Monday, August 30, 2010

Mad Scientists and Evil Magicians in Popular Culture

Cultural representations of both mad scientists and evil magicians abound, as shown in the following twenty minute playlist.  But why?  What do scientists and magicians have in common?  Why is there a part of us that fears them?  If knowledge is power, is knowledge dangerous?  Does the average person feel excluded in some way from both scientific and magical expertise?  And what should we be wary of in the 21st century as we continue to push the boundaries of knowledge and redraw the line that separates what is possible from what is impossible?

1 comment:

  1. Scientists and magicans in my oppion don't really have that much in common. They are the complete opposite for that matter. Scientists try and prove what magicans try and produce which is the unknown. You never really know how a magican does a trick, but a scientists trys to explain how the mysteries of the world can be explained. Therefore the only thing they really have in common is that fact that they both have an interested audience pertaining to the subject matter.

    ReplyDelete