Talking about science

Science seems to lack much of the normal chit-chat of everyday life. The web is replete with political chatter. It goes on day and night blowing even minor utterances into life transforming events. Science gets much less notice - even by scientists. How many times have I been asked, "So what do you do?", only to find it is not easily into words because what concerned me most at that moment might be a miniscule gelatinous pellet with some obscure enzymatic activity? So instead of giving an actual answer, I stammer, "I am trying to create renewable fuels".

If this seems to elicit the slightest interest, it is followed by a flow of concepts or more details that leaves the poor soul staring in wonder. Only then do I realize that no matter how elemental the explanation, it has gone right past one of the few people in this world who actually seems to care.

Maybe this isn't your experience, but most scientists are far more at home with things than with people. Oh yeah, chatting with your lab partner is OK - not a problem. You are both in the same boat, but trying to relate what you do in conversations with others seems more like a seminar than a schmoozing.

Perhaps this is why so many scientists are isolated. There are so few people who actually understand their specialty area that they become detached, disconnected and forget how to communicate. Most scientists I know are solitary creatures. They keep to them selves and talk only to a few close friends. Perhaps this is because they are so absorbed in what they are doing that they forget about people and other distractions.

I have been a scientist for thirty years - fourty if I count the ten years of undergraduate and graduate studies. Perhaps this is enough to be able to comment on the field. Perhaps not. My experience is narrow.