Stuart Firestein from ted.com

My thoughts:

Science is not perfect but it is the best method for improving knowledge. It makes mistakes on many levels but has built-in mechanisms to correct itself, a that process could take decades (or even centuries). Almost all other ways of improving knowing are less rigorous.

Stuart Firestein finds teaching students not exhilarating. He exemplifies one of the many fundamental flaws in R1 universities. The culture at these institutions views introduction courses (or any courses) as a necessary evil. Remember this when you are a freshman student at a big name school. These institutions are not primarily designed to give you a world-class education. It has other goals - research and grants.

It is clear from the video Stuart Firestein views himself as a “sage on stage.” Another fundamental pedagogical flaw in R1 universities (and TED).

I have taught Sensation and Perception twice. I designed the classes to show how much knowledge there is learn. I would point out where the book was wrong, incomplete, out-of-date, and suggested further research. I encouraged students to do the same. One of my goals was to inspire the desire to contribute to the body of human knowledge.

In addition to the growth of the scientific literature, there is the growth of general human knowledge. My response is not to follow but search. Even within the domains that I am “expert,” I willfully do not stay current. I spend my time solving problems. If those problems required additional “facts,” I look those up. I rather spend honing my general analytic skills than skimming RSS feeds. It does make for awkward conversions at the water cooler when someone asks me if I am familiar with a particular work or person.

Metaphors are powerful heuristics to organize thoughts. My metaphor for science is Agile Programming. I choose the next, best, completable product/problem. I ship working code/knowledge to the world in sprints. At the end of a sprint, I choose the the next, best, completable problem given how the world is and who I am at that new moment. The focus is on the doing of science for the world.

Testing serves another fundamental role in learning. Testing empirically show the limits of self knowledge. It shows where more time should be spent to continue the learning process.

PS. I think Stuart Firestein makes interesting points and does fine research. I disagree with him without being disagreeable.