Slow, Sloppy and Brilliant

Colbert: If I have a lot of facts in my head... if I can absorb a lot of facts, am I a scientist?

Neil deGrasse Tyson: No. You're a fact-memorizer.

Colbert: I'll take that as a compliment.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: In fact, our academic system rewards people who know a lot of stuff and generally we call those people smart but at the end of the day who do you want? The person who could figure stuff out that they've never seen before, or the person who could rattle off a bunch of facts?