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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
"step 1. make a mistake and learn from it
step 2. repeat step until enlightenment occurs"
I couldn't agree more, or imagine a better way of dealing with the universe. But I know so many people who can't get all the way through step one, because they think that if they didn't get the desired result it's because everyone else is so obtuse. I suspect it's a result of what you were saying about ignorance and fallibility being vilified. It's hard for human beings to believe that "no" is as useful as "yes" when it comes to information, because it's too easy to believe that those two words correspond to "wrong" and "right" respectively. Formal education frequently reinforces that belief.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
"no" is as useful as "yes" when it comes to information
Or, to put it another way, the only experiment that is a failure is one you don't learn anything from.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
I frequently tell my students that they learn more from being wrong, than they do being right.
make mistakes, and make 'em loud!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
I read once that an interviewer noted Edison's refusal to give up despite his many early failures. Edison replied that he hadn't failed he had just learned 99 ways not to make a lightbulb.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
I had an interesting conversation with a 10 year old the other week. He maintained that people today are smarter than "in the olden days" because we know so much more now. He could not grasp the difference between knowledge and intelligence. I am aware of the difference cognitively, but confessing ignorance still feels distressingly like confessing stupidity.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
hehe. that reminds me that I told a group of 7/8th grade students the other day that they were "ignorant" about something; boy did I hear about it! I did manage, however, to convince them that what I said had nothing to do with their general level of intelligence, just that they didn't know something, and could learn it if they desired. score one for the teacher! 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Since ignorant seems to be changing meanings is there a new word to replace it. [opening can of worms e]
warning - totally off topic: caught an old Spin City episode in which a group of rappers explain that "fat" now means "good". He replied that in that case his ex-wife was wonderful.
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 247
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 247 |
why I think honest ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of
You are far too modest, ff. "Honest ignorance" is the foundation of all science.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
"fat" now means "good"
Yeahbut® it's spelled dipherent.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago about the sense of futility envloping much of what we do (scientific research). It's very hard to remind yourself every day that someone has to investigate what turn out to be dead ends, just to be sure they're dead ends and not something potentially useful. It can be very discouraging on a day-to-day level, though. I think before you get into research you picture it as a continuum of brilliant new discoveries, rather than the eternal culling of bad ideas, in the hopes of leaving only the good ones to flourish.
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