Report R3.15 The Ghosts of Popular Science Seminar Leader: Lyubov Gurjeva, Independent Researcher, Moscow lgg1000[at]hotmail.com Popular science has often been misconstrued as science in daily lives. The seminar addressed the issues related to it. Scientific childcare was taken up as the context to study popular science vis-à-vis science in daily lives. There has been a view that popular science is a simplified version of scientific facts and theories, a medium to facilitate the transfer of scientific knowledge to common people. The seminar leader described science as a part of social and cognitive phenomena. She stressed that popularisation of science was as important to everyday life as it was to the scientific enterprise. Cognition as a social phenomenon is the basic assumption for analysing science in daily life. Community based shared practices and communications have aided the existence of science. The seminar leader represented the human community with concentric circles. The "esoteric" (inner) circle represented the group of researchers, who are quite secretive about their activities. They refrain from sharing their practices but sometimes share their tools with the people outside their circle. As the circles widen, they represent people with decreasing knowledge of scientific facts and theories. The difference between the stakeholders at the "exoteric" (outer) circle and the esoteric circle could be characterised by the kind of communication practised within their respective communities. In this context, research articles and textbook-science were contrasted with each other with respect to language and content. While research articles use terminologies beyond the comprehension of common people, textbooks use easy to understand language and often skip excessive details. A set of intellectual obstacles faced during the study of the process of "production of science" was referred to as ghost by the seminar leader. The term "ghosts" has been borrowed from Plato who proposed the metaphor of the prisoners in the cave who see only "ghosts of life" beyond the cave in the shadows cast upon the cave wall. Like the prisoner's necessity to get closer to life through the ghostly shadows, the proponents of popular science tend to defend their ghosts of intellectual convictions. The participants discussed the images of science in advertising of child-care goods and infant foods in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain. It was observed that the references to science were widespread. A compilation of specific references to science by advisors on matters of child-care shows that there was no uniformity in what was referred to as scientific knowledge, for example on the composition of milk. The numbers in the study of fat and albumin content in cow's and human milk by different studies are the symbols developed for conceptual understanding of science related to it. In those days, infant-feeding and childcare were studied as ways to study human beings. By the "law of recapitulation" every individual in its development repeats the process of evolution of its own species. People are drawn into the scientific community by listening and adhering to the practices of scientifically raising children. The ghost of scientism makes historians and sociologists treat scientific and non-scientific actors asymmetrically. Scientists have names, biographies, and motives. They chronicle the same. Their counterparts are mostly anonymous. They tend to be undifferentiated and passive recipients of science. Science and its related disciplines are well-defined and command visibility than activities like routine childcare. Scientific childcare seems more attractive than routine childcare. This leads to a debate on science and its authority. Science is a complex enterprise. If we merely study its end results and symbols, we fail to get its relevance in daily lives. The different images of science could be considered as the different narratives of science. Idealism was presented as another ghost of popular science. Idealism in the study of the sciences suggests a unidirectional relationship between scientific community and those outside of it. It suggests that science makes everyday life more rational. Relationship between scientists and the public is built upon the belief of cognitive superiority of scientists. It is accepted that scientists specialise in elaborating universally true ideas about the world. Science is often envisioned as an ideal practice. General public was introduced to the participants as the third ghost of popular science. The use of the term "general public" gives the notion of a singular impact of science on the public as a whole. This goes against the common acceptance of the existence of different conceptualisations and uses of science by distinct groups and individuals. The notion of general public fails to reflect the heterogeneity and diversity of the public. Moreover, the term "general" is open to interpretations. The seminar leader suggested certain methodological remedies that could help the researcher treat the ghosts of popular science. Scientism could be addressed by treating scientific and non-scientific artefacts symmetrically to enable better historical interpretation. Various actors from history could be included and widening the range of sources could show the implications of science on various activities. Unconventional and ephemeral printed sources could be included. In this context the integration of history with the study of scientific research practice could be a challenging task. Idealism could be treated with materialism where attention is given to material practice. There could be an attempt by the scientific community to understand the ideas outside the esoteric circle and as to how are they embedded in things. Popularisation of science could be directed at specific publics instead of the so-called general public. Building on the competence of the audience would aid the propagation of science. Reported by Adwaita Govind Menon, with inputs from D. P. Dash (16 March 2006) Copyleft Xavier Institute of Management, Xavier Square, Bhubaneswar 751013, India Research World (ISSN 0974-2379) http://www1.ximb.ac.in/RW.nsf/pages/Home |
