Science is for everyone, kids included - Beau Lotto and Amy O'Toole

Summary

The video highlights how perception is shaped by past experiences and explores the importance of play in scientific discovery. A speaker emphasizes that stepping into uncertainty is key to seeing the world differently and that play fosters creativity, adaptability, and collaboration. The story showcases a project where children designed a scientific experiment involving bees, leading to a groundbreaking publication. Through this process, the children learned that anyone, regardless of age, can contribute to science and make new discoveries. The talk emphasizes the value of curiosity, play, and embracing uncertainty.

Takeaways

• 😀 The brain creates meaning from meaningless information based on past experiences, leading to perception biases.
• 🤔 Perception influences everything we do, but it’s often shaped by our history, limiting our ability to see things differently.
• ❓ New perceptions start with questions, but asking questions can create uncertainty, which is uncomfortable for the brain.
• 🎮 Play is an evolutionary tool that helps humans embrace uncertainty and adapt to new situations through exploration and creativity.
• 👩‍🔬 Science is a way of being, similar to play, where curiosity and uncertainty are celebrated, fostering creativity and discovery.
• 👧 Children, as experts in play, can be valuable contributors to scientific inquiry, as demonstrated by the Blackawton Bees project.
• 🐝 The project explored whether bees could solve complex problems using if-then rules, similar to human problem-solving approaches.
• 🧠 The project was groundbreaking, as neither the children nor the adults knew if it would work, creating a sense of genuine discovery.
• 📚 The children’s paper on their bee experiment was initially rejected for its informal tone, but later gained recognition and was published in a scientific journal.
• 🌟 The Blackawton Bees project proved that anyone, even children, can contribute to science if given the opportunity to explore and question.

Q & A

Question 1: What is the main theme of the video script?

The main theme of the video script is perception and how our understanding of the world is shaped by our past experiences, which limits our ability to see things differently. It also explores the importance of play and experimentation in discovering new perspectives and ideas.

Question 2: How does perception influence our understanding of the world according to the speaker?

Perception is grounded in our previous experiences, meaning we interpret the world based on what has been useful to us in the past. This limits our ability to see new things or possibilities, as we are conditioned to view the world in familiar ways.

Question 3: Why is asking 'why' considered a dangerous question?

Asking 'why' is dangerous because it creates uncertainty, which is evolutionarily bad. For example, if someone is unsure whether something is a predator, hesitation can result in danger. However, this uncertainty is also necessary for exploring new ideas and discoveries.

Question 4: What role does play have in addressing uncertainty?

Play is a way of being that embraces uncertainty, making it enjoyable and adaptable to change. It fosters creativity, cooperation, and exploration, which are essential for scientific discovery and innovation.

Question 5: How did the children in the video contribute to science?

The children contributed to science by designing an experiment to see if bees could solve complex problems using learned rules. Their question and experiment led to the publication of a scientific paper, showing that even children can make meaningful contributions to scientific research.

Question 6: What was the core question of the children's experiment?

The core question was whether bees, despite their small brain size, could solve complex problems in a manner similar to humans by adapting to new situations based on previous rules and conditions.

Question 7: How did the scientific paper written by the children get published?

The paper, initially written in 'kid speak' and structured like a traditional scientific paper, faced rejection from a journal. However, after receiving praise from notable scientists and having a commentary written by experts, it was eventually published in Biology Letters.

Question 8: What challenges did the teachers face during the experiment?

The teachers struggled with the uncertainty of the experiment's outcome, as it was difficult for them to operate without knowing the end result. Scientists, on the other hand, are more accustomed to dealing with uncertainty in the lab.

Question 9: What message does the speaker want to convey about science education?

The speakerwants to convey that true science education should empower individuals by giving them the opportunity to discover and express new ideas. It is about fostering curiosity, play, and creativity, rather than just teaching facts or rigid methods.

Question 10: How did the children’s involvement in the experiment change their view of science?

