There’s a particular kind of groupthink peculiar to scholarly fields. In my review of “The Trouble with Physics”, I pointed to two (other) specific examples of recent advances that were stymied for long periods of time by scholarly groupthink. There are many others.
But I think Eli has hit on another important mechanism. Few learners these days are expected to rediscover important concepts, so we get no training in this ability. I don’t see how turning scientific knowledge into a body of secrets will address the problem, but it’s a valuable insight. I’d offer solving puzzles and breaking codes as alternative training for finding the patterns that nature is hiding from us. More scientists should spend their time entering puzzle contests, hunting geocaches, and attacking cryptosystems.
And could someone provide an interpretation of the cast of characters here? I enjoyed the list that was presented for a previous article.
While I very much enjoy programming (look at my creations come to life!) and have been known to conduct experiments in video games to discover their rules, I am almost entirely disinterested in puzzles for their own sake.
I’m a programmer, though, not a scientist, but if puzzles that were largely free of context where solving them could be used to accomplish some goal were a large part of science curricula, I’d be concerned about possible side effects.
Not that I don’t think there may be some merit to be mined here.
There’s a particular kind of groupthink peculiar to scholarly fields. In my review of “The Trouble with Physics”, I pointed to two (other) specific examples of recent advances that were stymied for long periods of time by scholarly groupthink. There are many others.
But I think Eli has hit on another important mechanism. Few learners these days are expected to rediscover important concepts, so we get no training in this ability. I don’t see how turning scientific knowledge into a body of secrets will address the problem, but it’s a valuable insight. I’d offer solving puzzles and breaking codes as alternative training for finding the patterns that nature is hiding from us. More scientists should spend their time entering puzzle contests, hunting geocaches, and attacking cryptosystems.
And could someone provide an interpretation of the cast of characters here? I enjoyed the list that was presented for a previous article.
While I very much enjoy programming (look at my creations come to life!) and have been known to conduct experiments in video games to discover their rules, I am almost entirely disinterested in puzzles for their own sake.
I’m a programmer, though, not a scientist, but if puzzles that were largely free of context where solving them could be used to accomplish some goal were a large part of science curricula, I’d be concerned about possible side effects.
Not that I don’t think there may be some merit to be mined here.