I really like how Firestein doesn't always consider ignorance to be stupidity. Though most would believe ignorance precedes knowledge, in science, ignorance follows knowledge because often time an answer leads to more questions and assumptions which may mislead us off an entirely different path. Knowledge enables scientists to propose and pursue interesting questions that don't make sense and in no may should be considered stupidity but just refined critical thinking.
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I also find this to be a very interesting remark and it reminds me of the saying that "the more you study something the less you seem to know". I think it gets at this idea that as you continue to deeply break down a subject, the easy questions almost always get answered which usually leads to deeper and more complex questions beyond the initial ones. This sense of newly found ignorance then creates a feedback loop to continue the progress and find the answers to the newer more complex questions. Overall this cycle between knowledge and ignorance is very powerful and helps push the scientific world forward.