From Daniel Kahneman (2011) ‘Thinking, fast and slow’. pp134

This gives you pause to wonder about the complexity of what takes place in a learning environment where people are offering their ideas. You want to hope that falsehoods will be knocked down while truths will be agreed upon, however, depending on the people and how the discussion is moderated you could theoretically end up with the opposite going on. Not only should students in such spaces be advised on how to behave in order to get the ‘right’ learning outcomes from the experience, but it is vital that the subject matter expect/moderator plays their role scrupulously.

Is the learner who is an unhappy, powerless expert likely to offer the more objective response? Is a grumpy, depressed subject matter expert who may run a cold class more valuable than the new college kid who is full of ideas and bounces around like Tigger? Will the the happy, succesful novice be heard more often and supported? How do you ensure that sad geek who knows their stuff is heard too?