In a 2017 article C. Drummond & B. Fischhoff conclude ‘… scientific knowledge may facilitate defending positions motivated by nonscientific concerns’ (Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences of the United States of Amnerica, 114, 9587–9592).
How did we get ourselves into such a situation? I, for one, spent decades of my professional life working from the simple conviction that better information would produce better outcomes. It turns out I, and apparently most people who trained me and who I trained, were wrong. Better information may, but often doesn't, bring about better decisions and many of us in the practice of conservation seem to be unaware of why we have been having such limited impact.
The first sentence of the first chapter of this book suggests what we, or at least I, have been guilty of: ‘ironically, those communicating about science often rely on intuition rather than scientific inquiry not only to ascertain what effective messaging looks like but also to determine how to engage different audiences … and get science's voice heard.’
This book sets out to change our intuition into an active use of the science of science communication. There is (who knew) a science of science communication and we need to learn everything they know. Though not an instruction guide, the authors provide a cornucopia of ideas based on a phenomenal review of the literature. I learned
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• The overwhelming importance of group identity when deciding what information to believe and what to reject and how people aggressively misinform themselves to strengthen their group identity
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• About the concept of a ‘polluted science communication environment’ in which social practices degrade the ability of citizens to recognize valid science
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• How much we can learn from the work done on public responses to nanotechnology
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• The numerous ways entertainment's portrayal of science influences public perception and consumption of science
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• How the use of frames is a critical part of science communication and mis-communication
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• How poor humans are at interpreting time series data
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• The role that the unnatural plays in public consideration of GM food
The volume is huge: 47 essays by 57 authors from six countries. It is organized into six sections: the science of communicating science, challenges to science featured in attacks on science, failures and successes in science communication, role of elite intermediaries, role of the media, and communicating science in a polarizing environment.
For those of you who have been following the writing on behavioral economics some of this will be familiar but the volume is a treasure trove of insights and suggestion for both introspection as well as action. And by the way, all of the things the numerous authors demonstrate are not qualities belonging only to the oft-discussed public—they apply to us as well!
This book should be essential reading for everyone interested in improving their conservation practice and the editors say it is targeted at scholars and students. Unfortunately, the book may remain out of reach of many because of its high price. It is available as an e-book but at only a slightly lower price. There should be a set of tutorials for conservationists extracted from the rich veins of this book; perhaps the editors would consider such a thing.
