With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility—A Personal Philosophy for Communicating Science in Society

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Abstract

Many think that communicating science is a necessary and rewarding activity. Yet finding compelling, relevant, and timely points of linkage between challenging scientific concepts and the experiences and interests of the general public can be difficult. Since science continues to influence more and more aspects of daily life and knowledge, there is a parallel need for communication about science in our society. Here I discuss the “middle-ground hypothesis ” using popular culture for science communication and applying the “FUNnel model, ” where popular culture is used as a lead -in and wrap -up when discussing science. The scientific knowledge we find in our hands does not belong to us—we just had it first. We can honor that knowledge best by sharing it as widely as possible using the most creative means at our disposal.

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The "core principles" of physiology: what should students understand?

Elizabeth McFarland, J Modell, William Cliff … (2009)

The explosion of knowledge in all of the biological sciences, and specifically in physiology, has created a growing problem for educators. There is more to know than students can possibly learn. Thus, difficult choices have to be made about what we expect students to master. One approach to making the needed decisions is to consider those "core principles" that provide the thinking tools for understanding all biological phenomena. We identified a list of "core principles" that appear to apply to all aspects of physiology and unpacked them into their constituent component ideas. While such a list does not define the content for a physiology course, it does provide a guideline for selecting the topics on which to focus student attention. This list of "core principles" also offers a starting point for developing an assessment instrument to be used in determining if students have mastered the important unifying ideas of physiology.

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Why public dissemination of science matters: a manifesto.

David M Eagleman (2013)

Communicating science to the public takes time away from busy research careers. So why would you do it? I here offer six reasons. First, we owe that understanding to the people who fund our experiments, the taxpaying public. Second, we can leverage our skills as scientists to inspire critical thinking in public and political dialog. Third, researchers are optimally positioned to stem the flow of scientific misinformation in the media. Fourth, we can explain the ways and the means by which science can (and cannot) improve law and social policy. Fifth, it is incumbent upon us to explain what science is and is not: while it is a way of thinking that upgrades our intuitions, it also comes with a deep understanding of (and tolerance for) uncertainty. Finally, we find ourselves in the pleasurable position of being able to share the raw beauty of the world around us-and in the case of neuroscience, the world inside us. I suggest that scientists are optimally stationed to increase their presence in the public sphere: our training positions us to synthesize large bodies of data, weigh the evidence, and communicate with nuance, sincerity and exactitude.

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From Claude Bernard to the Batcave and beyond: using Batman as a hook for physiology education.

E. Paul Zehr (2011)

Communicating physiology to the general public and popularizing science can be tremendously rewarding activities. Providing relevant and compelling points of linkage, however, between the scientific experiences and the interests of the general public can be challenging. One avenue for popularizing science is to link scientific concepts to images, personalities, and icons in popular culture. Currently, comic book superhero movies and television shows are extremely popular, and Batman was used as the vehicle for popularizing concepts of exercise science, neuroscience, and physiology in my recent book, Becoming Batman: the Possibility of a Superhero. The objective of this book was to bring scientific understanding to the broader public by using the physical image and impression everyone has of Batman and his abilities and then connecting this to the underlying science. The objective of this article is to share some of the details of the process and the positive and negative outcomes of using such an approach with other academics who may be interested in similar activities. It is my goal that by sharing this experience I may stimulate like-minded readers to initiate their own similar projects and to also be emboldened to try and integrate popular culture touchstones in their own teaching practice.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): eNeuro

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): eNeuro

Journal ID (hwp): eneuro

Journal ID (pmc): eneuro

Journal ID (publisher-id): eNeuro

Title: eNeuro

Publisher: Society for Neuroscience

ISSN (Electronic): 2373-2822

Publication date (Electronic preprint): 01 September 2016

Publication date (Electronic): 8 September 2016

Publication date Collection: Sep-Oct 2016

Volume: 3

Issue: 5

Electronic Location Identifier: ENEURO.0200-16.2016

Affiliations

[1 ]Rehabilitation Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Victoria , Victoria, British Columbia V8P SC2, Canada

[2 ]Human Discovery Science, International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD) , Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1M9, Canada

[3 ]Centre for Biomedical Research, University of Victoria , Victoria, British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada

[4 ]Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria , British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada

[5 ]School of Exercise Science, Physical, & Health Education, University of Victoria , British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada

[6 ]Zanshin Consulting Inc. , Victoria, British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada

Author notes

Correspondence should be addressed to E. Paul Zehr, Rehabilitation Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Victoria, PO Box 3010 STN CSC, Victoria, BC V8W 3P1, Canada. E-mail: pzehr@ 123456uvic.ca .

Article

Publisher ID: eN-ICOM-0200-16

DOI: 10.1523/ENEURO.0200-16.2016

PMC ID: 5016001

SO-VID: aeff4c81-14c4-4938-ae69-2108779470d6

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.

History

Date received : 6 July 2016

Date accepted : 21 August 2016

Page count

Figures: 2, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 28, Pages: 6, Words: 4559

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cover-date September/October 2016

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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility—A Personal Philosophy for Communicating Science in Society

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Abstract

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Efficacy of Communicating Science

Most cited references 9

The "core principles" of physiology: what should students understand?

Why public dissemination of science matters: a manifesto.

From Claude Bernard to the Batcave and beyond: using Batman as a hook for physiology education.

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