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"When I was 8 years old my mother took me to a lecture about Solar System and I just fell in love." -Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne. Then his mother helped him calculate the scale of the planets, says Thorne in a video by Caltech.
Many people discover ideas that fascinate them through unanticipated experiences, and so we know a lot of science students who became actors and musicians. So, I believe we deserve more opportunities to discover ideas and communities that would be interesting. I have a philosophy about the future of education: Education should empower everybody to pursue at least one thing that they are excited to learn together and joyfully contribute to the society while inspiring people to get excited to learn ideas across disciplines and approaches so that we understand and appreciate each other’s ideas and perspectives and are excited to learn together and passionate to innovate.And so I’ve had this belief that education should be about fascination, joy, fun, excitement for learning together and passion for innovation; not merely just information. When we start to learn ideas of people around us, we can understand and appreciate each other's perspectives, which I believe is increasingly important in a global community. It inspires and nurtures intellectual conversations and getting the intellectual conversations progressing is what's learning is really about.
I must point out that the 'conversation' part of intellectual curiosities is what distinguishes learning from information. So, to bring people with diverse ideas together in learning and intellectual conversations, a show initially as an YouTube channel; but later as series of events, could help us progress the learning community. For an example: on part 1 of the show, a quantum mechanics researcher would take a guess (or explain very well if they know already) at explaining features of an economic recession. On the second part of the show, an economics researcher would join the quantum mechanics researcher to discuss about the ideas behind economic recession. This might help bring researchers and educators together, help them appreciate each other's ideas and increase chances of collaborative research. For the third part of the show, the unique and interesting explanations(few) from the audience (in an event) or comment from the forum in YouTube or channel related media, will join the two researchers for a panel of discussion on research of two experts and what they have to share to the panel (sort of like a live class or lecture which can also be done with video call). Like the ice bucket challenge, the researcher invited in the current episode can invite some other researcher from different interest for a discussion with him and the following panel.This show is more about learning together and promoting intellectual conversation, than being correct. But with the experts, the correct idea will provide a direction for people to continue learning something; while supporting discussion in the forum and empowering unique interesting ideas from there.
The second stage, after the show is organized as an event, would be to start open idea challenges and innovation festivals; similar to that led by the MBR Initiative. However, this project would be aimed at 'conversations' as empowering intellectual conversations is sure to bring ideas together and generate new ideas. The event will be extended to summer schools, boot camps, workshops, lecture series; being organized in more places, and bringing people together in intellectual communities.
To get started on the show and event, a trusted organization; either new or existing, should be able to bring researchers, professors and students, who are excited to share their ideas and learn something new together in an event. Even though the show is more about learning, it will probably be better, the more participants already have to share, so that they have more resources to discuss.
Such communities, would be able to inspire education as an opportunity to pursue intellectual curiosities in developing countries where education is very much focused on information, students are not passionate about learning, and opportunities for innovation and inspiring learning communities are nonexistent, and some other societies where educational opportunities are scarce. How do we reach out to so many people? There are people in rural villages that build fantastic bridges. There are others who have gone against their community to support the menstrual health of their sisters and ended up educating part of the village against superstitious beliefs. But these everyday heroes do not have the opportunities to continue the pursuit of the excitement of learning. How do we make education fun, and intellectually engaging; in communities that have some access to educational resources? How can we promote the value of learning together?
By sharing stories and bringing them together into communities. Why do movies make a lot of money, and music videos get a lot of views of YouTube than any other ideas? Why do greatly exaggerated news become top stories? Because they have a story to tell. There are people who can empathize with certain stories, others who enjoy some stories and others who imagine them, but everybody has a conversation with the story. So, if we can bring people together in communities, empower intellectual discussions, people can understand each others' ideas better and appreciate each others' perspectives.
This is the future of learning. The excitement for learning together!
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