How to recreate a Feynman physics lesson in the metaverse? The strongest brain of Möbius "brain hole" came

The Möbius Forum, the world's top scientist forum, which was "rushed" online by the epidemic last year, has finally returned to offline this year.

As a round table for scientific masters to boldly look forward to the frontiers of science and technology and the fate of mankind, this year's "Mobius" specially invited a number of young scientists.

Because of this face-to-face dialogue that transcends the realm and transcends age, today's (November 2) scene has produced many interesting collisions of ideas. The most exciting and special part of it is not the hardcore side of science and technology, but the spark it rubs at the intersection with society and humanities.

Science should make good use of the Internet to communicate with the public

Yang Tiangang, a professor at southern University of Science and Technology, asked: "Responding to climate change requires the joint efforts of the whole world, how can we make science and the public form a synergy?" ”

The question was immediately hotly debated by scientists. The first to take the microphone was 1986 Turing Award winner John Hopecroft. His view is clear: politicians cannot make decisions without public support, and if the public does not understand science, then the government can do very limited.

Hopecroft was previously promoting a popular science work in the United States. He hopes to let the public know that early brain development before the age of three is crucial to human growth. To this end, Hopcroft looked for excellent popular science writers everywhere, and promised a generous fee, hoping that they could write for newspapers and magazines on this topic. But some good authors told him that the effort was likely to be in vain: "They say that at least half of the people in the United States never read newspapers and magazines, so it doesn't make much sense to write these articles." After reflection, Hopcroft concluded that scientists must make good use of the Internet and social media, otherwise it will be difficult to communicate with the public.

Michael Levitt, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said that many people's thinking is biased, such as the attitude of many Americans towards the new crown virus is unscientific and too politicized. Therefore, it is very important for them to carry out popular science education. For scientists, it is necessary to be good at communicating with a variety of different people. In fact, the most valuable discussion should occur between people with different positions and opinions. At the same time, social media also needs to make some optimizations on the algorithm, reduce the homogenization of information recommendations, and avoid "fans" from forming small circles.

Seize the childhood sensitivities of "scientific language"

Lin Xiao, a professor at Zhejiang University, asked an interesting question: "How can you be a confident scientist?" The background of Lin Xiao's question is actually a bit helpless: as a basic science researcher, many people in his work will ask him "what is the use of your research", which makes Lin Xiao feel a little less confident.

Roger Korenberg, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, took the microphone and directed it to science education for teenagers. Kornberg said that virtually all science is applied science, but some can be applied now, and some will be decades away. He acknowledges that it's not easy to discuss "what science is all about" with the public or entrepreneurs, so the best thing to do is to teach people to enjoy science and exploration when they are young: "Then they won't ask again when they grow up." ”

Koenberg said that science is not complicated, what is complex is the language of science, that is, to clearly express the scientific truth and scientific spirit in a way that the public can understand. Just as there is a "sensitive period" for human learning languages — putting a child in a foreign language environment, in three months, he can speak the foreign language almost to his mother tongue; but as an adult, he will learn the language much harder. The same is true of scientific language. Therefore, scientists should seize the sensitive period of children, so that they are used to thinking in mathematical language from an early age, and at the same time contact with chemical language, geological language, molecular language and so on.

Recreate a Feynman physics lesson in the metaverse

Peng Siying, a teacher at Westlake University, "rubbed" the "heat" of a metacosm universe yesterday. She herself was a fan of the late American physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman. Feynman is not only an academic genius, but also a master in educating people. Peng Siying, who often thinks about how to better teach students, asked: "Can you use the metacosm to bring Feynman back to life and return to the podium to give everyone physics lessons?" ”

Levitt, who was thinking leaps, immediately said that if the metaverse technology was developed enough, Feynman should be in it. Kornberg also said that many teachers do not actually volunteer to engage in this profession, their classes do not stimulate students' enthusiasm for science, and even students may no longer want to engage in research after class. Therefore, the best way to improve the level of science is to find really good teachers, make videos of their courses, and upload them to the Internet for students from all over the world to watch and learn.

As a top expert in the field of computing, Hopcroft is more cautious about this. He said that many people are trying to involve AI in education, but education is so complex that it may be difficult to find so-called excellent teaching methods that are universal. In his view, the key to a good teacher is not how much scientific knowledge and lesson skills he has mastered, but whether they really care about their students. Hopcroft suggested to the president and department chairs that universities should adjust their evaluation standards for professors and shift more attention from publishing papers and getting funding to teachers' classroom performance.

Before concluding his remarks, Hopcroft specifically mentioned a "Shanghai story" that he had personally experienced. He taught at cornell university, a prestigious institution, and he had brought three phDs from Shanghai, and coincidentally, the three students were still high school classmates: "Their school is less than 30 minutes away from today's venue, and they all mentioned the same teacher to me, which is really a great teacher." 」 ”

Author: Zhang Yi

Editor: Wu Jinjiao

Photo: Yuan Jing/Photo by reporter Yuan Jing