The children, especially Amy, realized that science is not a boring subject but a dynamic process of discovery. By participating in the experiment, they understood that anyone, including children, can contribute to scientific discoveries given the right opportunity.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 Understanding Perception Through Play

The speaker introduces the concept of perception and explains how it is shaped by experience. He uses a playful demonstration, where participants are asked to 'read what they see,' showing that we interpret information based on what has been useful in the past. Perception is grounded in our history and influences everything from falling in love to solving problems. The speaker highlights how our brain processes meaningless data into meaningful insights, but questions how we can see things differently if we only rely on past experiences.

05:02

❓ The Power of Asking Questions

The speaker explains that new perceptions and discoveries start with asking questions, but that questions lead to uncertainty, which is often avoided because it can be uncomfortable. He describes uncertainty as an evolutionary problem—facing uncertainty could be dangerous in survival situations. Despite this, the speaker emphasizes that stepping into uncertainty is the only way to make new discoveries. He introduces the idea that play offers a solution to this uncertainty, celebrating unpredictability and encouraging adaptability, cooperation, and creativity.

10:03

🐝 The Bee Experiment: Science Through Play

The speaker recounts a project where children used play to engage in scientific discovery. He describes taking a group of children to conduct an experiment with bees to challenge the belief that children cannot make meaningful scientific contributions. The children designed an experiment to see if bees could solve complex problems by learning patterns. This playful, game-like experiment allowed the children to step into uncertainty and discover new things, showing that science is a process of exploration and experimentation rather than following strict methods.

15:04

📜 Publishing the Paper: Overcoming Rejection

The speaker describes the challenge of getting the children's bee experiment published. Although initially rejected for not meeting formal standards (due to its child-like narrative and illustrations), the paper received praise from leading scientists for its originality. After revisions and a commentary to provide context, the paper was accepted by a scientific journal, making the children some of the youngest published scientists in the world. This story highlights the challenges and persistence required in scientific publishing, even when the work is innovative.

🎉 Success and Recognition for Young Scientists

The children's experiment was widely recognized and downloaded thousands of times after publication, garnering praise from scientists and the public alike. The speaker shares feedback from readers who were inspired by the children's curiosity and enthusiasm for science. He emphasizes the importance of encouraging children's natural inquisitiveness and giving them the opportunity to participate in discovery. The story concludes with a live demonstration of how science allows us to see the world differently and opens the door to new ways of thinking.

👩‍🔬 Final Thoughts: Science as Play and Discovery

Amy, one of the young scientists, shares her experience of participating in the bee experiment. She explains how the process changed her view of science from a boring subject to an exciting opportunity for discovery. She emphasizes that anyone, regardless of age, can make new discoveries if given the chance to explore and ask questions. The speaker wraps up the talk by reiterating that science, like play, is about embracing uncertainty, creativity, and possibility. The project gave the children a voice and the chance to see themselves as scientists.

Keywords

💡Perception

Perception is the process of interpreting and understanding sensory information. In the video, it is explained that our brain makes meaning from meaningless information based on our past experiences. This concept is central to the video's message, as it shows how perception shapes our understanding of the world and how it can limit our ability to see things in new ways.

💡Uncertainty

Uncertainty refers to the state of being unsure or having doubt. The video emphasizes that uncertainty can be uncomfortable because evolutionarily, not knowing something could be dangerous. However, the speaker highlights that stepping into uncertainty is essential for innovation and new discoveries, especially in science.

💡Play

Play is described as a state of being where uncertainty is celebrated, opening up possibilities for creativity and adaptability. In the video, the speaker contrasts play with other structured activities, emphasizing that play is key to scientific discovery because it encourages experimentation and openness to new outcomes.

💡Science

Science is presented as a way of being rather than just a method of inquiry. The speaker illustrates that science involves curiosity, questioning, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty. By engaging children in scientific experiments, the speaker demonstrates that anyone can participate in science, especially when it’s approached as a playful exploration.

💡Experiment

An experiment is a structured form of play where rules are applied to test a hypothesis or question. In the video, children are involved in designing an experiment to see if bees can solve complex problems using learned rules. This concept of experimenting with the unknown is linked to the broader theme of discovery and stepping into uncertainty.

