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I find this whole conversation 1) hilarious, 2) timely, and 3) reassuring
because I just registered my education company "We Grok It" 3 weeks ago :)

Christine


On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 2:49 PM, Alan Friedman <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
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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
> ____________________________________
> Alan J. Friedman, Ph.D.
> Consultant for Museum Development and Science Communication
> 29 West 10th Street
> New York, New York 10011 USA
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