The things we know we dont know: An Introduction to Lygometry | Amin Toufani | TEDxSanFrancisco

Summary

The speaker shares a discovery made at the Louvre Museum and uses it to explore a concept called 'lygometry,' which involves quantifying the things we know we don't know. They discuss how this idea fosters creativity and innovation, while critiquing how traditional education and workplaces often stifle it. The speaker emphasizes the importance of embracing uncertainty to unlock creativity and mentions a project called 'Reversopedia' that catalogs unsolved questions. Concluding with humor and a musical performance, they highlight the value of curiosity and gratitude in driving meaningful progress.

Takeaways

• 🎨 The speaker discovered the loneliest place in the Louvre Museum, room number seven in the south wing, with five overlooked paintings.
• 🖼️ People were ignoring these beautiful paintings to focus on the Mona Lisa, symbolizing how people often overlook lesser-known but valuable things.
• 🌍 The wall dividing the room epitomizes a core human vulnerability: the fear of whether what we work on will matter or stand the test of time.
• 🧠 The concept of 'lygometry' is introduced, meaning the quantification of things we know we don’t know, which is key to creativity and innovation.
• 🎓 The speaker criticizes the education system for not acknowledging unknowns and focusing too much on projecting complete knowledge.
• 🔍 Information abundance does not equal knowledge sufficiency, and we must focus on open questions to drive creativity and progress.
• 🏫 'Reversopedia,' a project by the speaker, aims to list the things we know we don’t know, encouraging open questions in education.
• 👔 The speaker highlights the problem of 'knowledge pretension' in organizations and argues for creating environments where unknowns are openly acknowledged.
• 👶 Children and artificial intelligence excel at lygometry, keeping track of things that don’t make sense and asking questions without ego.
• 🎶 The speaker ends with a personal story about being named 'the world’s best guitar player' despite only seven hours of lessons, illustrating the power of creativity and lygometry.

Q & A

What is the loneliest place in the Louvre Museum, according to the speaker?

The loneliest place in the Louvre Museum is Room number seven, north entrance, first floor, south wing.

Why does the speaker describe Room number seven as the loneliest place in the Louvre?

The speaker describes it as lonely because people were only focused on seeing the Mona Lisa on the other side of the room's dividing wall, ignoring the five other paintings on the north side.

What deeper message does the speaker convey by describing the wall in Room seven?

The wall symbolizes the fear that what we create or work on might not stand the test of time. It reflects the concern about whether our efforts will be valued or overlooked, similar to how the paintings in Room seven are ignored compared to the Mona Lisa.

What is 'lygometry' as defined by the speaker?

Lygometry, from the Latin 'lygo' (shadow) and 'metry' (measurement), is the practice of quantifying things we know we don't know. It involves identifying and acknowledging gaps in knowledge as a path to creativity.

Why does the speaker believe that educators should talk more about lygometry?

The speaker believes that instead of focusing solely on established knowledge, educators should expose students to open questions and the unknown. This would foster creativity and encourage deeper learning.

How does the speaker relate lygometry to the modern education system?

The speaker criticizes the education system for focusing too much on information transfer, a relic of the Industrial Revolution, instead of fostering an environment where students are encouraged to explore what is unknown.

How does the speaker relate Isaac Newton and gravity to the concept of lygometry?

The speaker uses gravity as an example of an open question. While we learn about gravity in school, its true nature remains unexplained, and this gap in knowledge represents the type of lygometry that is often ignored in education.

What is the 'Reversopedia' project mentioned in the talk?

Reversopedia is a project started by the speaker, which is a reverse encyclopedia that focuses on documenting things we know we don't know. It is an open-source initiative aimed at encouraging people, especially educators, to explore open questions.

Why does the speaker believe lygometry is crucial in the workplace?

The speaker argues that many organizations suffer from 'knowledge inflation'—people claiming to know more than they do. Lygometry can help by encouraging transparency about what is not known, which could lead to better decision-making and innovation.

What connection does the speaker make between lygometry and artificial intelligence (AI)?

The speaker states that AI excels at lygometry because it methodically tracks the gaps between its knowledge and the data it receives, adapting in real-time by addressing the open questions. This makes AI a strong example of lygometric thinking.