Mastodawn

Gabriel S.C. 🏳️‍🌈🇫🇷🇧🇷Jul 19, 2023

The challenge faced by science in the United States isn’t that scientists are awkward and bad at communication. It’s that we’re beset by propaganda and mass media channels funded by corrupt billionaires to sow confusion.

We need big, generously funded communications channels dedicated to verifiable reality. Scientists who are slightly better at talking isn’t going to cut it.

Brooke Binkowski Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Agreed. Instead, we get overmoneyed dipshits sinking their un-earned lucre into stupid fucking bullshit like Threads

Brooke Binkowski Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Which I firmly consider to be an act of war in the form of resilience targeting

RJD Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild We have many established science communicators.

They've been communicating.

The scientific community in general has been communicating (in its own way) for decades) and no one listens.

because money talks louder.

xAlto Jul 18, 2023

@Rjdlandscapes @alexwild sometimes it makes me wonder if it worths finishing my phd. If, as a scientist no one will listen to me then... why bother?

Beeks Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild "The George Soros Hoax Network" or some such gibberish would be said daily on Fox. Science communication and understanding would not increase one iota in America because the problem is that fascists already control the eyeballs of a significant portion of the population. People aren't going to turn off Tucker just because PBS got some new bells and whistles.

RJD Jul 18, 2023

What kind of funding does science get that can compete with this?

https://www.desmog.com/2023/06/29/rishi-sunak-boasts-that-oil-funded-think-tank-helped-us-draft-crackdown-on-climate-protests/

Rishi Sunak Boasts That Oil Funded Think Tank ‘Helped Us Draft’ Crackdown on Climate Protests

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that a fossil fuel-funded think tank helped to draft his government’s laws targeting climate protests. Speaking at Policy Exchange’s summer party on Wednesday (28 June), the prime minister boasted that the think tank’s work “helped us draft” the government’s crackdown on protests, according to Politico. OpenDemocracy reported last year that Policy […]

DeSmog

costrike Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild I think we need to build channels that relate those messages at the local level. Trusted people who can open others up to ideas that they otherwise miss or resist.

Rich Stein (he/him)Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild
Science is challenged by the high turnover 24/7 news cycle, too many people looking for "simple" (< 500 characters), stable (i.e., unchanging) explanations for complex subjects, & communications channels/media outlets engaged in the Gish gallop (because they're looking to attract eyeballs? b/c they're actively engaged in disinformation campaigns? b/c the quality of reporting has deteriorated over time? IDK)

I was unfamiliar with that last term until @mackayim2022 used it in a thread.

Rich Stein (he/him)Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild @mackayim2022
Science takes work — the research element is work. Understanding takes work. The best weapon to strengthen science is successful public education. There's a big effort to eviscerate public ed right now, whether in the name of parental choice or dangerous silliness about woke teachers, librarians et al. That needs to be countered.

grabe Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild @RichStein @mackayim2022 I encourage anyone who thinks facts and logic will prevail to spend a few hours on TruthSocial. I have taken this on as a challenge, but continue to be astounded by the claims and resistance to facts and quality links I try to use in my interactions.

Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)Jul 18, 2023

@RichStein @alexwild Scientists *are* also often awkward and bad at communication. I think a little worse than the average in the wider community. Which is itself, bad at communication.

Pēteris Krišjānis Jul 18, 2023

@mackayim2022 @RichStein @alexwild everyone is fricking bad at it. I always get alarmed when someone IS. Either they are tots people person, just natural charisma and training, or they are sociopath sales person.

Rich Stein (he/him)Jul 18, 2023

@mackayim2022 @alexwild
Ditto the last point, esp.

🎓 Doc Freemo

🇳🇱Jul 18, 2023

I agree. But when you fac3 anti-science from both the left and the right a task like that seems impossible.

🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 leastaction Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild I listened today to a CBC report on the ongoing devastating forest fires in Western Canada. Climate change was mentioned exactly never. This is a large part of the communications problem I think.

Eis Comics (Vic)Jul 18, 2023

@alfredo @alexwild huge part.

Robyn Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild @ai6yr I had someone call me an idiot today when I explained that the haziness in NC today was due to Canadian wildfires (despite a seasoned and knowledgable meteorologist explaining it). This situation is dangerous. Including to our mental health.

AI6YR Ben Jul 18, 2023

@Robyn780 @alexwild 😬

GraveRobyn Jul 18, 2023

@Robyn780 @alexwild @ai6yr WE went through a period where everyone's opinion was valid. We're having a hard time climbing out of that hole. When ignorance is equal to a high education.