💡Bee puzzle

The bee puzzle is the experiment created by the children to test whether bees can adapt to new situations using previous learning. The puzzle required the bees to follow specific patterns to find rewards, illustrating the idea that even simple creatures can exhibit complex problem-solving abilities, similar to humans.

💡Curiosity

Curiosity is a desire to learn or know more about something. In the video, it is highlighted as a driving force behind scientific discovery. The children's curiosity about whether bees think like humans led them to ask significant questions, which resulted in a groundbreaking scientific experiment.

💡Courage

Courage is the ability to face fear or uncertainty with confidence. The speaker praises a young participant, Amy, as an embodiment of courage for standing on stage to speak, as well as for being involved in a scientific process that had no guaranteed outcome. Courage is seen as essential for stepping into the unknown and making new discoveries.

💡Discovery

Discovery is the process of finding or learning something new. The video highlights that discovery often comes from asking questions and engaging with the unknown. The children in the video experienced discovery through their experiment with bees, which led to new insights and even a published scientific paper.

💡Publication

Publication refers to the act of making research or findings available to the public, typically through journals. The video recounts the children's journey to publishing their bee experiment in a scientific journal, emphasizing the value of sharing knowledge. The paper, despite initial rejection, was eventually published, making the children some of the youngest published scientists.

Highlights

The brain makes meaning out of meaningless information, showing how perception is shaped by past experiences.

Perception underpins everything we believe, including thoughts, hopes, dreams, and even love.

Perception is grounded in history, which creates a challenge for seeing things differently.

All new perceptions begin with a question, and asking questions leads to uncertainty, which can be uncomfortable.

Uncertainty is essential for new discoveries, and play is a key way to embrace uncertainty.

Play fosters adaptability, opens possibilities, encourages cooperation, and is intrinsically motivated, which makes it key to scientific exploration.

Science is not just a method but a way of being, with curiosity and questioning at its core.

Children can contribute meaningfully to science, as demonstrated by 8-10 year-old students generating significant scientific questions.

A student-led experiment involved bees learning complex rules, which raised important questions about problem-solving in animals.

Children designed an experiment based on 'if-then' rules for bees, which had never been done before.

The children's paper was rejected for not meeting 'quality control,' but experts hailed it as groundbreaking and innovative.

Despite the rejection, the paper was eventually published and became one of the most downloaded and widely read papers in its journal.

The project showed that science is about taking risks and stepping into uncertainty to discover new perspectives.

The young scientist, Amy, shared how the project changed her view of science, showing it could be accessible, fun, and for everyone.

The story highlights that anyone, even children, has the potential to make groundbreaking discoveries if given the right opportunity.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

so this game is very simple all you have

to do is read what you see right so I'm

going to count you so we don't all do

all do it together okay 1 two

3 amazing what about this one one two

three all right one two

three if you were

Portuguese right how about this one one

two

three what are you reading there are no

words there I said read what you're

seeing right it literally says what

read right that's what you should have

said right why is this it's because

perception

is grounded in our experience right the

brain takes meaningless information and

makes meaning out of it which means we

never see what's there we never see

information we only ever see what was

useful to see in the past right which

means when it comes to perception we're

all like this

frog right is getting information is

General Behavior that's useful

[Applause]

