rotting corpse

In middle school biology, we did an experiment. We were given yams, which we would sprout in cups of water. We then had to make hypotheses about how the yams would grow, based on descriptions of yam plants in our books, and make notes of our observations as they grew.

Here’s what was supposed to happen: we were supposed to see that the actual growth of the plant did not resemble our hypotheses. We were then supposed to figure out that these were, in fact, sweet potatoes.

What actually happened was that every single student in every single class lied in their notes so that their observations perfectly matched their hypotheses. See, everyone assumed the mismatch meant they had done something wrong in the process of growing the plant or that they had misunderstood the dichotomous key or the plant identification terminology. And, thanks to the wonders of a public school education, everyone assumed the wrong results would get us a failing grade. We were trying to pass. We didn’t want to get bitched out by the teacher. Curiosity, learning, science - that had nothing to do with why we were sitting in that classroom. So we all lied.

The teacher was furious. She tried to fail every student, but the administration stepped in and told her she wasn’t allowed to because a 100% fail rate is recognized as a failure of the teacher, not the class. It wasn’t even her fault, really, though her being a notorious hard-ass didn’t help. It was a failure of the entire educational system.

From that, they concluded that I must be able to see the Petrova line. They're smart. [pg.148] They connected my airlock to theirs, with a wall in the middle. Clever. [pg.166] "I like you, Rocky! You're a genius!" And he is! [pg.183] Brilliant. Simply brilliant. [pg.186] I bet Rocky's the captain! He puts himself at risk by talking to the scary alien. Everyone else stays back on the ship. That's what Captain Kirk would do. [pg.195] I've never seen him be wrong on arithmetic. [pg.211] Wow, he's quick. [pg.254] The closer we get, the more I respect Rocky's astronomy skills. [pg.278] "You're an amazing engineer." [pg.287] Rocky - ever the talented engineer [pg.309] He really is a genius. I wonder if all Eridians are like that, or if he's special. [pg.310] "Smart," I say. [pg.348] Rocky seems to be able to do pretty much anything. Either he's gifted, or all Eridians are like that. Either way, I'm incredibly lucky. [pg.365] the world's best engineer [pg.377] I don't doubt him for a second. The guy knows engineering. [pg.388] Rocky delivered on the testing apparatus as promised. As always, everything worked flawlessly. [pg.388] At this point I trust Rocky to do any engineering task. Heck, if he wanted to do open-heart surgery on me, I'd probably let him. [pg.410] Rocky's ad-hoc fuel bays are perfect, of course. [pg.419] "you're my best friend." [pg.425] I wish Rocky were here. [pg.438] I always wish Rocky were here. [pg.438] Rocky tends to find elegant solutions to complex problems. [pg.444] He's one of the most talented engineers on his entire planet! [pg.445] All of the hard stuff is already done, thanks to Rocky. [pg.451] There's nothing Rocky can't fix. [pg.454] Rocky could probably whip something up if he were here. [pg.457] I wish Rocky were here to help me save Rocky. [pg.457] "I have full faith in your abilities." [pg.488]

[part 1] [part 2]

Curious pebble (1/?)