But too much of the communication about this emerging science has sought to oversimplify what is complex and downplay what is uncertain. Tofel: The frontiers of science are often (usually?) marked by complexity and uncertainty not surprisingly, this has proven especially to be the case during a pandemic involving a previously unknown pathogen. Scientists could have done more with phrasing and coordinating messages, but it wouldn’t have been enough to get through these 2 barriers. So, authoritative information has a hard time getting through. Further, the algorithms of the social media platforms, are designed to amplify misinformation that satisfies motivated reasoning, because this leads to more engagement. There’s not much scientists can do about this-a smoother, more accessible presentation is not going to get the opposing side on board. Once one side decides to support the scientific consensus, it is a given that the other side is going to oppose it. Science becomes collateral damage when it becomes of intense public interest (Naomi Oreskes has called this “impact science”). Holden Thorp: While scientists certainly could have done a better job communicating research findings during the pandemic, it was an uphill battle because of the political conflict and social media algorithms. What limitations has the pandemic exposed in the ways that science is communicated today? To explore this concept further and to acquire their perspectives on the evolving role of scientists in the 21st century, we invited a group of scientists, physicians, and journalists who are also leaders in science communication to answer key questions on this topic.

Thorp instead proposed improving the partnership between researchers and public communicators, so each can draw on their own expertise and in-depth training.Īltogether, questions can be raised about the responsibilities of scientists in sharing scientific information, not only with their peers but also with the public, as well as their role in combatting the spread of misinformation online. Holden Thorp, the Editor-in-Chief of Science, questioning this approach. But this is not as easy as it sounds, with some, like Dr. John Holdren, the former science advisor to President Obama, to call on every scientist to become a trained communicator in an army of ambassadors for the United States. Developing strategies to tackle this issue has led some, like Dr. Nevertheless, it is important to understand how the scientific community contributed to these problems and what we can learn that may help shape our current and future responses to similar threats to our society, including perhaps the greatest of all, public misinformation. The overall issue became even more complicated with the emergence of bad actors who tried to capitalize on this situation by spreading misinformation and undermining science for political, financial, or promotional reasons. This problem persists as vaccine adoption across the population continues to lag due to a lack of trust in government and scientific institutions. Dangerously, the degree of widespread misinformation has led to various off-target drugs, such as ivermectin, and common household items, such as bleach, being championed as COVID-19 treatments without any scientific evidence. From the beginning, confusion regarding the transmissibility and severity of the virus led to widespread challenges to mask mandates and social distancing policies. After all, scientists were able to develop, test, and get highly effective vaccines approved at a record pace, but when it came to public acceptance and adoption, things were not so stellar. It certainly felt like our way of life was collapsing right in front of our eyes, and we cannot help but think that surely this must have been preventable. In early 2022, almost 2 years into a pandemic, we are still coming to terms with how we ended up in the present situation: in the United States alone, over 950 000 total deaths, reaching over 1 million new cases per day, and unprecedented levels of hospitalizations that are breaking an already fragile healthcare system.

History is filled with lessons of civilizations collapsing after their citizens failed to perceive the problems developing around them or, if they did, then failing to solve the ones that would eventually cause their demise.

Another word for unnecessary aggression