and sometimes when things don't go our

way we get a little bit annoyed right

but we're talking about perception here

right and perception underpins

everything we think we know we believe

our hopes our dreams the clothes we

where falling in love everything begins

with perception now if perception is

grounded in our history it means we're

only ever responding according to what

we've done before but that creates a

tremendous problem because how can we

ever see

differently now I want to tell you a

story about seeing

differently and all new perceptions

begin in the same way they begin with a

question the problem with questions is

they create un un certainty now

uncertainty is a very bad thing it's

evolutionary a bad thing if you're not

sure that's a predator it's too late

okay even seasickness is a consequence

of uncertainty right if you go down

below in a boat your inner ears are

telling you you're moving your eyes

because it's moving in register with a

boat say I'm standing still your brain

cannot deal with the uncertainty of that

information and it gets

ill the question why is one of the most

dangerous things you can do because it

takes you into uncertainty

and yet the irony is the only way we can

ever do anything new is to step into

that space so how can we ever do

anything new well

fortunately Evolution has given us an

answer right and it enables us to

address even the most difficult of

questions the best questions are the

ones that create the most uncertainty

they're the ones that question the

things we think to be true already right

it's easy to ask questions about how did

Life Begin or what extends to be on the

universe but to question what you think

to be true already is really stepping

into that space so what is Evolution's

answer to the problem of

uncertainty it's

Play now play is not simply a process

experts in in play will tell you that

actually it's a way of being play is one

of the only human endeavors where

uncertainty is actually celebrated

uncertainty is what makes play fun right

it's adaptable to change right it opens

possibility and it's Cooperative it's

actually how we do our social bonding

and it's intrinsically motivated what

that means is that we play to play play

is its own reward now if you look at

these five ways of being these are the

exact same ways of being you need in

order to be a good scientist science is

not defined by the method section of a

paper it's actually a way of being which

is here and this is true for anything

that is

creative so if you add rules to play you

have a a game that's actually what an

experiment is so armed with these two

ideas that science is a way of being and

experiments are Play We asked can anyone

become a scientist and who better to ask

than 25 8 to 10 year old children

because they're experts in play so I

took my B Arena down to a small school

in Devon and the aim of this was to not

just get the kids to see science

differently but through the process of

science to see themselves differently

right the first step was to ask a

question now I should say that we didn't

get funding for this study because the

scientist said small children could make

useful contribution to science and the

teacher said kids couldn't do it so we

did it anyway right of course so here

are some of the questions I put them in

small print so you wouldn't bother

reading it point is that five of the

questions that the kids came up with

were actually the basis of science

public the last 5 to 15 years right so

they were asking questions that were

significant to expert scientists now

here I want to share the stage with

someone quite special right she was one

of the young people who was involved in

this study and she's now one of the

youngest published scientists in the

world right she will now once she comes

onto stage will be the youngest person

to ever speak at Ted right now science

and asking questions about courage now

she is the personification of Courage

because she's she's going to stand up

here and talk to you all so Amy would

you please come

[Applause]

[Music]

up so Amy's going to help me tell the

story of what we call the black OT bees

project and first she's going to tell

you the question that they came up with

so go ahead Amy thank you B we thought

that it was easy to see the link between

humans and apes in the way that we think

because we look alike but we wondered if

there's a possible link with other

animals it'd be amazing if humans and

bees thought similar since they seem so

different from us so we asked if humans

and bees might solve complex problems in

the same way really we want to know if

bees can also adapt themselves to new

situations using previous learn rules

and conditions so what if bees can think

like us well it' be amazing since we're

talking about insect with only 1 million

brain cells but actually makes a lot of

sense they should because bees like us

can recognize a good F regardless of the

time of day the light the weather or

from any angle it approached it

from so the next step was to design an

experiment which is a game so the kids

went off and they designed this

experiment and so the well game and so

Amy can you tell us what the game was in

the puzzle that you set the bees the

puzzle we came up with was an if then

rule we ased bees can learn not just to

go to a certain color but to a certain

color flower only when it's in a certain

pattern they were only rewarded if they

went to the yellow flowers if the yellow

flowers were surrounded by the blue or

if the blue flowers were surrounded by

the yellow now there's a number of

different rules the bees can learn to

solve this puzzle the interesting

question is which what was really

exciting about this project was we and

Bo had no idea where it was work it was

completely new and no one had done it

before including

adults including the teachers and that

was really hard for the teachers it's

easy for a scientist go not have a clue

what he's doing because that's what we

do in the lab but for a teacher not to

know what's going to happen at the end

of the day so much of the credit goes to

Dave strudwick who is the collaborator

on this project okay so I'm not going to

go through the whole details of the

study because actually you can read it

read about it but the next step is

observation so here are some of the

students doing the observations they're

recording the data of where the bees

fly she's finishing off

that so what we're going to do is she

still going up here

yeah so you keep keep track M can you

help me Henry can you help me Henry what

good scientist says that right there

[Music]

