Exit: Permitting Creativity In Science

It all comes back to empathy... 

Empathy is this interesting thing that I have found to be a common thread in many of our class discussions. 

In yesterday's discussion regarding creativity in science, we talked a lot about how the world we live in is a very "us" vs. "them" mentality. In particular, Tyler brought forth some really interesting observations about "flat-earthers". We spent much of our conversation trying to uncover why people believe what they believe. We have seen a lot of this right now in the US election with democrats and republicans. Many of us do not understand how good, well-educated, people, can support the current US administration. 

I think what is important to highlight here, is that it wasn't what people believe that matters. Regardless of our stance on a given topic, the more we attack, label, look down upon, and disregard those who don't support what we support, the more we foster the "us vs. them" mentality. 

So the question yet again comes back to, what kind of people do we want in our society? Personally, for me, I want to be the kind of educator that can empathize with all viewpoints, regardless of it is my personal stance or not. Although I do not believe the earth is flat, I can understand and empathize with why someone may truly believe that phenomena. I do not believe in any religion, however I can understand and empathize with why my best friend Rebecca does. Although we may not believe the same thing, we still hold similar values, regardless of the practice that we take (and took) in order to hold those values. 

So how does this tie back to the article we read... Well, it comes back to the concept of fostering ideas, how to observe, and how to not be too critical of ourselves and others. As an educator, I really want to make sure that I don't squash the curiosity in my students. If one of my students said to me the world is flat, instead of telling them "no", instead, I can ask them "what observations did you make to come to that conclusion?". Instead of ending the conversation, we can start a conversation in which both of us will learn more.