How academic freedom strengthens the bonds of accumulated knowledge | Nicholas Christakis

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the
friendship. In every society people are friends with each
other. In every society people love their mates,
for example. In every society people cooperate with each
other. Another thing that people do in every society
people teach each other things but actually it’s really unusual in the animal kingdom. So, for example, many animals learn stuff. A little fish in the sea can learn that if
it swims up to the light it’ll find food there and it learns. So swim up to the light, I find food. And it’s learning independently. Some animals, however, learn socially, and
fire and you burn your hand. That’s like the fish swimming to the light. You learn something. You’ve paid a price. You burned your hand but now you’ve learned
and I get almost as much knowledge but I pay none of the price. So that’s incredibly efficient. That kind of social learning is incredibly
efficient and this is much less common in the animal kingdom. But we do something else. We not only learn from each other, we teach
each other stuff. And this is exceedingly rare in the animal
kingdom. We do it, elephants do it, certain primates
another animal. And this is extraordinary and it lies actually
have already been built. All this accumulated knowledge is yours for
have been mapped. Other people have done this and they’ve transmitted
it to you across time. You are learning from them. They are teaching you. Or across space. Somewhere else in the world something is invented
or a friend of mine discovers something and teaches it to me. There’s a lateral transmission that’s taking
place, not just an intertemporal transmission that’s taking place. So teaching is a key and fundamental aspect
of our humanity. It’s been shaped by natural selection, it’s
from each other if we don’t talk to each other. And how are we going to teach and learn from
that allows us to teach and learn from each other. And so I would make an argument in a kind
honor this commitment to free and open expression. So I’ve been an academic my whole life. I love scholarship. I love learning things. I love knowing things. I love discovering things. It’s a source of deep personal satisfaction. It’s very fulfilling to be able to see new
things about the world. In fact, that feeling of discovery when you’re
a scientist is unlike any other feeling I have. And once you’ve drunk from that well you just
want to drink again. If you’re the first person to see something
it’s so exciting. It’s such a special feeling you’re desperate
for it again. And even the best scientists have that feeling
very rarely. They have sort of minor versions of that feeling
but that real feeling of discovery is extraordinary. So I’ve spent my whole life trying to discover
knowledge, trying to communicate knowledge in academia. And therefore I’ve been to universities around
the planet. And I’m not going to call out other countries
but I’ve been to most of the other countries that have important universities, and our
of our civilization. They reflect our democratic principles. They reflect our wealth. They’re a driver of our economic growth, the
principles. They reflect our wealth. They’re a product of our wealth, as well. So, for me they are I would even say the pinnacle
of our civilization. Certainly they’re near the pinnacle or part
of the pinnacle. And therefore they should be treasured and
to scholarship? We are in these universities because of the
and those monies flow to universities not so that we can have some kind of cushy lifestyle. They flow so that we can further the mission
upon whose generosity, I would argue, we depend.

26 thoughts on “How academic freedom strengthens the bonds of accumulated knowledge | Nicholas Christakis

  1. The magic the gathering fan at your office was just looking for a way to sneak in accumulated knowledge into the title.

  2. My relatives express their academic freedom by posting Minions memes on Facebook extolling the virtues of crystals, while denouncing the evils of vaccines and the lies of the scientific community. What a time to gain a TRUE education!

  3. "The Stand Together Foundation, a national poverty-fighting initiative partly funded by the Koch family."
    This channel has become a right-wing propaganda network for the Koch brother.

  4. Yes, our universities are extraordinary. However, in recent years they have been transformed from a place of learning into a place of indoctrination. They have become a place seeking not only to limit speech but to also dictate which words, thought, and feelings are acceptable.

  5. That's what makes Jesus message true: the mere statistical power of the acceptance of his message when understood properly.

  6. And btw evolution is impossible, not adaptation, evolution. Prove me wrong. If you want to prepare your answer without wasting too much time go on my channel and read the about.

  7. I recently read a theory that the single most important factor that let various genus homo members spread across the earth was having culture. It let knowledge be passed on to others in the group, but alos other groups – and most important of all, to future generations. This save enormous time and effort that would otherwise be spent "reinventing the wheel." They could build on the existing modes and means of living.

    It seems like there could be good challenges to this claim. Bipedalism, a big brain, opposable thumbs, and more are important, maybe as important? This isn't my area. But it's fascinating to me.

  8. Academics dont understand they no longer own the keys to the gates of knowledge and ideas…the advent of a global internet has enabled anyone with access to Learn so we are no longer held to only having it accessible to the rich and wealthy who created these institutions..

  9. Ah, so they're a pinnacle of the American society are they? Better than any in the world, are they? Well, something's going wrong somewhere in view of the latest political and social Revelations! Wait a minute. Perhaps that is just what are you teaching your " intellectual elites and privileged?". Epstein's sticky fingers into everything. Where did the banking and Stockmarket crises arise? Hedge funds and rampid housing Speculation ruining many, rising racial and poverty discrimination. Here's to the absolute in education. Χαμόγελα, φίλε μου.

  10. what about ethics and morality, boasting about American universities? how much do your country and university contribute to the environment and animal rights , consumerism dominates your country.

  11. Meanwhile someone from Berkeley is dressed in a ski mask smashing someone they disagree with over the head with a bike lock. Academic freedom in America is dead.

  12. Alas, if universities are the pinnacle of our civilization then why are certain departments working so hard to dismantle it?

  13. Well, well, I'd love to see that being put into practice. Of course the Universities, Research Centers and Companies would sure profit from more academic freedom.
    But how are we going to stop uninspired hacks from stealing the credits of your idea?
    In the end, nobody cares about the researcher, but they all want to profit from his work.

  14. " they reflect our (the us-american) democratic principles, they reflect our weahlth…". This reflects the arrogant american mindset in which they think they are the best, even though they are not the most democratic country in the world and certanly the wealth distribution along society is questionable. (check world ranking) if you look at who is "sponsoring" the universitites and this research and even this podcast you will find out that the wealthiest people in the u.s. try to control the public opinion. this is why we need TRULY free universities and study programs. but the truth will always comes to light.

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