Clifford Stoll: 18 minutes with an agile mind
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Stumble Thishttp://www.ted.com Clifford Stoll could talk about the atmosphere of Jupiter. Or hunting KGB hackers. Or Klein bottles, computers in classrooms, the future. But he's not going to. Which is fine, because it would be criminal to confine a man with interests as multifarious as Stoll's to give a talk on any one topic. Instead, he simply captivates his audience with a wildly energetic sprinkling of anecdotes, observations, asides -- and even a science experiment. After all, by his own definition, he's a scientist: "Once I do something, I want to do something else." (less)
So that was disappointing.
I'd like those 18 minutes back.
Jill Bolte Taylor gave a much better presentation at this conference and it hasn't gotten as many votes.
[BTW, I'm guessing Asperger's Syndrome - not cocaine. Or maybe both.]
He is entirely right when he mentions that he doesn't do the "read chapter seven in the text and do questions, etc, etc". That fails our kids nowadays. Carl Sagan even spoke of this folly in the education system. It doesn't teach the wonderful nature of science, nor does it condition the mind for critial thinking. It locks it into this mode of repetitve work, and no allowing for imaginitive, scientific, expression through their work.
I also agree that computers are too prevalent in the school systems, when I was in school the computers ended up being more of a hinderance than a help, and this was when they were coming into schools with more force. We stopped working together in groups, bouncing ideas off one another, the class became less and less cohesive, and ended up secluding some students from others. And in my opinion that is a major loss for the kids.
More hands on work is needed, less "do this excersize, and repeat" stuff. Unfortunately, I fear it all goes back to what George Carlin said when I'm thinking in my completely negative and paranoid, conspiracy minded ways:
"They don't want a society of people capable of critical thinking, what they want is a society of people just smart enough to run the machines and do the paper-work, but just dumb enough to not realise how badly they're getting fscked in the ass."
All kids should have the opportunity to pursue a higher intellectual learning process, not just those who stumble into the wonders of the scientific fields. Seems like more and more these days you only hear about the "gifted" or the "genius" kids that make it out with PhDs, and research grants. The rest... Well, I work in a distribution warehouse driving heavy machinery, and now doing online and at home courses to get into an Astrophysics program, and it's not as fun as it sounds.
There's certainly diversity in humans' need for personal interaction ('going bowling together') but Stoll doesn't seem to have learned from his prediction in his 1996 book, Silicon Snake Oil, that the whole internet thing would never really take off (p. 90). See his humorously inaccurate similar 1995 Newsweek article here.
In particular, he seems vulnerable to confusing his personal normatives with his factual predictions (should vs. is). His heart might be in the right place, but it's always risky to bet against technology or science.
I too think that maybe he's a little too anti computers etc. as he's coming from the point of view of someone who grew up without them. I may as well say 'No oscilloscopes in schools' but he had them, so he can see the intrinsic value in them. (I have one in my garage).
But other than that, he speaks some truth, he jumps around a lot... but mostly, he entertained me... and one doesn't always need anything deeper than that.
** in hindsight, what Pro said.
He's actually quite interesting considering all the things he's done in his lifetime as well as his stance on computers since he's VERY knowlegable in computer security. He reminds me of Doc in Back to the Future. I was waiting for him to talk about gigawatts.