right so we've got our observations

we've got our data they do the simple uh

mathematics averaging etc etc and now we

want to share that's the next step so

we're going to write this up and try to

submit this for publication right so we

have to write it up so we go of course

to the pub all

right the one on the left is mine okay

now I told them a paper has four

different sections an introduction of

methods a results a discussion the

introduction says what's the question

and why methods what did you do results

what was an observation and the

discussion is who cares right that's a

science paper basically so the kids give

me the words right I put it into a

narrative which means that this paper is

written in kids speak it's not written

by me it's written by Amy and the other

students in the class as a consequence

the science paper begins Once Upon a

Time the results section it says

training phase the puzzle d da right and

the methods it says then we put the bees

into the fridge and made be pie smiley

face right this is a science paper we're

going to try to get it published so

here's the title page we have a number

of authors there all the ones in bold

are 8 to 10 years old the first author

is blackon primary school because if it

were ever referenced it would be blackon

at all and not one individual so we

submit it to a public access journal and

it says this it said many things but it

said this I'm afraid the paper fails are

inial quality control checks in several

different ways in other words it starts

off Once Upon a Time the figures in

crayon Etc so we decid we'll get it

reviewed so I send it to Dale pervis who

is a National Academy of Science one of

the leading neuroscientists in the world

and he says this is the most original

scientific paper I've ever read and it

certainly deserves wide exposure Larry

Maloney expert in Vision says the paper

is Magnificent the work would be

publishable if done by

adults so what do we do we send it back

to to the editor they say no so we asked

Larry and Natalie de hemple to write a

commentary situating the findings for

scientists right putting in the

references and we submit it to biology

letters and there it was reviewed by

five independent referees and it was

published

okay it took four months to do the

science two years years to get it

published typical science actually right

so this makes Amy and her friends the

youngest published scientist in the

world what was the feedback like well it

was published two days before Christmas

downloaded 30,000 times in the first day

right it was the editor's choice in

science which is a top Science magazine

it's forever freely accessible by biolog

is the only paper that will ever be

freely accessible by this journal last

year was the second most downloaded

paper by biology letters and the

feedback from not just scientists and

teachers but the public as well and I'll

just read

one I have read black a bees recently I

don't have words to explain exactly how

I'm feeling right now what you guys have

done is real true and amazing curiosity

interest innocence and Zeal are the most

basic most important things to do

science who else can have these quali

more than children please congratulate

your children's team from my side so I'd

like to include with a physical

metaphor can I do it on

you okay yeah yeah come on yeah yeah

okay now science is about taking risks

so this is incredible

risk right for me not for him right

because we've only done this once

before and you like technology right all

right so this is the this is this is the

epitome of Technology right okay now

okay now we're going to do a little

demonstration right you have to close

your eyes and you have to point where

you hear me clapping all

right okay how about if everyone over

there shouts one two three

[Applause]

brilliant now open your eyes we'll do it

one more time everyone over there

shout where's the sound coming

from thank you very

much what's the point the point is what

science does for us right we normally

walk through life responding but if we

ever want to do anything different we

have to step into uncertainty when he

opened his eyes he was able to see the

world in a new way that's what science

offers us it offers the possibility to

step on uncertainty through the process

of play right now true Science Education

I think should be about giving people a

voice and enabling to express that voice

so I've asked Amy to be the last voice

in this short story so

Amy this project was really exciting for

me because it brought the process of

discovery to life and it show me that

anyone and I mean anyone has the

potential to discover something new and

that a small question can lead into a

big Discovery changing the way a person

thinks about something can be easy or

hard it all depends on the way the

person feels about change but changeing

the way I thought about science was

surprisingly easy once we played the

games and then started to think about

the puzzle I then realized that science

isn't just a boring subject and then

that anyone can discover something new

you just need an opportunity my

opportunity came in the form of bow and

the black aut B project thank you thank

you very much

[Music]