In addition to generally liking this initiative, I specifically appreciate the article on research debt.
I came to a similar conclusion years ago, but when I tried to communicate it, typical reaction was “just admit that you suck at research”. Full disclosure: I do suck at research. But that perhaps makes it even easier to notice that come of the complexity is essential—the amount, complexity, and relatedness of the ideas—but a lot of it is accidental.
For example, it’s normal to give very mediocre explanations of research, and people perceive that to be the ceiling of explanation quality. On the rare occasions that truly excellent explanations come along, people see them as one-off miracles rather than a sign that we could systematically be doing better.
People who excel at doing research are usually not the ones who excel at explaining stuff, so this is what happens by default.
The problem of research debt is indeed huge. But the best explanations I know were written by researchers doing explanation part-time, not dedicated explainers. I think getting researchers involved in teaching is a big part of why universities succeed. Students aren’t vessels to be filled, they are torches to be lit, and you can only light a torch from another torch. (I was lucky to attend a high school where math was taught partly by mathematicians, and it pretty much set me for life.) Maybe MIRI should make researchers spend half of their time writing explanations and rate their popularity.
I think getting researchers involved in teaching is a big part of why universities succeed.
This is how universities also sometimes get teachers who hate teaching, and who are sometimes very unpleasant to learn from.
Students aren’t vessels to be filled, they are torches to be lit
Sounds like a false dilemma. Ceteris paribus, wouldn’t getting more knowledge easier be better? The less time and energy you spend on learning X, the more time and energy you can spend on learning or researching Y. Also, having a topic more clearly explained can make it accessible to students at younger age.
I specifically appreciate the article on research debt.
Since I was confused by this when I first read this, I want to clarify: As far as I can tell the article is not written by anybody associated with AASAA. You’re saying it was nice of toonalfrink to link to it.
(I’m not sure if this comment is useful, since I don’t expect a lot of people to have the same misunderstanding I did.)
Well, I am grateful both to the person who wrote the article, and the person who brought it to my attention. I didn’t realize originally they may not be the same person or organization.
In addition to generally liking this initiative, I specifically appreciate the article on research debt.
I came to a similar conclusion years ago, but when I tried to communicate it, typical reaction was “just admit that you suck at research”. Full disclosure: I do suck at research. But that perhaps makes it even easier to notice that come of the complexity is essential—the amount, complexity, and relatedness of the ideas—but a lot of it is accidental.
People who excel at doing research are usually not the ones who excel at explaining stuff, so this is what happens by default.
The problem of research debt is indeed huge. But the best explanations I know were written by researchers doing explanation part-time, not dedicated explainers. I think getting researchers involved in teaching is a big part of why universities succeed. Students aren’t vessels to be filled, they are torches to be lit, and you can only light a torch from another torch. (I was lucky to attend a high school where math was taught partly by mathematicians, and it pretty much set me for life.) Maybe MIRI should make researchers spend half of their time writing explanations and rate their popularity.
This is how universities also sometimes get teachers who hate teaching, and who are sometimes very unpleasant to learn from.
Sounds like a false dilemma. Ceteris paribus, wouldn’t getting more knowledge easier be better? The less time and energy you spend on learning X, the more time and energy you can spend on learning or researching Y. Also, having a topic more clearly explained can make it accessible to students at younger age.
Since I was confused by this when I first read this, I want to clarify: As far as I can tell the article is not written by anybody associated with AASAA. You’re saying it was nice of toonalfrink to link to it.
(I’m not sure if this comment is useful, since I don’t expect a lot of people to have the same misunderstanding I did.)
Am not associated. Just found the article in the MIRI newsletter
Well, I am grateful both to the person who wrote the article, and the person who brought it to my attention. I didn’t realize originally they may not be the same person or organization.