Note: This is the first of a pair of special programs that will focus on Point of View, and the third of four that will take place at USC (see here) rather than Santa Monica Art Studios. The USC programs take place on Thursday evenings, rather than Sunday evenings. This one will be at the Gin Wong Confernece Center, April 12th, at 7:00pm. Directions and maps can be found here.

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As physicists know better than anyone, the way we look at things determines what we see. A point of view is inescapable. Yet science and journalism both are frequently expected to be "objective"--a goal that is not only unattainable, but intrinsically fraudulent and ultimately counterproductive. Instead, the lesson of both relativity and quantum mechanics is that "truth" emerges only when "point of view" is inserted squarely into the equation. As the philosopher Max Otto wrote: "Let us remember that even Plato wore spectacles, and that if he or any absolutist ignores or repudiates this fact, it only makes him careless of the kind he wears."

For the second Point of View program, we continue to add perspectives. Relativist (yes, there is such a thing) Don Marolf of UCSB will tell us what Einstein's relativity REALLY means to the physicists who study our world. Different observers' perceptions of space, and even of time itself can give different answers. How do we make sense of that, and what are the consequences? Poet and author Michael Datcher, who teaches literary nonfiction and poetry at Loyola Marymount University, will talk about the role of the writer as a witness and also his newly launched journal of literary nonfiction, The Truth about the Fact. Datcher is the author of the memoir Raising Fences. From a dance perspective, L.A.-based choreographer Rosanna Gamson will show and tell us about her work, "Grand, Hope, Flower," which pretends to be a lecture on quantum electrodynamics, but is actually about L.A. The piece was part of the Einstein exhibit at the Skirball Center.