The Pursuit of Ignorance: Summary & Response

In his TED Talk, The Pursuit of Ignorance, Stuart Firestein argues that in science and other aspects of learning we should abide by ignorance. Firestein begins his talk by explaining that scientists do not sit around going over what they know, they talk about what they do not know, and that is how discoveries are made.  He then goes on to discuss the course he is teaching on ignorance and how ignorance, in the sense he is discussing, is not to be looked at as a negative thing, rather it is a communal lack of knowledge, a lack of things to be drawn on, or predicted.  As he continues, he discusses the idea of ‘conscious ignorance’, from which every advance in science is made and is how the supply of scientific knowledge and facts are growing fast.  He furthers his point by saying that knowing a lot does not make you a scientist and that in the grand scheme of things, ignorance is much larger than knowledge. Firestein reasons this out by explaining that knowledge generates more ignorance, that each discovery produces even more problems or questions to solve. He then goes on to discuss the current method of education and how it is weeding not evaluating through exams as it is supposed to. Evaluating gives people feedback, according to Firestein, it allows for trial and error. Ultimately, evaluation on exams provides students with a sense of curiosity, which, in Firestein’s opinion, is best; evaluation is a link to embracing ignorance.
Firestein says that in order to get students to step outside of their boundaries they have to explore and embrace ignorance. In order to do this, they must be evaluated, which provides feedback and allows for trial and error, not weeding out the students for what they are good at and what they are not. This allows students to see potential in various directions, not just one or none. Students tend to not step outside of the boundaries of facts because the facts are clear, they are not ‘dangerous’ and unknown like ignorance is. In order to get students to pursue ignorance, ignorance has to be presented in a manner that is not intimidating, that invites the student to be unsure and make it ok to not be sure. Students must be put in an environment that asks them to discover, not to memorize. Then the students will be able to pursue ignorance.