Randy Olson's "Don't Be SUCH a Scientist," Chapter 2: Don't Be So Literal Minded

 

Scientists think they can just explain the facts and their point is made.

This chapter is all about how it's never that simple.

From a media campaign called "Shifting Baselines" to a story about an intelligent design debate that end up with "expressions of resentment and looks that seemed to say, 'You think you're such a smarty-pants'" to the Pew Oceans Commission's report, this entire chapter is about how "science think" can go wrong. People just aren't moved by the head; they want the heart, too.

After all, think about how movies spend just as much on marketing as they do on the movies themselves. Or how successful advocacy and policy groups spend so much on lobbying. It's at least partially about communication. Sure, you have to have a good product, but without good communication, the good product can't succeed.

He says,

Sometimes, particularly with the mass audience, pepole don't want their information told to them directly. You can pound them with the facts all you want. They're just going to clamp their hands over their ears until finally you figure out a more indirect pathway to their brains. 

He illustrates the point by describing his experience going back to an academic conference after spending five years in Hollywood. He always knew that scientists gave terrible presentations, but now he had learned how to give better ones. So he raised some money and made a film called "Talking Science: The Elusive Art of the Science Talk." One of the communications professors he interviewed said,

When it comes to mass communication, it's as simple as two things: arouse and fulfill. You need to first arouse your audience and get them interested in what you have to say; then you need to fulfill their expectations.

Scientists jump right to the fulfillment part without getting anyone interested. Scientists need a hook, something to get people interested in the subject.

And people prefer style of substance, Olson explains. He ends the chapter by explaining how film is a great tool to arouse, to get people interested, not really a great way to teach people material

But what people really want is a good story. A good story can both arouse and fulfill. But we'll get to that next time.