Robyn Jul 18, 2023

@HiwayRobyn it’s growing instead of shrinking. If I hear another person tell me “parents should be able to control what their kids learn” I will literally scream. GREAT IDEA! Flat earthers, anti medical, anti science, anti accurate history people (not to mention racists and nationalists) shaping children’s education - AWESOME. I don’t think I need to add <snark font>.

GraveRobyn Jul 18, 2023

@Robyn780 well, the big mistake was letting them come out from under their rocks.

Mark Crocker Jul 18, 2023

@Robyn780 @alexwild @ai6yr check out https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/ to see smoke coverage forecasts.

Seeing this afternoon is a little tricky since the time has passed and the archived forecast underestimated the smoke for today.

Smoke Forecast - FireSmoke.ca

Anglophyl Jul 18, 2023

@Robyn780 @alexwild @ai6yr

If you're an idiot, then they don't have to be worried or do anything about it. They don't have to face the fact that the time they spent denying science was wasted and pointless. Their egos (classic sense) are all they can count on.

Many people like this don't do a lot of self-reflecting and, therefore, don't have a high EQ (not IQ).

In this case, I'd take it as a good sign that they will go read up on it or talk to someone. You elicited a reaction. 👍

Chu 朱 Jul 18, 2023

We need a new generation of scientists trained to speak in this propaganda environment. Science is no longer apolitical. The reality is that science is highly political simply because one party has chosen to make an enemy of facts. Facts themselves are "biased".

Scientists need to learn to speak more like politicians, sadly.

frandroid 🏴‍☠️ jin jiyan azadî Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild The problem faced by science everywhere is capitalism.

GraveRobyn Jul 18, 2023

@frandroid @alexwild I disagree, it's fascism. The first thing a good Communist dictatorship does is kill the teachers. I had a "teacher's aide" in my high school that was an escapee from Argentina

frandroid 🏴‍☠️ jin jiyan azadî Jul 18, 2023

@HiwayRobyn @alexwild ...today

Jorge Stolfi Jul 18, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnbiVw_1FNs

Flanders & Swann - 'First And Second Law'

YouTube

PeachMcD Jul 18, 2023

@ThomHartmann has been beating this drum HARD. #Corporatepersonhood & #CorporateMedia are killing us

Catherine Schmidt Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild we also need to fund local papers …jobs for budding journalist

Maximilian Overdraft, Esq.Jul 18, 2023

I'm afraid that communication is broken. People are listening to and preferring debunked and discredited sources.

GraveRobyn Jul 18, 2023

@aka_quant_noir @alexwild Read Brave New World and understand SOMA

Lotus Blossom Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Also, eliminating government subsidies for businesses that traffic propaganda would help. (I’m looking at you big oil)

Adrian Morales Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild The Fediverse is as good as it's going to get. Use it!

Pēteris Krišjānis Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild yep, this.

ProtectiveHen Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild This is certainly true these days in the era of mass disinfo. However, I did take an eye-opening workshop some years back by https://www.waterwordsthatwork.com/
geared toward environmental communications - the theme was that the public generally agreed with us, but we often talked over their heads. Terms we thought were understood, like "sustinable," were confusing to non-college educated people, and we needed to break it down more and reach for those outside our bubble.

Water Words That Work, LLC

Public relations and marketing firm specializing in environmental outreach and communication.

Client Template 3

Kathy E. Gill 🇺🇦Jul 18, 2023

@bok_bok_ba_gok @alexwild

Plain talk is hard.

hömma Jul 18, 2023

So I don’t know where you are exactly and I’m aware of the fact that things are much, much worse in countries where journalism also has to make profit - but let me disappoint you. Here in Germany we do have publicly funded, state independent, reliable news media that mostly do a good job and have dedicated fact checking departments.

Which is great. But less and less people here use them, Facebook, Telegram etc. win, and Nazis are on the rise.

One World One People Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild WIKI: A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. TWW: Observation, meditation, study and practice are the tools you need to apply. *I love science, always have, learning about the world is something we all should do. People are spending decades to discover even just the methods to verify ideas they think might help understand a bit more of nature’s processes. They don’t know things as much as know how to learn. OWOP

FARIYAD ALI Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild our media (Indian Media) is doing same, they don't show own country problem rather they all show Pakistan, Russia Ukraine, news. In recently there have been happing riots in India manipur state. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of people forced to leave their home, but India media is always follow government order and they can't speak a single word against the current government, this is the situation of India, and minorities also suffering from lynching, hate.

