Stuart Firestein
Stuart Firestein is a TED speaker who has written 1 quality-verified book, paired here with their talk.
You’d think that a scientist who studies how the human brain receives and perceives information would be inherently interested in what we know. But Stuart Firestein says he’s far more intrigued by what we don’t. “Answers create questions,” he says. “We may commonly think that we begin with ignorance and we gain knowledge [but] the more critical step in the process is the reverse of that.” Firestein, who chairs the biological sciences department at Columbia University, teaches a course about how ignorance drives science. In it -- and in his 2012 book on the topic -- he challenges the idea that knowledge and the accumulation of data create certainty. Facts are fleeting, he says; their real purpose is to lead us to ask better questions.
TED talks by Stuart Firestein
- The pursuit of ignorance (2013)
Books by Stuart Firestein
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Frequently asked questions
What books has Stuart Firestein written?
Stuart Firestein has written 1 book in the Books Worth Reading catalogue: "Ignorance". It is quality-verified and paired with their TED talk.
What does Stuart Firestein write about?
Stuart Firestein's books on Books Worth Reading cover Science & Technology.
What is Stuart Firestein known for?
Stuart Firestein challenges one of our most fundamental assumptions about how science and knowledge work. Rather than viewing scientific progress as a steady accumulation of facts that gradually illuminate ignorance, he argues that the real engine of discovery is our awareness of what we don't know....
What is Stuart Firestein's TED talk?
Stuart Firestein's TED talk is "The pursuit of ignorance" (2013). It is paired with their book on Books Worth Reading.