be able to bridge the gap between the polar opposing factions.

My point is this: while modularity is important in both social and practical settings, it fails when different mind sets are required.  We talked in class about how social issues for homosexual black women are not addressed, except separately.  Only a hybrid political party can solve these issues, but due to focus on one single issues, this will likely never occur.

I end with the description of a class as quoted from said class’ syllabus:

“Data” is often considered the domain of scientists and statisticians. But the proliferation of databases across nearly all aspects of daily life – from your Facebook profile to your SAT score to your most recent purchases at Target – has made data an everyday concern. This course explores the role of data and databases in contemporary culture by reading literary texts and digital media that engage formally and thematically with data. We will consider how these texts respond to, mediate, and critique things like data mining, big data, data visualization, and database art. We will also discuss “data-based” methods of literary study, like computer-assisted text analysis. Ethical and political considerations surrounding privacy, surveillance, and data collection and analysis will be at the forefront of our discussions throughout the semester.

This class sounds like a hybrid between the humanities and the technical. 

7294b793fff5778301734c10607ef7c2  Picture from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/502503270895666728/

 

Besides hybrids are cute!