#136: T.G.I.TED - Exploring the Call to Learn, Teach, and Maintain Perpetual Curiosity

You reach a point in life, and you think to yourself, I’ve done everything I want to do in life. But have you? I just watched a TED talk that’s made me re-evaluate how I look at what’s mine to do. And I talk about it in today’s episode.

Clifford Stoll is an astronomer, physicist, and educator extraordinaire. In this episode, l venture into the depths of his dynamic TED Talk, "The Call to Learn."

Today, I share my three major takeaways that reshaped my perspective on teaching, learning, and the beauty of perpetual curiosity.

In this episode, I also mention a FREE four-video training series I created that will help you develop a sense of what's next for you.

As an empty nester parent, I know there’s a tendency to look back to what we’ve accomplished. We raised a kid or kids, and send them out into the world. But I’m not going to be a parent again. And I don’t want to sit around and wait to be grandparent. I want to go out and do something else. If you’re like me, you might be trying to decide what’s next for yourself. I’ve created this four-part video series where I talk about how to figure out what’s next for you. It’s free:

YOU CAN GRAB THAT FREE TRAINING SERIES HERE

Stoll's TED Talk is a captivating whirlwind, showcasing his unique approach to inspire young minds and demonstrating hands-on how learning science can be an exciting, fun-filled adventure.

Here's the link for Stoll's TED talk.

As I mentioned, you can watch MY TEDx talk here:

https://www.thorchallgren.com/tedx

Here's the other talk in this T.G.I.TED series:

#118: T.G.I.TED - The Hidden Power of Smiling
#123: T.G.I.TED - Visualization and Breathing Air From The Future
#128: T.G.I.TED - How to Reframe What "Failing" Means
#129: T.G.I.TED - Challenging the Myths: Age and Success

As always, thanks for listening!

You can find me here:

Dr. Thor on Instagram @drthor.tv
Dr. Thor on TikTok @drthor.tv

Website: https://drthor.tv/

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
you reach a point in life and maybe you think to
yourself I've done everythingthat I wanna do in life, but
have you?
I just watched a TED Talkthat's made me reevaluate how I
look at what's mine to do, and Italk about it in today's
episode.
Welcome to.

(00:21):
Every Day A New Thought.
I'm Thor Traugren, and everyweekday I share one new thought.
It's TGI TED, a feature on theshow where I talk about one TED
Talk that inspires me.
This is a series I run everyFriday and I'll put the links
for these other shows in theseries in the show notes below.

(00:42):
And great news, my own TEDxTalkis now live.
It's called why you ShouldEmbrace Chaos on Vacation.
That will also be in the shownotes below so you can check
that out.
Today I'm talking about a TEDTalk from February 2006 and it's
called the Call to Learn byClifford Stoll.

(01:06):
Stoll is an astronomer andphysicist and he's also a
teacher.
He is kind of an unconventionalspeaker, at least by TED Talk
standards.
He actually reminds me a littlebit of the Doc Brown character
from the Back to the Futureseries.
He has this kind of wildlyenergetic mind where he darts

(01:27):
from one thing to another.
At this breakneck pace.
He's certainly got like wildhair.
His talk is super engaging.
It's very funny and I highlyrecommend it.
You'll find the link to thattalk in the notes below.
There are three points that Iwanna share that I got from
Clifford Stoll's TED Talk.
Actually, there are a whole lotof quotes, and especially the

(01:49):
one that he gives at the end,but I don't wanna spoil the
impact that has.
So, again, go watch the talk.
Here now are the three thingsthat I wanna share that I
personally got out of it.
The first point I wanna shareis that Stoll is a great teacher
.
He talks about how he's auniversity lecturer he teaches

(02:09):
grad students but he said thathe realized that the future is
gonna be shaped by young people.
So he actually went back toeighth grade and taught eighth
grade science students.
I loved this idea that he talksabout inspiring young people
and it makes me think that weall have, to some degree, an
obligation, an opportunity toshape the future by working with

(02:34):
young people.
It's gonna be their future andthey're gonna be the ones that
solve problems and challengesfor us.
So he's actually going back andinspiring those people and in
his talk he shows an actualexperiment where he shows you
right on stage with some like anoscilloscope and some equipment
that he has.
He shows you how to measure thespeed of sound and it's

(02:57):
actually really fascinating, Ihave to say, as someone who
didn't really grow up and joinedscience.
If I'd had a teacher like this,I think I would have liked
science a whole lot more,because he shows you exactly how
to do this and a bonus point heuses a slide rule, which is
very fun to see someone use aslide rule and not like the
calculator on their phone.

(03:18):
The second point I wanna shareis one of the ways that he opens
the first part of his talk andhe's talking about himself, in a
way by telling you all thethings that he'd love to talk
about today, but he doesn't.
It's very impromptu, off thecuff and it's very funny.
He races around the stage bytelling you the things that he's

(03:40):
essentially done in his careerand that he could tell you about
those things today, but he'snot going to.
So the whole time you'rewondering what is he gonna talk
about?
It builds great anticipationfor his eventual topic and my
takeaway from this is whatthings in my life would I love

(04:03):
to talk about?
He actually says I'd love totell you about this, I'd love to
talk about this, this and this,and so that leaves you with
this sense of someone who has areal passion for a wide variety
of things in life.
So I ask you, what topics doyou have a passion for?

(04:23):
I know I'm asking myself that.
What would I love to share withothers?
I think it's a good question toask ourselves.
The third point I wanna share isa quote from his talk, and he's
talking about always wanting todo something new, something
fresh.
He says, as a scientist, thatthe first time you do something

(04:45):
it's science.
This is actually a quote fromhim.
He says the first time you dosomething it's science, the
second time it's engineering,the third time it's just being a
technician.
He goes on and says I am ascientist.
Once I do something, I dosomething else.

(05:06):
I love that quote.
Once I do something, I dosomething else.
I know, as an empty nesterparent, there is a tendency to
look back to what we'veaccomplished.
Maybe we raised a kid or kidsand we sent them out into the
world.
So I look at that and go I'vedone that, but I'm not gonna be

(05:30):
a parent again and I don't wannajust sit around and wait to be
a grandparent.
I wanna go out and do somethingelse.
If you're like me, you might betrying to decide what's next in
your life.
Well, I've created a four-partvideo series where I talk about
how to figure out what's nextfor you.
It's free, and I put the linkin the show notes below.

(05:54):
Once I do something, I dosomething else.
What's your?
Something else?
Okay, so that's my third thing.
I promised you I wouldn't spoilthe ending of his talk because
it's just so good.
Let's just say that the makersof clock tower bells put an

(06:15):
inscription on the inside of thebells they create, and Stoll
has a unique opportunity tolearn one of these inscriptions,
and it sort of brilliantly sumsup his whole talk.
I loved this TED Talk.
I put the link below.
Please go check it out.
I think you'll be veryentertained by it and also give

(06:36):
you something to think about.
That's the show for today.
If you liked this episode,please hit like.
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Until next time.
Thanks for listening.