There are several things that struck me tonight, so bear with me as I try to unravel them from my brain.

Dawkins, as some other older British gentlemen that I’ve had the pleasure to see, has the humble, scholarly way of talking. He is able not only to observe and dissect the world around him, but himself, his own work and their sources. Certainly you have to have a non-trivial amount of self-reflection in order to think the way he does, and come to his blunt conclusions. Such a combination of intellect, celebrity and humility is very awe-inspiring.

Talking about his past and answering audience’s questions, Dawkins intrigued me into reading his books. While I feel I should start chronologically and read “The Selfish Gene”, I purchased “The Greatest Show on Earth”, frankly because it was his only scientific book for sale. I sense that many ideas that he expresses will not be novel to me as a biologist and some of the more philosophical ideas my father and I have already discussed at length, however I sense that his mastery of language will give me better tools to understand precisely what I mean and allow me to express those concepts to others. In short, it will make my life easier.

A subject of schooling inevitably comes up when listening to any scholar. Dawkins spoke about the profound effect that Oxford had on him and his life.

I noticed it is not uncommon that literary, scientific and other prominent figures often cite inspiration from people who surrounded then during their college years. This incubation in an environment of thought, knowledge, and philosophy seems to have been such a hallmark of education “back then”, such that it is not uncommon to discover figures who went to college together. As Dawkins talked about the concept and experience with so-called “Oxford tutorials”, I thought about my undergraduate education. Did I get out of it what Dawkins did? Was I in the right environment to extract those things? Could I have gotten them elsewhere? These question take us to the controversial topic of undergraduate education. While we try to make it available to everyone, the quality has gone down in recent years. So what does it take to raise a good scientist and a thinker? If you answered “the village” I believe you are correct. The village of high-end scientists and educators is what it takes to hone a new young mind. I will go insofar to say that if Dawkins did not attend Oxford, we wouldn’t know his name today. The scholarly environment can truly make or break an individual. I d not think that most undergraduate education is able to give this now. First, because there are too many students and the intimate interaction with the brightest minds cannot be guaranteed. Second, because in the attempt to educate the masses, we lowered the standard for our education. We don’t have to go far, in my years at Waterloo I saw the curriculum changes that had to be made to maintain an acceptable grade distribution. Surely, the bright are still bright, but the average is falling. Something has to be done. Perhaps it is time to review closely who belongs in university and who does not. Alternatively you can give the institutions money to have a good, productive curriculum and the staff to support it. Alas neither are happening, so our children will be in trouble. However, in light of Dawkins’ thoughts about education I also had a positive thought – I am at Stanford. I’ve managed to surround myself precisely with the environment which has the wonderful potential to shape minds. So while the general educational crisis deeply concerns me, I can’t help to be delighted that I managed to break through and to get the education I idealize. My main goals from here on out are to survive, and meet those people whose influence I will laud decades from now.

Listening to him, and Gaiman who was the last speaker I went to see, I realize again and again that I just do not read enough. Thankfully I know most of the references in polite, educated conversation but I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I lack an ocean of knowledge that is out there. Dawkins was able to break into poetry at a drop of a hat, how many of our generation can do that? In some ways I still feel like a young, small-town girl in the big city: naive, lost and out of place. I only hope that eventually this feeling of literary and scientific inadequacy can be satisfied.

I walked away from the colorful ticker at CEMEX, with Dawkins’ and his posse behind me, with a signed book in my hand and a smile on my face. I’m in a great place with people and opportunities I only dreamed of. Now I just need to surround myself with the right people, so that together we can grow in our understanding of biology, the world, and ourselves.

This evening I had a wonderful opportunity to hear Dr Richard Dawkins talk about his life and his new book “An Appetite For Wonder”. After a brief discussion of the book and brief readings from it, there was a short but enjoyable Q&A with the professor. At the conclusion of the night he signed some books; while the line was long it moved quite quickly.