Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

The Need For Appealing To Emotions When Communicating Science

"Although it’s of course always better to frame an argument or present research in an objective, rational matter, people have a tendency to respond well to appeal to emotion. In this sense, presenting scientific research as something that can be evocative, powerful, and emotional is, in my belief, a good tactic to get the general public invested in science. Getting people to care about our research, our study species, and our findings is a difficult task but one that is absolutely necessary for the longevity and development of science at both the national and global levels.

"Pretending the science is emotionless and apathetic is counterproductive to the very things that drove us to do the science in the first place. Although we should attempt to be aware of, and distance, our emotions from the objective, data-based analysis of our research, admitting and demonstrating our passions (and why we feel so passionate) is critical in distilling science into the general population. Science should be done rationally and objectively but driven by emotional characteristics such as wonder, curiosity, and fascination."

Click on the links below for more insight into the need to use emotion to enthuse the general public about science. After all, humans first evolved by surviving using instinct, intuition, and emotion. Science shows us that these processes are BASIC within our psyche and science-based thinking is a late development that is more difficult and many times presents uncomfortable results:


Sunday, July 9, 2023

The Dark History Of The Information Age

 "You’ve probably encountered phishing emails or computer viruses. Or maybe one or more of your accounts has been hacked or compromised. How and why do hackers hack and what are they generally seeking? Our guest this week points out that understanding the answers to those questions is essential for making sense of the psychological, economic, political, and social motivations for and effects of cybercrime. Scott Shapiro is a Southmayd Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at Yale Law School. He is the author of a new book called, “Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks.” The book dives into five historical examples, one of which involves its namesake, Fancy Bear, a Russian cyberintelligence unit responsible for hacking the Democratic National Convention. Shapiro joins WITHpod to discuss some of the biggest inflection points in the history of hacking, why the internet is so vulnerable, the role that generative AI may place in future cybercrime and his thoughts on if we should really be concerned about cyberwar."

Click on the link below for the podcast and transcript:


Thursday, May 18, 2023

A Word To The Wise Within The Democratic Party Elite

Click on the link below for a 10-min video exposing the weakness of how the Democratic Party elites communicate with voters. They MUST understand what Beau is saying and change, or nothing will change:

Let's talk about Democratic messaging - - -

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

The History Of Free Speech In The USA (Episode 2)

"What have been the gravest threats to a free press over the nation’s history? And how can the past tell us how to safeguard our access to information today?

In this second episode in a three-part series on free speech, Heather and Joanne discuss the 1837 murder of abolitionist journalist Elijah P. Lovejoy, the role of Joseph Pulitzer in the creation of the independent press, and the rise and fall of the Fairness Doctrine."

Click on the link below to continue the podcast series. The section (beginning at the 40:45 mark) on the history of the Fairness Doctrine is incredibly enlightening.

Free Speech: The Power of an Independent Press

Friday, March 18, 2022

Disinformation Is A Pandemic

"Today we take a look at the dynamics of mis- and disinformation as well as the history of those, primarily Russia, who are actively using it as a weapon of information warfare against the US, The West, and democracies around the world."

Click on the link below for a podcast that not only focuses on Russia but includes what the USA is experiencing with the Republicans/conservatives. Be sure to listen to the end, which includes some great insight from listeners responding to prior episodes:


Friday, October 22, 2021

How To Change The Discomfort Of Talking About Injustice

" - - - The only way to avoid the discomfort is to avoid the issues. If we can avoid talking about and reading about problematic matters, issues that might require us to rethink values and assumptions, then we won’t feel the discomfort that such difficult thought might entail.
 
"If we banish from our minds, our libraries, and our classrooms any examination of politics, religion, race, environment, sex, justice, and the like, we might protect ourselves from the possible discomfort we might experience. All we have to do is trivialize the curriculum to the point that few will be bothered by anything.

"If we can make instruction completely insignificant, utterly irrelevant to anyone’s emotional and intellectual life, then absolutely no one should rise up to protest the threat we pose to treasured beliefs, valued affiliations, or well-established habits of thought and action. We can teach kids how viruses are different from bacteria but avoid discussing why the health care system better serves the wealthy than the poor. We can teach what events led up to World War II and which countries fought on which sides and the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps but fail to mention our own concentration camps for American citizens of Japanese ancestry or consider why the 761st Tank Battalion or the 555th Parachute Battalion consisted solely of African American soldiers. We can give the facts of Brown v. Board of Education but never read what happened to the Little Rock Nine, never discuss how the integration of schools caused thousands of well-qualified Black teachers to lose their jobs because white parents refused to let their children be taught by a Black teacher.

