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Socratic Grilling
Episode 288

Socratic Grilling

Astral Codex Ten Podcast · Jeremiah Prophet

March 7, 202010m 10s

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Show Notes

https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/03/06/socratic-grilling/

Imagine an kid in school first hearing about germ theory. The conversation might go something like this:

Teacher: Many diseases like the common cold are spread by germs, when one infected person contacts another.

Student: But I got a cold a few weeks ago, and I never touch anyone except my family members. And none of them were sick.

Teacher: You don't need to actually touch someone. Sometimes it can spread through mucus droplets in the air.

Student: And one time I was camping in the woods for a month, and then I got a cold, even though I hadn't been around anybody.

Teacher: If it was spring, you might have gotten allergies. Allergies can feel a lot like a cold, but they aren't spread by germs.

Student: It was fall.