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Hallo everyone! New to the list, but... 

Whilst I have a few issues with the overuse of "fun", I do subscribe to the idea that science as entertainment is a powerful way to get people to engage who might otherwise not. It is, to some extent, the idea at the core of Ada Lovelace Day Live, which we bill as a "science cabaret" or a "nerd cabaret" depending on who we're talking to. The basic idea is that you come for an evening of entertainment, but along the way you both learn something interesting and become more familiar with the work of some awesome women in STEM. 

However, nothing takes the fun out of something quite as much as someone else telling you how much fun you'll have doing it. And I think that's especially true of teens. I know I was an awful contrarian back then, and had someone told me that science was going to be all sorts of "fun" I would have run a mile. (I also wasn't a joiner, so if "fun" involved other people, then that would have destroyed any interest I had in science. I did science to escape, not to join in.)

Some people will be attracted to "fun", others will be repelled by it. Sometimes things can be fun without the world being nailed to your forehead first. Sometimes it's more "Ooh!", "Aaah!" and "Wow!" and sometimes it's just the satisfaction of having doggedly persevered on something difficult and succeeded.  

Which all goes to say that we need a plurality of approaches, of which "fun" is only one. 

Suw



FindingAda.com
@findingada
https://www.patreon.com/findingada

On 11 November 2015 at 06:58, Sarah Cowen-Rivers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I agree with Edwin- a lot of people who don't follow science will be drawn in by the 'fun factor' which science engagement has been leaning more towards recently. Speaking from personal experience- I know that a lot of my friends who are impressed with science but aren't engaged in it will not join me at a science event unless the science is kind of hidden behind the 'fun'. Isn't the most important thing getting people to think about science issues which may be affecting their lives who ordinarily would not?


By excluding the fun aspect I think that you would end up compromising on the diversity of your audience and getting out whatever message you are exhibiting to a range of people outside of the scientific community. 


Sarah Cowen-Rivers



From: psci-com: on public engagement with science <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Edwin Colyer (Scientia Scripta) <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 11 November 2015 11:02
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [PSCI-COM] Science isn't fun?
 
There's a big difference between 'doing' science (which can at times be painfully slow, time consuming, frustrating and - dare I say - boring just like any other job) and the general discipline of science, which *is* exciting for anyone who just loves to know stuff, has a fascination for how stuff works or can't help always asking 'How?' and 'Why?'

So perhaps it is important to say that being a scientist can be fun, but also dull, yet what scientists produce i.e. knowledge is at worst fascinating and at best really exciting. 

As the love of knowledge is probably instilled in us at a very young age, I'm not sure that campaigns aimed at teenagers to get them excited about science are really going to make that much of a difference?

Edwin

On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 9:59 AM, A Slater <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Science has always been interesting and intriguing to me, not fun.  I'll admit to sometimes feeling a bit weary at the boisterous posts of organisations like 'IFL Science', or the latest explosion-filled TV series fanfare. Yes this demonstrates excitement in discovery and observation, but what about those of us who don't need that?

However I do think being able to take pleasure in hands-on experiments, 'wow!' facts, and flashy multimedia empowers a certain section of audience who haven't found this to be the case, though, whether through lack of interest or poor teaching at school. And some of them may go on to investigate science further, and find that it is hard work to add to this body of knowledge.


On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 9:20 AM, Kate Ashley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Interesting perspective here: https://uwescicomm.wordpress.com/

There's a big difference between saying 'science can be fun' and 'science *should always* be fun'. What do you think?

Kate
--
Kate Ashley
Communications Officer
Centre for Public Engagement
University of Bristol
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