I have made it a point in my life to work as hard as I can to be the dumbest person in the room as often as is possible, and now whenever I go to a talk that is beyond me, I make a point of struggling to find a question to ask, especially if the topic is completely new to me.
It's a good way to learn.
Almost 100% of speakers will be patient and accepting.
I recall one talk I went to where I guy asked a speaker on the genetics of the ocean something along the lines of, "did space aliens build the pyramids," and I admired the patience and respect that the speaker, Kay Bidle of Rutgers Department of Oceanography, gave the questioner.
Prof. Kay Bidle, Rutgers University: The Invisible World of Marine Microbes: How Earth’s Smallest Living Things Have the Biggest Impact on How Our Ocean Works
My sons still laugh at the face (as an audience member) I made when the question was asked, but Dr. Bidle was very gracious, and I learned a little bit about patience from his manner of response every bit as important as what I learned all about ocean microbes in the body of the talk itself.
It was a beautiful thing.
I'm sure you won't ask me about space aliens and the pyramids, but if you do, don't worry about what I think. Questions are good, all of them.
After all these years, now that I'm an old man, when I go to certain kinds of regular meetings, people expect a question from me, since I've gotten better at it, and I'm very proud of that.
You can't be good at anything you don't practice.
Thanks again for your kind words and again, for thinking. Politics are important, but in a Democracy we cannot guide our best leaders unless we know what we're talking about. The time of Trump will pass; but the problems of the planet will still need to be addressed and the more we know, the better we'll do.
= new reply since forum marked as read
