Scientists Tell Stories Too (and That’s a Good Thing) with Prof. Jenni Barclay

Human beings are not computers: we need stories to grasp the meanings of things, and that also goes for scientific facts. As Prof. Jenni Barclay relates, this means scientists need to be storytellers, too, if they want people to understand not just what the facts are, but what they mean for society and the world at large. Then people would better be able to see what our options are for responding to environmental and technological developments and emergencies. 

If we expect scientific pros to show up like Back off man, I’m a scientist! and guide us through difficulties, then they’d best stick strictly and dryly to the facts, because everyone knows that scientists should never tell stories, right? But scientists even need to tell stories to themselves and to each other to more effectively process the information contained in their data, observations, and experiences.