Both scientists and non scientists have a tendency to regard science and culture as different and parallel, if not competing things, between which one can or must choose. Science is not conceived of as an alternative, either neutral or competitive to culture but rather as a central component of a human culture more broadly understood, a component that existed long before the term science was coined and will long outlast current understandings of science as a specialized or privileged activity that can be engaged in only by members of a self perpetuating professional community.