yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Hint to Adults - Kids Are Curious | StarTalk


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

I don't know why people continue to concern themselves with getting kids interested in STEM fields. That's a mystery to me because all kids are interested in STEM fields. It's the adults that are the problem. The adults who run things, who wield resources, who have political, cultural, and economic power—those are the ones who are clueless. Not entirely clueless, but clueless enough to be bungling, stumbling along the way, trying to figure out what to do about the human forces on our environment or any matter of science literacy that affects us today.

I am too impatient to wait for the eighth grader to become old enough to run the country to say, "Now we have a scientifically literate leadership." Adults outnumber kids five to one. Kids are born curious, and they get beaten out of them by the time they're in high school. Adults spend the first year of their lives teaching them to walk and talk and the rest of their lives telling them to shut up and sit down.

Every kid you've ever met is full of questions. That's what a scientist is: we're full of questions. The kid thinks that there exists an answer to every one of their questions and that you, the adult, have that answer. The great transition that a kid has to make is realizing that not only does the specific adult not necessarily have all the answers, there's some question they might pose where no adult has the answer because it hasn't been discovered yet.

These are the elements of curiosity we need to cherish in our children. But to presume it's not there when we have to put it in them? No. Take another look at your kids. The task of the adult should be to stay out of their way, let their curiosity run free, and let the children run free while the adults actually learn some science—those who were in charge.

More Articles

View All
A monopsonistic market for labor | Microeconomics | Khan Academy
So let’s continue with our conversation around factors of production for a firm, and we’re going to focus on the labor market. So we’ve already drawn axes like this multiple times, where our horizontal axis this is the quantity, quantity of labor that’s …
WARNING: Why Peer To Peer Lending is a BAD INVESTMENT
What’s up, you guys? It’s Graham here. So as usual, it’s a Sunday night, I’m at my computer, and instead of watching PewDiePie and Ownage Pranks like any normal person would do, I’m sitting here busy looking into peer-to-peer lending. From doing so, I fou…
Introducing Khanmigo for teachers
This is Conmigo, an AI-powered guide designed to help all students learn when subjects are giving them trouble. Conmigo can help. Kamika was fun and can transform learning into an adventure. Kanmigo is not just for students; teachers can use it too by tog…
Watch: Putting a Camera on a Whale Shark | Expedition Raw
I’m out here putting Critter cams on whale sharks and hope to better understand their behavior along the reef. We spot a shark; it was coming up to the boat and actually very curious. I didn’t really realize where the shark was. As soon as I jumped in the…
Science Literacy and Curiosity | StarTalk
For each one of my guests, if they’re clearly not otherwise a scientist, I try to find out what kind of science encounters they had as children. Judging whether some moment with their math teacher or science teacher left a good or bad impression on them, …
Porcupine Proofing a Cabin | Life Below Zero
You guys ready? Yeah, there you go, a little buddy, dump him out. [Music] It’s so cute! Just stay calm, let him go, let him go. He wants to go to the wello line. Run, run to the forest! Porcupine chase was a lot of fun. A lot more fun having the kids with…