In nearly every sci-fi movie featuring an engineer, there will inevitably be a moment when they explain something to the rest of the team, followed by the hero delivering the classic gag-line; “Um, in English please?”
While it was funny the first 27 times, the 28th got me thinking. How often have I, an engineer, felt the need to ask for a plain English translation of a concept or process? (Honestly, more often than most engineers would care to admit.) If the accepted practice is for explanations to heavily rely on technical professionals’ training and experience, these must be astoundingly complicated concepts that only the smartest people in the world could understand, right?
Wrong. And that mindset has caused a deep schism between scientists and the rest of the world.
Back in the sci-fi movie, eagle-eyed viewers will note our dear scientist friend WAS speaking English to the rest of the team. They simply failed to communicate in a way that characters without a PhD in Quantum Electromagnetic Nuclear Hydro-chemical Physics could understand. And, they actually can communicate this way, as always demonstrated in the explanation that follows the joke. This common scene is a microcosm of the communication problem plaguing scientific communities today.
Most academic journals, groundbreaking research papers, and impactful publications are so dry, esoteric, and exclusive, that the discovery will likely never leave its immediate circle of peers. Surely, this is the best way to dull the impact of your work. Through accessibility solutions, the standard of discussion, understanding, and innovation across the world could be lifted astronomically. Academic journals could include narrative companion pieces when published, grant money could be prioritized for science communication, and presentation and code switching skills could be taught in STEM programs with the same rigor as Calculus. By making scientific information digestible to those with non-technical backgrounds, everyday people could read major scientific breakthroughs the way they read the Wall Street Journal.
Without the skill to write effective and engaging pieces that promote understanding, instead of dryly proving intellect, we ensure the barricades keeping information from the public remain firmly in place. The ability to write clearly and relatable is not inborn or inherent, but a learned skill that requires effort and practice. Effective communication broadens the reach of your work to an even larger audience who may be interested in learning about, or even furthering, your work. After all, if your work is behind a paywall (as many scientific works are), why would someone pay for an article they could scarcely understand?
Further isolating the crucial role of communication, take a look at most media that distributes scientific demonstration as entertainment for children: Bill Nye, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, MythBusters. And while these examples may be targeted toward a family friendly audience, they are simultaneously the gold standard for effective scientific communication. Through Cosmos, I learned to question previous assumptions; from Bill Nye I witnessed visual demonstrations of abstract concepts that help me to this day; and MythBusters promotes failure as a 100% acceptable outcome that still provides useful and valuable information (as any scientist would agree).
These teams of communicators, with the ability to explain advanced science to children, demonstrate the clearest signs of mastery in a subject. In the world of academic journals and often convoluted language, an absence of consideration for accessibility should be met with additional scrutiny and clear guidance for improvement. Anyone with a profound understanding of and comprehensive education on an advanced concept has the ability to explain in layman’s terms. It may simply be a matter of practice.
When we overly focus our communication on the technical details and minutia of our work, science communication can come across as loaded with pomp and pretentiousness, which even actively gets in the way of business growth. Without effective communication, the potential of people, projects and entire companies will be ignored because their value could not be described effectively.
It is not through our individual understanding that we promote discovery – but rather in how we use it to commune with the world around us. As expressed in a sentiment often attributed to Albert Einstein: “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself”. Clearly, if you cannot make an effective information transfer to any given person, your own understanding is nowhere near where you think it is.
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