The reasons why science communication benefits you as a scientist – Why talking to other people is important for your research

Why should you put time and effort into something that feels like an extra chore? There are very tangible benefits of making your science reach beyond your laboratory or office, benefiting both you as a scientist and the society as a whole.

With the accelerated flow of information provided by the internet, it is more important now than ever to be proactive on contributing to communicate science in a clear and effective way.

It is really worrying to see that scientific principles that have been corroborated since decades, or sometimes even hundreds of years, are suddenly being downgraded as just another opinion – usually by people failing to grasp that the same scientific principles they are so incredulous about constitute the very base of the progress and advancement that they live in and benefit from on a daily basis.

"So you say that the Earth is not flat? Well, that's just your opinion!"

Ironically, I believe a big part of this mistrust in science and scientists has its roots precisely in insufficient, deficient and unsuccessful science communication.

Not only scientist fail to make their science accessible for the general public by being hermetic and reclusive, but also the press usually does a really disappointing job on reporting the newest findings, often opting for the sensational headline and misleading interpretations of the research instead of an accurate report of the findings. Promotion of such distorted views likely leads to disappointment and further misunderstanding of the state of progress in a given field.

On the other hand, at least in mainstream western culture, there is a “pop-science” trend emerging within the millennial generation that approaches science more as some sort of ornamental quirk, without actually worrying too much about understanding what they stand for ( @kyriacos recently wrote an article about it). I don’t think this attitude is detrimental per se, but it is certainly not an approach that is useful or helpful for promoting the understanding of science.

The problem usually comes when these two approaches (science denialists vs science groupies) collide on a certain topic and then it just becomes a battle of ego and animosity where no one really fully understands what they are talking about. This is where scientists come in: by having a deeper knowledge and unique insight into the topics being discussed, one can contribute to clarify some misunderstandings.

Not only that, but by providing good arguments in a constructive tone –instead of ostracizing skeptics by questioning their intelligence upfront– we can contribute to steer the minds of the undecided towards a better informed, more solid notion of current science (by experience I know that those fanatical about their beliefs, logical or not, are almost impossible to convince otherwise).

However, communicating your science to a wider, non-specialized audience also offers significant perks that benefit you directly as a scientist. For example:

You get more visibility.

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around, does it make a sound? Well, of course it does, but no one is there to hear it! Many of us are familiar with the sad reality of having an extremely limited audience for our research, but it doesn’t have to be like this!

While most research institutes have a strict policy about not revealing data or specific information about ongoing projects, it is certainly possible and accepted to talk about the wider and more general aspects of it, as well as discussing and promoting work that has already been produced.

By reaching out and communicating your science to the general public, you get the opportunity to explain why what you do is important. Furthermore, there is a chance that your ideas reach someone who was not familiar with your work but have been looking for something like it; collaborations can spark that benefit both parts. Which ties up with the next point, which is:

Your science gets more support.

The more people know about your science, the more likely you will be to reach someone who will be interested in supporting it and taking it further. It could be in the form of collaborations or attention from governmental or private organizations. Another benefit could be that you start being recognized as an authority –an expert– in your field. Which completely makes the difference between people wondering “who is this guy?” and people acknowledging “ah, that is the guy that talks about solar energy/anticancer therapies/climate studies etc.” This can help building an extra layer of credibility and impact to your work.

Finally, by becoming a more familiar face, there is a chance to fight against the mistrust towards science. By showing that scientists are willing to be open and discuss their research with those interested in it, part of the secretive and devious reputation that some people associate with scientists could start being abolished, promoting trust and interaction.

It provides you with good ideas for your own research.

This is one of the most unexpected benefits of communicating your science to non-specialized audiences that some of us have experienced. Being a specialist in a field can sometimes feel akin as developing side blinders for anything that is not within the narrow frame of our research.

The effect of highly specialized research in academia.

However, when talking to someone who is not deep into our topic, or not familiar with it at all, we are confronted with big picture style of observations and questions that we might have overlooked by making assumptions instead. Also, they can provide unexpected insights coming from their own knowledge that can help filling gaps in your thought process or helping interpret confusing experimental results.

This is also a great way to get “out of the box” ideas for your research. For example, I remember my boss asked us during one of our weekly meetings to think about a radically novel way to fight cancer. Honestly, I couldn’t come up with anything different than all the information about current approaches to treat cancer – that I am constantly bombarded with and therefore have taken firm roots in my head.

However, when talking to a musician friend about it, he jokingly said at first “Well, what if you teleport it to another dimension?” – Which while hilarious, was obviously not very useful – but then he said “What if you make the cancer tumor think that your body is dead?” Which actually struck me as an interesting idea that, while certainly radical and far out, might be worth looking into, don’t you think?

On another occasion, I was having some drinks with some my friends from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu –of which none is a scientist– and they got curious about my scientific project so we started talking about cancer in general and they started asking me questions about the disease, its causes and how to get rid of it. One of them brought up the “naturistic” belief that you can cure cancer just by changing your diet, and said she actually knows someone who got rid of her cancer this way.

I was thinking of a way to politely reply arguing that was most likely a coincidence or a temporary fluke, since cancer is a complex disease usually arising from mutations which would be unaffected by a dietary change, and that diet can have a preventive effect but once a tumor is established the influence of diet would be minimal, etc. but then another of my BJJ friends proposed that maybe, people who seem to heal themselves by eating a healthier diet were people that had a weakened immune system due to dietary deficiencies in the first place, and by providing adequate nutrition, perhaps the immunosuppression was reversed and their system was able to get rid of the cancer cells by itself (after all, our immune system has the capacity to recognize and destroy malignant cells). It made a lot of sense, and still, I have not thought about it this way.

In other words, intelligent and imaginative people are out there, and if we can reach them by proposing our ideas and problems in a clear and logical way, maybe they can help us finding a solution – even if they do not have a strong scientific background.

So get out there and do not be shy of sharing your work with others, be it on the internet, in public forums or in private meetings. There is nothing to lose, and at the same time unexpected opportunities and mutual learning can arise from it.

Cheers,

Irime

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Image sources: Pixabay, except for the first picture which comes from TED, and the Flat Earth (unknown source).