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Mar 19, 2023·edited Mar 19, 2023Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

Although I enjoyed the story about Crème Brûlée, it was the Data, Theory, and Humility that resonated in my mind.

I've been trying to find time to read Temple Grandin's book about visual thinking. I have managed to get a couple of chapters in. One of the things that sticks with me is her discussion of the makeup of her brain.

Temple has always wondered why she is different. How it is that she thinks in pictures? So she has submitted to MRI brain studies. One finding is that her visual cortex takes up a much larger percentage of her physical brain than average.

Is the division between data/theory really the result of fundamental differences in the physical make up of their brains? Sure, education and training (the nature/nurture debate) play a role.

But do we really understand how this impacts the talents we demonstrate. Perhaps someone has given this a lot of thought and I just missed it?

Recently I watched while a fourth grade teacher commanded the attention of a class. It solved a problem for me.

You've heard this slur -

Those who can, do.

Those who can't, teach.

As I watched this teacher I realized that:

Those who do, can't teach. Because teaching is a performance art.

Thanks for your thoughtful writing.

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Mar 19, 2023·edited Mar 19, 2023Liked by Robert F. Graboyes

The most prolific inventor of all time, Thomas Edison, made no secret of his contempt for theoreticians. Imagine his chagrin when his youngest son, Theodore, got a degree in physics from MIT. Thomas Edison commented, “Theodore is a good boy, but his forte is mathematics. I am a little afraid. . . he may go flying off into the clouds with that fellow Einstein.” That fellow Einstein won his first Nobel Prize for his explanation of the Edison effect. Einstein's explanation of the effect which Thomas Edison had observed but could not explain was a big advance in theoretical physics.

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