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Bill Aldridge at NSTA used the phrase "tiny epiphany," to describe learning moments.  I find that language more modest, accurate, and inspiring than saying a visitor "groks" an exhibit.  I liked Heinlein too, when I was very young, but for both me and "groks," that was a brief period in cultural history.

Even "tiny epiphany" may be too strong a description for what really happens for visitors on a good day.  How often does anyone fully comprehend a good exhibit, say a Bernoulli blower?  A lot is going on there.  So I think we find in visitors'  experiences at exhibitions delight, surprise, wonder, a glimpse of something grand, but almost always well short of total comprehension or grokiness.

Consider this notion, often attributed to Isaac Asimov:  "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny…."  "That's funny... describes the kind of visitor experience I think our exhibits and programs can reasonably hope to engender often.

I wish I knew if Asimov actually said that.  Like many quotations attributed to somebody on the web, there are hundreds or thousands of attributions, all without citing a source.  I actually thought it was something I had heard from Dennis Flanagan, the great editor of Scientific American and a member of the NYSCI Board of Trustees for many years.  If anybody has an actual citation, please share!

Cheers,
Alan
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Alan J. Friedman, Ph.D.
Consultant for Museum Development and Science Communication
29 West 10th Street
New York, New York 10011 USA
T  +1 917 882-6671
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W www.FriedmanConsults.com
 
a member of The Museum Group
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