Change the medium, change the message: creativity is key to battle misinformation

Abstract

Marshall McLuhan's groundbreaking work regarding the role of context and medium in communication is very relevant today. By limiting the medium of science communication to dense, jargon-rich academic journals, we restrict the impact of discovery to the scientific community. We are also allowing the propagation of misinformation, as the non-expert is forced to resource unreliable media to answer their scientific queries. To compete with pseudoscience, we need to improve science literacy and make science accessible through the same media on which pseudoscience thrives. As scientists and educators, we believe it is our responsibility to reconceptualize science literacy as a life-long process and take greater accountability over the future of science communication. We hypothesize that increasing the accessibility of scientific literature to the public through adopting mainstream media forms and increasing access to informal science education (ISE) opportunities will decrease the proliferation of pseudoscience. To accomplish this, we propose eight recommendations housed under three action areas: (1) Modify undergraduate science education by increasing opportunities for informal science communication, (2) Increase accessibility to informal science education, (3) Bridge the gap between formal and informal science learning opportunities.

FUNCTIONAL AGEING: A Science-Technology-Society Approach to teach Ageing and Age-related Diseases

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Science Communication Training Imparts Confidence and Influences Public Engagement Activity

“…Antiscientific attitudes and the spread of scientific misinformation have become increasingly more common over the past several years, posing a grave risk to public health, political stability, and environmental sustainability ( 3 – 5 ). Scientific literacy can counteract or serve as an immunization against misinformation and antiscientific rhetoric ( 6 – 8 ). The link between public engagement and increased science literacy is most often observed through citizen science projects, in which the public directly engages with the scientific process ( 9 , 10 ).…”