Science Popularization and Meme Accuracy

Science, politics, and a partial meme

Cheng discusses a meme contrasting ideal and actual relations between scientists and politicians. The excerpt includes only its account of the actual situation:

Scientists (experts): There’s a problem.

Politicians (non-experts): Let’s debate if there’s a problem.

On the whole I think the point it’s trying to make is that the interaction between science and politics has become unideal, with politicians overstepping their remit and encroaching on tasks that should be dealt with by scientists. However, I disagree with the summary of “How it should be”, because I think scientists should actually say something more like “We are 99 per cent sure there’s a problem” and then scientists should investigate what the solutions are. Politicians should then debate whether or not the solutions should be funded, which should come down to weighing up the dangers involved with not solving the problem, the level of certainty of the scientists, and the cost and likelihood of success in solving the problem. However, this is much less catchy and probably too much text to fit in a meme.

Another example I saw recently said:

Funny how no country has ever tried to repeal universal healthcare.

It’s almost like it works.

Again, I agree with the overall point which is, I believe, to support universal healthcare. However, I’m not sure if the meme is true – arguably some people have been trying to destroy and privatise the National Health Service in the UK.

However, details, nuance and well-structured arguments do not help memes go viral. Rather, catchy phrases and pithy one-liners help memes go viral (together with amusing graphics).

This sometimes makes rational people throw up their arms in despair. But I think we can do something better than that: we can learn from it. Explaining something to someone who doesn’t already understand it always involves making it digestible in some way. With some advanced mathematical or scientific topics that means simplifying it for people who haven’t gone through the years of training necessary to understand it fully. Some people think this compromises the subject so much that it’s not worth it, and so they don’t bother with any attempts at “popularisation” of science.

However, I disagree with that. I think that we can find ways of simplifying arguments that still capture their essence, and also attempt to engage emotions and amusement in the way that memes do. When I saw the meme about science, I wanted to edit it: something shorter than the full nuanced description, but still punchy and more accurate. The proposed replacement is not included in this excerpt.