M.I.T. Panels Include Jones, Aldous Huxley

"Why is it assumed that the future is going to be a world of science," Howard Mumford Jones, Lowell Professor of Humanities, asked Saturday at an MIT panel.

Discussing "The Future of the Arts in a World of Science" with four colleagues, Jones was one of four University professors participating in public panels Saturday at the Institute.

Jones said that he was "doubtful that science will notably change either the nature or the task of art, though it may change expression." However, he said while it is conceivable that the Einsteinian universe is gradually altering the way art conceives of time and space, similar conceptions were an element in French medieval drama, early Christian art, or Greek vase paintings.

Scientific changes like the current emphasis on urbanism "alter the vocabulary of art, but not its age-old themes."

Falstaffs and Feebles

At a simultaneous discussion, Aldous Huxley gave a similar answer to the question, "How Has Science in the Last Century Changed Man's View of Himself?" "Falstaffs, Hotspurs, and Feebles are still with us. Changing views of human nature and the world do not alter these basic facts; they merely alter the ways in which these facts are interpreted, evaluated, and socially dealt with."

Following Huxley and Paul Tillich, Jerome S. Bruner, professor of Psychology, spoke on the changes that the new technology has brought. "We have increased the sense of effectiveness in life but have not reduced the tragic in life," he declared.