This thread turns out to have found a place in an ongoing discussion in the SciComm world. Here are two takes that resonated with me.
First from @zeynephttps://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1341235643276554240 …
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Hank Green Retweeted Gavin Schmidt
Second from
@ClimateOfGavin who, being in climate communication, has seen this all before.https://twitter.com/ClimateOfGavin/status/1341268597776244736 …Hank Green added,
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But I also think some people are worried about giving people any excuse to not wear masks. So it’s also a question of what the job is. Is the priority to spread the most accurate information possible? Or is it to increase compliance with CDC guidelines. I honestly don’t know.
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But I do think that going with
@zeynep’s “it probably will, but we’re waiting for more information” language prevents the misunderstanding we’re in now, is more accurate than “we don’t know”, and hopefully communicates the need for caution.12 replies 19 retweets 770 likesShow this thread -
And also, it lets us avoid yet another “OH SO THEYRE CHANGING THEIR MINDS AGAIN” moment that I honestly think is undermining people’s faith in science.
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My instinct is to say, “this isn’t my fault, people should get that uncertainty is normal and also probably temporary” but my job is to communicate science, so that thought is ultimately destructive to the whole endeavor.
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Replying to @hankgreen
I think not communicating information, but communicating messaging that we think will optimize for behavior has actually been detrimental to optimizing for behavior. Complex but: we alone don’t control the public sphere, and if we don’t trust people, they don’t trust us back.
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Replying to @zeynep @hankgreen
So over emphasizing the caveats plus a faux “we don’t know” has given antivaxxers a talking point, one that I have seen spread beyond anti-vaxxers, that a vaccine that is in reality remarkable beyond anything we had hoped for is kinda weak and even pointless. Incredible own goal.
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That's too pessimistic and also misunderstands the situation. Vaccine hesitancy, and also resignation and despair, are a continuum and communicating complexity and emphasizing correctly definitely helps. It's not targeting the grifters; it's the broad public.
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