I thought it was surprising when Tarter accounted for how astronomer Bob Kerschner discovered the first exoplanet around another star. Kershner found that the planet was much larger and closer to its host star than our solar system; this discovery challenged the long-held belief that other planetary systems would be similar to ours. I felt as if this truly revealed that our preconceptions and predictions can be shattered by one singular experience and how it can also affect the types of research we may conduct. For instance, Tarter states that we should not have been too narrowly focused on searching for a solar system that was similar to ours, but be open to other planet configurations.
https://www.labxchange.org/library/items/lb:HarvardX:68789c56:lx_simulation:1?fullscreen=true
Hello Joelle! I found that part of the interview to be interesting, too. I believe that we can learn from that experience and implement it in our work in the future, which does not necessarily need to be related to astronomy. Sometimes, our preconceptions can blind us to other possibilities; for that reason, it's crucial that when we do research, we do it with an open mind, allowing us to find things different from our initial thoughts.