A Letter to a philosopher of science from a scicommer
with love
Dear philosopher of science,
This I write for you :)
Invite a science communicator to a Philosophy of Science conference and let the fun begin! Enter Philosophy of Science Poster Conference 2021. Philosophy of Science isn’t that new to me — I thought. Deciding to join the PSA poster conference on the very last day (Feb, 5th 2021) was a decision of curiosity.
What I liked:
- The short minute-long introductions before each session — presenters made it easy to understand basic premises of their research in jargon-free terms for the non-specialists (me)
- Conference layout — easy to navigate, jumping from room to room without bothering anyone and still catching up with ongoing discussions
- The skepticism that was evident about methodologies in use to predict and record prehistoric climate data
- The openness of presenters to scicomm questions — that indeed was so great that I really want to do some scicomm projects with you, dear philosopher
What was challenging:
- Some presenters seemed not prepared to give a little speech about their poster so I had to read the poster to get an idea of the discussion. It’s a 45-minute slot so no time to read, tell me PLZ
- Some poster prepping training would be very beneficial! Top tip: don’t put your entire book chapter — INSTEAD: use bullet points, larger fonts, bold lettering at key words, highlighted text, LESS TEXT! (I can go on)
- Please put your email somewhere that is very, VERY visible. Conferences are for networking and contact details are crucial.
OK, done with the bullet points, on to the nuanced story.
As a fresh scicommer, I join events to get perspective. I want to be exposed to all sciences so that I get insights, develop ideas, get creative, get carried away by scientists’ enthusiasm for their respective science and research. That could be anything. Necessary correction essential skill — to actively listen.
Recently, in a science communication workshop, I heard about making sense and realised how much we use our experiences to make sense of the unknown. So the PSA Poster Conference was quite the opposite!
Meghan Page talked about methodological wondering of accuracy in her presentation (loved that part!). My take-away was: can we truly speak of accurate methods for post-recording data of eras mankind didn’t even exist?!
This is scicomm gold, let me tell you! Science communication is about developing dialogues with skeptics, with the uninformed, with the semi-informed and misinterpreting, with those self-motivated individuals that want to learn more. About everything and/or anything. Those that need a boost to engage with science. To present science with a pinch of salt is possibly THE strategy to get the scicomm foot in the door. Because if in doubt we’re more likely to listen.
Archie Fields III heard all of our ideas about the meaning his research had for each. A very engaging presenter! Really enjoyed his philosophical point of view.
Yuval Abrams I only caught at the very end but was so keen to hear about his research.
Aja Watkins was very good at bringing her data out of stats to tell a story and she even specified that for a non-specialist audience, she really wanted people to understand that our current CO2-climate reality is unfairly compared to the naturally-occurring CO2-climate events of several millions of years ago (not clear with the details I admit).
For an academically-inclined, interdisciplinary audience this was a very enjoyable event. I don’t use the term “enjoyable” lightly, many conferences are draining. So let’s put the scicomm lens on and see the opportunities and areas of co-existence.
First, are you, philosophers of science, interested in doing, engaging, incorporating science communication in their research goals and aims?
Most of those I heard had a clear interest and also admitted their unawareness. Beautiful! Researchers don’t need to know everything scicomm and scicommers don’t need to know everything research. It is a collaboration. If you are a researcher interested in scicomm, seek a collaboration with a scicommer. Not the first one you meet, the first one you enjoy chatting aimlessly with. Because chemistry is important!
Second, are you prepared to see your nuanced research simplified, made into a story, stripped down from details (that only you and your team can understand) so that it can be relatable for people outside your field and outside of academia?
If yes, another farthing of overlapping space for scicomm and philosophy of science. Top tip: a science communication colleague is not a spokesperson. They are your first non-specialist audience, comms-informed to make the narrative more appropriate for non-specialist audiences, aiming for stories worth telling, to reach public audiences and intrigue them to learn more.
Third, are you personally motivated to expand your research experience to include science communication? This requires that you recognise the value of science communication as a profession. It means you can appreciate comments like “I don’t understand your research so this is a golden opportunity for you to explain it in simpler terms” thus connecting PoS to life, society, reality and inserting the ingredient of familiarity.
Scicomm and research share passion of the individuals doing each respectively. You, my dear philosopher of science, like the intellectual exploration of ideas, concepts, science on a theoretical basis. I like to hear your stories and make them accessible to those who don’t speak your language. And that’s the value I find in the overlapping spaces of PoS and science communication.
In the spirit of honesty, I joined the PSA poster conference with certain preformed ideas:
-Is scicomm necessary for Philosophy of Science?
-Can it be done? Yes, it can be done.
-Does it need to be done?
My ear-marked ideas about overlaps of scicomm and PoS didn’t come to mind while I was listening to your wonderful (and difficult to get through) work. I (re)learned. PoS is a thick fog of thought and has to be deconstructed and reconstructed carefully and with care within science communication. In the echo of the PSA poster conference, I have a new better insight of overlapping spaces for PoS with scicomm. Instead of coming with a fixed set of ideas, it’s best to look forward to exploration and discovery. As pioneers; on either and both sides. Lesson learned :) :)
Once upon a time a scicommer doesn’t understand everything PoS and a PoS-er doesn’t understand everything scicomm. Together they embark on a learning journey of exchange, crucial in making expert narratives more accessible and relatable.
Best regards
Scicomm Jewel, PhD
Science Communication & Critical Thinking in Science
