Dan Russell Google Inc. How do we come to understand a large, complex domain? While the scientific method has been incredibly productive in answering questions about the world and the way it works, it’s not as applicable for understanding our living, breathing, intricate, polyvalent, and multihued culture in real-time. So what DO we do? From the perspective of Google searches, I’ll show some of what people actually do the answer questions, from the silly to the sublime, and will reflect on how & why some search patterns are more productive than others.