Hello Richard,
Am Dienstag 16 Februar 2010 schrieb Richard Ellam:
> > I have seen many science communication "shows", and many do appear
> > as shows - slick presentations of "fun"tastic phenomena etc. But
..
> As a science communicator of the kind who writes and presents Science
> Shows (see www.lminteractive.co.uk if you want to know more about
> me) I feel that I need to defend what I do from some of Stephan's
> remarks,
I'm sorry if you felt offended by my remarks. I do not know your show and
cannot comment on it. Also, I believe I made it clear that my criticism was
not intended for any and all science communication activities.
However, as somebody with one foot in the active scientific world and a
(smaller) foot in the science communication world I believe that we always
have to reflect critically which image of science is portrayed. And while there
are good activities, there are also rather bad ones.
> and also to possibly explain why people like me don't tend
> to talk about Climate Change, and why this is a BAD THING (emphasis
> intended).
Fair enough if this topic doesn't fit into your portfolio; everybody has to find
their niche. As a general statement however I find this rather disappointing,
as we climate scientists really need some help right now.
I'm very surprised that the science engagement community that is represented
on this list has shown very little interest in the development of the last
three months. What we've seen in the last few months has been described as an
"almost complete collapse in reporting standards across the UK media"
(http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/02/the-guardian-
disappoints/).
In the science community there are enormous debates how this breakdown
happened and what can be done about it. I'm really surprised that this list is
so quiet about this and that there have been hardly any intensive in-depth
discussions on the situation, on the role of the media, the scientists and the
science engagement community, whether they define themselves as PUS or PEST.
> Having spoke to a number of people over the years who evidenced
> varying degrees of skepticism about Climate Change, and read some of
> the rubbish they publish I've come to the conclusion that a LOT of
> these people are actually ignorant of the basic physics driving the
> whole process of climate change. I think that one of the most
> powerful arguments against thoes who would deny climate change is to
> actually be able to show them the basic process at work before their
> eyes, and therein lies the rub.
I'm sorry, but this is simply not true. The situation is much more
complicated, and only a small proportion doubt the fundamental physics
(although I have seen some). Here is a typical quote from a skeptic that I got
just a few days ago, but I could fill whole books with similar quotes:
"I am actually a 'warming believer', in the sense that I feel sure putting the
previously sequestered carbon of fossil fuel reserves into the atmosphere MUST
result in warming, all else being equal. However, it is not clear that all
else IS equal. We had an interesting post recently about the deep ocean
current cycles, and I think the total-solar-irradiance has diminished over the
last decade, with synergistic effects on atmospheric water vapor. "
It seems to me, that the lack of understanding is not about fundamental
physics, but about the practicalities of researching complex systems. Perhaps
more importantly there is the matter of trust, cultural values and coherence
in society, see for example:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7279/full/463269a.html
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7279/full/463296a.html
I believe Naomi Oreskes is about to publish a book on the Skeptics which will
certainly highlight many of these issues.
In a historical perspective, I would also look at the anti-vaccination
movement starting in 1853 when smallpox vaccination was made compulsory by an
Act of Parliament in the UK. In my impression, you find the same kind of
arguments as well as social issues at work there.
Cheers
Stephan
--
Stephan Matthiesen
http://www.stephan-matthiesen.de
Neu auf www.science-texts.de: Muster des Monats 2/2010
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