Thursday, February 20, 2020
Not taking his or her own advice
From a "study" on scientific communication, aimed at killing the maximum number of Climate Denialists and Xenophobes and Vaccine Denialists:
Study participants tested the theory by completing a 19-question survey on authenticity. Survey questions were based on a description of published plant science research and a group of randomly assigned narrative messages attempting to explain that research. The group of messages included a story drawn from the real-life experiences of J. Chris Pires of how he became interested in plant science. Pires is a Curators Distinguished Professor in the Division of Biological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science, and an investigator in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center. Researchers found that if a scientist shares the story of the development of the origin of his or her interest in the subject through a first-person narrative -- without use of institutional affiliations -- people are more inclined to perceive him or her as authentic.The overall point is unquestionably true. When I see an expert introduced with a 200-word list of his Named Chairs and Directorships of Centres, I stop reading. The introduction of Pires fails to learn the lesson of the "study". First-person narrative isn't especially important. Impersonal objective style is fine as long as you keep it clear and uncluttered. No PC locutions, no grammarrhoid sentence structures. = = = = = A bit later, via Eurekalert, here's a scientific press release that gets everything right for clear communication. Headline: New research takes p*** out of incontinence Best headline of the year. The article gets to the point, skips the 200-word CV for the researchers, explains the problem, and describes the limits and potentials of the solution. No obligatory mention of Climate Emergency, no obligatory mention of Evolution. Just the facts. The explanation is so clear that it answered a question I'd been wondering about for years. After age 50 I started having short pee intervals, and assumed it was just prostate. I took some supplements for prostate, but they didn't help. At age 60 I finally got blood pressure under control, and the peeing problem disappeared. The article tells why: High blood pressure swells up all tissues, including the tissues of the bladder. Less room for urine inside. Simple.
Labels: Asked and De-answered, TMI
¶ 12:11 AM
