Topical Talk

 

 

Clifford Stoll
18 minutes with an agile mind

 

 

Clifford Stoll is an astronomer, researcher and internationally recognized computer security expert -- who happens to be a vocal critic of technology. Stoll makes a sharp, witty case for keeping computers out of the classroom, the wisdom of kindergarten teachers and the search for a bridge between science and religion. Currently teaching college-level physics to eighth graders at a local school, he stays busy in his spare time building Klein bottles.

 

"I think that if you really want to know about the future, don’t ask a technologist, a scientist, a physicist. No! Don’t ask somebody who’s writing code. No, if you want to know what society is going to be like in 20 years, ask a kindergarten teacher. They know.
In fact, don’t ask just any kindergarten teacher, ask an experienced one. They are the ones who know what society is going to be like in another generation. I don’t."

 

"I’d like to tell you the words inscribed on Hays Tower’s bell: “All truth is one, in this light. May science and religion endeavor here for the steady evolution of mankind, from darkness to light, from narrowness to broad-mindedness, from prejudice to tolerance. It is the voice of life, which calls us to come and learn.” "