https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/ Building science knowledge, HVAC design, & fun Sun, 05 Dec 2021 15:24:27 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2825 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 04:19:54 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2825 Well said, Allison.
Well said, Allison. Exploring the edges of one’s knowledge is what makes learning so interesting. The more I push into the gray area of my gray matter, the more I learn what I don’t know.  
Even more than knowing whether one is right or wrong, it’s knowing WHY one is right or wrong. The real learning for me happens when I’m wrong but then figure out why.  
 
Of course, there was that one time when I thought I was wrong, but I was right. I still don’t know why, though…

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2824 Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:35:15 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2824 And it isn’t binary; right vs
And it isn’t binary; right vs wrong. There’s also simply not knowing.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2823 Sun, 09 Oct 2011 10:23:36 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2823 Great article!The flip side
Great article!The flip side of this approach is when someone emphatically says you should never, never ever, do so and so. This means that he/she has made just that mistake and wishes to mollify his/her former errors to themselves. This is why experience is the name we give our mistakes. Cheers Mike Legge

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2822 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:19:27 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2822 Thanks for all the great
Thanks for all the great comments! Sorry I don’t have time to respond individually to them this time, but I appreciate your taking the time to let me know your thoughts on this.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2821 Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:47:36 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2821 As a young person starting
As a young person starting out in this field, asking questions about everything is pretty much all I do. Which I usually think is good–a lesson I also learned from my physics background especially as a physics tutor, where “pretending you know to avoid looking stupid” pretty much doesn’t fly–sometimes the reinforcement that even the pros don’t get to the point where they know enough to stop asking is a helpful reminder. Thanks Allison!

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2820 Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:02:23 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2820 I agree with having to ask
I agree with having to ask questions when your not sure of a subject, but what do you do when the person teaching the class is telling maybe I will have some time later this week etc. My son is dealing with this in school right now and with no other options since this is the only instructor teaching the course. It use to be fun to learn and we use to have teachers who really cared about teaching. I can’t get over the fact that I’m paying for this and so is my son.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2819 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:32:48 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2819 There are some talks about
There are some talks about education on the TED channel on itunes, and one the great thinkers of our times has pointed out that our current educational system is the biggest part of the problem. 
 
We are rewarded for being right, and penalized for being wrong.  
 
The position that he holds is that we really learn at the point that we realize we are wrong.  
 
Our educational system focuses students attention on prescribed rightness’s. This distracts students and pigeon holes them to that prescription and if they are wrong on that they are penalized. 
 
A modern contention is to allow the student to be creative and allow them to be wrong. That students should learn from others mistakes, and cherish those mistakes as keys to success. 
 
I will blog more about this someday soon.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2818 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:40:53 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2818 Geez.. I’ve been struggling
Geez.. I’ve been struggling with a phenomena for months with my 11 year old. I’m trying to teach him that to admit that you don’t understand something is an opportunity to learn something really cool. He has been afraid to ask questions because (to him) the act of asking, makes him seem less smart than he perceives himself to be. It’s painful to observe and he’s only in the 6th grade. Is it just part of our social fabric? No one wants to be wrong? Or everyone wants to be right? I do believe that part of the problem is his confidence in that he thinks he knows. And when the perimeter of that knowledge is reached, he wants to put up a wall rather than letting those boundaries of his knowledge expand. Thanks for the post. It’s sort of nice to know that we’re not the only ones…

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2817 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:05:25 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2817 The bigger question is – who
The bigger question is – who do we ask? There are so many differing opinions out there, from educated people, that it’s hard to determine who is right. Even Einstein is being questioned. (Those pesky neutrinos!) At the 1964 World’s Fair (yes, I’m dating myself) I saw the “Better Living Through Chemistry” exhibit. What actually appeared in our future were DDT, PCB’s, CFC’s, thalidomide and hexachlorophene. My high school teachers told me that there were only 108 elements. My doctor told me that ulcers were caused by stress. They were all wrong. So who do we trust?  
 
JPL recently announced that ocean levels have DROPPED 1/4″. Henrik Svensmark’s theory on solar activity had been dismissed by a great number of scientists, but recent experimants at CERN have shown his premise to be sound. So is man-made global climate change just a myth, also? 
 
Yes, we have to ask questions. But be careful who you ask.

]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school/#comment-2816 Wed, 28 Sep 2011 17:45:27 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-most-important-lesson-i-learned-in-grad-school#comment-2816 If you would let me be
If you would let me be presumptious enough to suggest a question to ask, there is one which I think illuminates a lot of things in Building Science: 
 
“WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCE IF I VIOLATE THIS RULE?” 
 
There are many many rules in Building Science and if you really understand the principles you will be able to elaborate on the answer to the above question, for any given rule. When the answer is bogus, you can tell that improvement is needed in knowledge. Particularly valuable for when people think they know something and it just isn’t so. 
 
Things as simple as AC sizing can be better understood using this question.  
 
For example, people used to believe a too-big AC uses an excess of energy (KWH). A study by FSEC attempted to define right-sizing as an energy saving project, and demonstrated zero or negative results. The conventional wisdom may have been true at one time, but in the modern world just isn’t so. At least not within the demands of provability.

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