23 JUN 2012 by ideonexus

 We Must Act Without All the Facts

It is not enough to say that we cannot know or judge because all the information is not in. The process of gathering knowledge does not lead to knowing. A child's world spreads only a little beyond his understanding while that of a great scientist thrusts outward immeasurably. An answer is invariably the parent of a great family of new questions. So we draw worlds and fit them like tracings against the world about us, and crumple them when we find they do not fit and draw new ones.
Folksonomies: information data action
Folksonomies: information data action
  1  notes

Just as children operate without all the data, we cannot use a lack of data to excuse inaction.

04 JAN 2012 by ideonexus

 Schools Kill a Child's Curiosity

All children are curious and I wonder by what process this trait becomes developed in some and suppressed in others. I suspect again that schools and colleges help in the suppression insofar as they meet curiosity by giving the answers, rather than by some method that leads from narrower questions to broader questions. It is hard to satisfy the curiosity of a child, and even harder to satisfy the curiosity of a scientist, and methods that meet curiosity with satisfaction are thus not apt to f...
Folksonomies: education curiosity
Folksonomies: education curiosity
  1  notes

By giving them answers instead of letting them find the answers themselves. If adults maintained a questioning attitude, they would question authority.