The Observer Effect versus the Interactor Effect. What does science means when scientists are a part of the experiment? Fundamental shift in thinking. I have to credit Tariel for the quote of science in general: "Saving the world... after we collect more data."
And here is my story about The Adaptation of the Zooming Eyes. This cartoon was inspired by two notable incidents. First, my sister Jenny, after finishing four years of undergraduate education at UC Santa Barbara, receiving a psychology degree and an exercise-health-physiology minor, she commented to me, "You know what? Half of everything I learned in psychology the last four years was bullshxt." My eyes grew wide open. "What?! What a waste of tuition." "I know," she said, apathetically. If only you could rewind the clock. I then told Jenny that 95% of my education was DIE-HARD REAL and INTERACTIVE, but that was because I was a College of Creative Studies biology major. I was learning-by-doing, this so called "constructionist" learning. My education was anomalous and rather "old fashioned," like the interactive educational experiences of my grandfather Ray and granduncle Dwight, where they went out and learned how to build stuff, like airplanes and cabins and the like. I poked at plants, parasites, invertebrates, vertebrates, and took lots of pixies of them. Life was good... back in the day....The second inspirational incident was a snarky comment made by Andre Folse, a CCS biology major under Armand Kuris as well (so was I). Andre, Anna, and I were all studying for Dr. Sweet's evolutionary vertebrate morphology final, and Andre popped out the question amidst our studies (in which I was doing a half-xss job, my great contribution was printing out the final). (PS I am citing Andre's brother's advisor's research up at Stanford, Joan Roughgarden, eusocial reproduction, Nash equilibrium stuff).... So... back to the point... Andre, amidst our studies blurted out, "What if everything in our education was just a joke? None of it was real or true? What if all the stories these professors were telling us and forcing us to memorize were all a farse?" Anna and I froze for a second, and after that statement I was convinced I had to make the Zooming Eyes cartoon. I proposed the Adaptation and both Anna and Andre felt that this was a high necessity. Too bad our eyes don't zoom. I guess that's why we have telescopes and microscopes in the first place. *Sigh.*
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April 18, 2009. Bren COMPASS science communication workshop. Dr. Ron Rice provided an overview of design/evaluation of communication campaigns (my second-time exposure). Based on his lecture, with his emphasis on "the touchy line between science and advocacy," we are essentially in agreement with the notion of science versus behavioral change as a fundamental issue that scientists must grapple with.
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