Science may be the only truly uniquely human attribute. Many of the other highly evolved traits, behaviors, and capabilities of human beings can be recognized in some aspects of other Earth organisms, in particular animals. Altruism, persistence, companionship, courage, fear, bullying, camaraderie, organizing, love, envy, reverence, even creativity and intelligence, are examples of deeply evolved traits, which whether “instinctual” or taught, are identifiable in many other creatures. But not science.
Science is the ability to assemble and organize sensed and observed data about the world, form mental thoughts about that data, share and discuss those thoughts with other beings, and then use those ideas as new knowledge to change how the world is understood and to change the world itself. No other organism on Earth known to humans has this capability. Many animals may “change” the world by building habitats like nests, hives, and tunnels, but none of them will discover a new aspect of these activities and share it with their fellow animals across generations as cumulative knowledge and understanding of their world. Only humans practice science.
The youngest human child naturally performs the actions that professional science codifies as the scientific method. Observing, ideating, testing, and drawing conclusions about the world and how it works. What distinguishes this inherent process of human learning from professional science is the nature of what is discovered. Most humans discover for themselves what is already known about the world. Professional scientists use the scientific method – observing, hypothesizing, experimenting, and drawing conclusions – for the continual intentional pursuit of discoveries that reveal aspects of our world that were not known before.
Despite this fundamental commonality and the remarkable impact of science in human civilizations, professional science has become quite divorced from the average citizen’s experience. Though the knowledge from science has yielded many benefits for humanity, its use and its pursuit have noted dark chapters marred by immoral and unethical acts. As a result, to many people, science has become an alienated and alienating discipline. Though sometimes revered, it is also sometimes feared; and often regarded with significant distrust. This distrust is further aggravated by the gargantuan gap in scientific education between highly trained scientists and other citizens of the general public. The greater number of citizens, who are not scientists, do not know what the much smaller group of scientists are doing, cannot evaluate whether the work of scientists is beneficial or harmful to them, and have few intermediaries, like news journalists, who are prepared to provide accurate, objective translations.
Civic Science is founded on the principle that humanity’s continual pursuit of scientific knowledge will be of higher quality, greater effectiveness, and more humility if scientists and citizens work better together for the future of science.
As science has gained a more and more prominent position in the world, its attendant alienation from the public it serves has begun to impact its effectiveness. This destructive development is particularly true for scientific disciplines that directly involve human research subjects and human populations; and whose knowledge impacts human health and well-being. Repairing this breach between science and the people it was developed to serve is the vision and purpose of Civic Science.
Civic Science is founded on the principle that humanity’s continual pursuit of scientific knowledge will be of higher quality, greater effectiveness, and more humility if scientists and citizens work better together for the future of science. The new discipline of Civic Science is developing the tools and best practices for this work to be done. A key element is redesigning the education of scientists to include formal instruction in how scientific investigation and scientific knowledge impact members of the public at every level of encounter, from individual research subjects to global societies. An important paradigm shift in this new science education is teaching scientists how to collaborate with human research subjects as creative participants in the research, who can contribute to its design and development in ways that improve overall quality, effectiveness, and humility.
As a guest speaker in Dr. Garlick’s undergraduate courses, I have seen first hand how his Civic Science curricula is enabling junior scientists with skills for communicating to the greater public. The skills his Biology majors learn include, for example, translating complex science in accessible language for non-scientist audiences, educating the news media, outreach to community groups, and seeking public commentary on their research plans and findings. These educational programs and other civic science trainings offered by the Civic Science Collective are ushering in an envisioned new era of Civic Science, where our scientists will be as motivated and prepared to share with their public as they are with their professional peers. Civic Science promises a new future for science with the people, instead of our current state of science separated from the very people for whom it is intended to serve.
James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D.
President & CEO
Asymmetrex® LLC
Boston, MA
FYI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yooeb-yKz0
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