Jill Fellows Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Reading "Merchants of Doubt" was a heartbreaking and eye-opening experience for me. Scientists and all experts are fighting a huge battle against (often deliberate) misinformation.

chmps Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Or, alternatively, a robust public broadcaster that upholds journalism standards, like what most EU countries have.

Daniël Franke 🏳️‍🌈Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Having laws against the misinfo and propaganda would help as well, but might be legally a bit more tricky.

It's sad that to get solid information to the people, it's turning into a match of who can shout the loudest.

apemantus Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Cognitive scientists, behavioral manipulation specialists are making great strides in building surveillance capitalism, in marketing, in monstrous advertising corporations. Maybe the poor scientists could ask their colleagues to help with ways to communicate effectively.

bmaxv Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild I disagree, I think it's more systematic than that and I think scientists are too tolerant of bad examples. And scientifically minded people are not organized enough as an overall social layer.

It's something that's been fascinating me for years.

Scientists of all people should be able to analyze and combat a complex situation. Why is so little happening in that space? Why is the information is so vague?

A call to action via mastodon is nice, but more substance is needed.

Andra Filipescu Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild this is a similar problem in the UK.

ufon Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Perhaps the existing mass media are deliberately sowing confusion. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that no one really understands what we humans, as a macrosociological species, have developed over the past decades. And unbiased communication channels moderated by experts have to be developed first.

BarbaraPittman ☕️💬Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild You underestimate that ignorance and superstition are more fun for the average person. Unfortunately. It won’t matter who speaks or how well. That’s my doom and gloom for the day.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild
I couldn't agree more. Against a constant tsunami of disinformation battering a largely scientifically illiterate population, the quality of the message is only part of the answer. Reach and volume are just as important. Our society depends on science and technology for its survival, but the vast majority of the population has no understanding of the scientific method and no concept that an objective reality exists.

Ëtikēmik Jul 18, 2023

@Annaeus @alexwild I’d agree that most people probably have little to no grasp of scientific method; but do you really think that they also have no concept of an objective reality? I ask because, as far as I can see, part of the problem here is that most people believe themselves to understand objective reality perfectly well, which would be psychologically impossible if they had no concept of it.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca Jul 18, 2023

@etikemik @alexwild

I suspect that most people underestimate bias (e.g. confirmation bias), so they believe there is an objective reality, but their version of reality includes mostly things they want to believe. The COVID pandemic was a glaring example of that. Climate change is another. There should be no argument that climate change is real and largely anthropogenic. But millions of people stubbornly deny it, either because their livelihoods depend on fossil fuels or for political reasons

Lee 🌏Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild
Here's our problem.

C. R. Collins 🌳 🐸Jul 18, 2023

It doesn't help that streaming channels supposed to be for science & history have so many pseudo-science/history programs.

I love a good documentary & have lately had to look into online lectures to get real information.

Raymond Jul 18, 2023

Nah. You just need to scape goat a minority and invent an implausible detailed lie that contradicts itself but brings them to the correct conclusion. Make global warming a conspiracy. If all else fails, blame the jews.

Nazani Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild
Progressives should have bought up small rural radio stations 20 years ago, before Sinclair really got their hooks in, & broadcast a mix of music, genuine news, & infotainment. Is it too late? Hello, Soros Foundation?

A Tattered Scrapbook Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild We also need to prevent the liars from having a platform. The “founding fathers” idea of free speech was standing in a town square and orating, not multinational multimedia empires. Walter Benjamin warned us how Fascists would use modern media to make propaganda as entertainment. That’s ninety years ago. We really need to catch up, and leave the 18th century where it belongs: dead and buried.

PirateRo Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild agree!

p0q Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild Fluoride is boring! Welcome to TDazzle! It’s an aquatic-based social media oral experience.

Dr. D. Elisabeth Glassco Jul 18, 2023

@alexwild It’s not just a problem faced by Science. Historians and other academic disciplines face the same challenges. Just because you state facts and logic and present it with methods, process, authority, and evidence doesn’t mean people will ignore the mountain of propaganda designed to emotionally appeal to them and accept what you’re saying. We have to be just as loud, clever, multifaceted, adaptable, and DOGGED at communicating our appeals as the propagandists.

JPS_Lindberg Jul 18, 2023

I mean, it can be two things at once.

Because scientists, as a general rule, really are ass att communicating with the public.