Ignorance & Questions @ Comprehensivist Wednesdays
Details
Is science driven by ignorance? Is the primary output (and input) of science ignorance? Is there a difference between low and high quality ignorance? Is high quality ignorance the result we should expect from good science? Is ignorance the engine that drives science? Simply put is science about Ignorance? Are knowledge and ignorance akin to the figure-ground distinction in perception? Would a new field exploring ignorance be a profound tool to help us better understand and appreciate the mysteries of science?
According to neuroscientist Stuart Firestein, the answer to all of these questions is 'yes'!
"Knowledge is a big subject. Ignorance is bigger. And it is more interesting." --- Stuart Firestein, p. 10
"Forget the answers, work on the questions." --- Stuart Firestein, p. 16
"Real science is a revision in progress, always. It proceeds in fits and starts of ignorance." --- Stuart Firestein, p. 22
The discussion will be based on Stuart Firestein's short, eloquent, 18 minute TED Talk. Please see it to prepare for the Meetup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq0_zGzSc8g
We will also be discussing the value of Questions.
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Welcome to the series "Comprehensivist Wednesdays". Transdisciplinarity, Renaissance humanism, homo universalis, and Polymathy are some of the ways of describing this approach which Buckminster Fuller called Comprehensivity and described as “macro-comprehensive and micro-incisive”.
See the calendar at https://www.meetup.com/52LivingIdeas/events/calendar/
A Meetup Every Day, Every Week, For Everyone!
Every Weekday at 9pm ET; On Weekends at 2:30pm ET
We record all our Meetups and post them on YouTube. Feel free to keep your video on or off as you prefer. Watch Past Comprehensivist/Polymath Meetups at: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqpF1l8gdXlEbrO6SZafegV7C-g5fm50I