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Young people have a knack of knowing fluff from reality. I think that communication by a teacher that really knows his or her stuff is far more important than any gap in the knowledge levels. Nearly everyone I worked with was inspired by a gifted teacher at a very young age. I include myself in this and I am still awed by people who are seeing further and thinking better than me. An education should be about giving anyone the ability to critically evaluate claims made by scientists and charletans alike.
Too much of our modern society is more aware of the dross and drivel that passes as information because of the crass commercialism to see the reality of our place in the Universe.
I used to have problems with educating PhD students in my lab. It was because I was a lousy teacher. Just because you understand a difficult concept does not mean you can automatically teach it.
I slowly got better by feedback from my students.
They most probably still think I am a stale old fart.
Bert
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