"We can teach the definitions of “preposition” and “conjunction.” That will raise few hackles. “Onomatopoeia” and “zeugma” are unlikely to drive marchers into the streets, even if we require students to learn both definition and spelling. Better yet, we can teach penmanship—that will threaten the values of neither the conservatives nor the progressives, neither Republicans nor Democrats, neither those drilling for oil nor the sailors on one of the Greenpeace ships. Total irrelevancy, absolute insignificance, and unwavering stasis are effective strategies for avoiding the discomfort of thought and change.
***
"We cannot, dear teachers, ever give in to the demands of irrelevancy. So, Mr. Principal, you must be brave. You must steer the ship into tomorrow. Your teachers will be there with you. And students, they may shudder at past injustices - long past and recent past - and I hope they do. If they don't, we are in more trouble than I thought.

"I wish you all bravery. Stamina. And the knowledge that your hard work is the good work; the best work; the needed work. We need you.

"Kylene Beers"

Thursday, December 24, 2020

The Great Science Communicator

"Astronomer Carl Sagan had a 'consumer tested' method for busting pseudoscience. Here’s how it worked.

"In chapter 12 (The Fine Art of Baloney Detection) of Sagan’s ‘The Demon Haunted World,'' he lays out a method for detecting and debunking pseudoscience. Whether tackling astrology, channeling, creationism, homeopathy, or alien abductions, Sagan’s ‘Baloney Detection Kit’ can handle the challenge. Scientists utilize the tools in this kit as a regular part of their work, and I think it’s time we learn how to use them in our day-to-day lives."

Click on the link below:

Thursday, August 27, 2020

How To Get Magical Thinkers To Stop And Think?

Changing one's mind is one of the most difficult things for humans to do. We all have confirmation biases, which "is an important type of cognitive bias that has a significant effect on the proper functioning of society by distorting evidence-based decision-making." Thus, it's important to reflect on this basic human tendency toward magical thinking and to combat it with science-based thinking (link)(link). However, easier said than done. Instead of spending a great deal of time directly attempting to educate folks who will be resistant to change, perhaps ending the conversation with something like this is warranted.*This may at least get your interlocutor to stop and think about what you are trying to communicate to him or her:

  • "I want to know as much truth as possible. Thus, please tell me anything about what I am saying you think is false. However, keep in mind that "knowledge" is commonly held as "JUSTIFIED, true belief", thus, please justify it with objective evidence. Peace."

* Unfortunately, this will probably end the conversation.

Friday, September 30, 2016

A Good Example Of How To Act During Heated Disagreement

"I can tell you that Smith didn’t pitch this story to me. He worried it might get in the way of the dialogue he wanted to start.

"But no matter what you think, you should also see this: That moment you most want to retreat to safety might be the moment you most need to reach out.

"Because without that, no one will reach back.

"That’s what’s happened to Kenny Smith this week. He’s heard from five people he handed his card to in Monday’s crowd. He’s set up lunch so far with one of them, Adrian Millner, who told me Thursday that he watched Smith 'take a beating' Monday night. Millner, who works in accounting in Charlotte, liked the councilman’s response.

"There’s no set agenda for their lunch. Police shootings will surely come up, and probably more. Maybe those talks lead to more talks. Maybe they get someplace concrete.

"But that’s not why Millner called."


Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article105048521.html#storylink=cpy
A white councilman, black protesters, and a moment that Charlotte needed

Friday, August 19, 2016

Exploiting Scientific Complexity And Poor Communication For Ideological Purposes

"A recent article in the Guardian discusses how scientists and experts should communicate risk and certainty to the public. The author, Jack Stilgoe, makes some good points, but unfortunately frames it as part of a defense of Jill Stein."

Communicating Risk and Certainty

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Does Being Kind Mean One Should Not Present The Truth?

I just returned from proctoring End-Of-Year Tests at my granddaughters' elementary school.  Plastered everywhere in the school was this quote:  “When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.” - Dr. Wayne Dyer

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Communication

I admit that I have been wrong many times in my life.  However, I also state that I am an excellent communicator.  Why do I say that?  Because, throughout my adult life of well over 50 years, many people have said such.   However, failure to reciprocate with me has been one of my greatest angst.  What am I trying to say?  If I communicate with you, regardless if we agree, please at least complete the conversation.

Labels

Choose how you look at reality wisely. Yes, it is a binary choice.

Choose how you look at reality wisely. Yes, it is a binary choice.
Click on image

SCIENCE JUSTIFIES ITSELF

SCIENCE JUSTIFIES ITSELF
Click on image