It is difficult, or even impossible, to work together with other people when you have a closed mind. Unfortunately, The majority of scientists I have interacted with seem to think they have open minds, but their true colors show when their ego is triggered. A red flag for a closed-minded scientist is a defensive reaction to scientific results that challenge their own.

“My brain is bigger than your brain”

It is actually pretty humorous from an outsider’s perspective to see scientists participate in a “cock showing contest”. Who are they to say “mine is better than yours”, how do they even know? Are they the gods of the answers? No. In my strong opinion, a good scientist knows that the more she or he knows, the less he or she knows. Instead of shutting down results that don’t match your own, wouldn’t it be more productive to ask why they are different? It is amusing to watch an individual who’s life is devoted to logic actually lose all logic in order to protect his or her ego. Or perhaps its some other type of defense mechanism, either way, I am not a fan.

Communication

A lot of scientists lack the ability to effectively communicate. You can probably recall at least one teacher or professor of the sciences in your life that just was not good at teaching. Not because they weren’t intelligent, but because they couldn’t communicate effectively to diverse audiences. The skill of communication is needed desperately in the scientific community.

It is no wonder how long it takes for significant scientific results to make an impact in a policy sense. Even if the data exists and the certainty is high, an inability to communicate the results to people that actually makes decisions will always hinder the actual practical application of research. Arrogance also doesn’t help to make changes. If you are not capable of explaining your research in a way that a 3-year-old could understand, you are not an expert. An expert should be able to explain to any given audience the importance of the work he or she is doing.

But can you walk on water?

In the past I know it was common for scientists to be looked at as the cream of the crop, the untouchable minds, the people that didn’t have time to interact with citizens because their brainpower couldn’t be wasted on peasants. I remember this reality, in fact, there are still some scientists that live in this reality. I was very pleased to listen to a presentation at the most recent conference that I attended which was focused on the importance of communicating. The presenter talked about how there are so many older scientists that still think they are God’s gift to Earth.

In the current scientific world, we have access to infinite tools and technologies. This new and ever-evolving world does not allow the “wise” scientists to control the younger and “naïve” scientists, although they may still try. Young scientists continually experience age discrimination. But, guess what. It was a 29-year-old who largely contributed to developing the FIRST ever image of a black hole. Dr. Katie Bouman deserves just as much credit as her older mentors. Her hard work and innovative ideas paired with the work of her teammates allowed this image to be possible.

Until I watch a woman or man walk on water, I don’t believe in Gods. Not in science or the world in general. Similarly, until you show me that your work is worthy of the praise you receive, I’m not going to treat you as an idol because of your age. This isn’t to say that I don’t respect my elders, I recognize they’ve seen more than I have. However, I’m not going to bow to you and eat up every bit of advice you give me because you are “wise”. Show me you are wise and I will treat you like you are wise.

The point is…

that there are billions of people on the planet and most of them have something to offer. Among these people are formally trained scientists, citizen scientists, young scientists, old scientists, hard scientists, soft scientists, really there are infinite categories of scientists. It is foolish and naïve to believe that you have all of the answers and it is narcissistic to assume you are more right than someone else before you take the time to investigate any discrepancies you may have come across.