Scientists "not normal people"

[dops7107]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4630808.stm

Apparently:

Around 70% of the 11-15 year olds questioned said they did not picture scientists as "normal young and attractive men and women".

Now I've never considered scientific research a sexy subject, but this is kind of worrying.

Among those who said they would not like to be scientists, reasons included: "Because you would constantly be depressed and tired and not have time for family"

I'm beginning to realise that there is an element of truth in this! Whoever said this was very well-informed indeed. I do however think the pressures of work creep in with any career you take seriously.

Opinions? Thought I'd start a poll for the hell of it.

 

[iBlue]

i fear for our futures.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

Well, look at the picture the BBC used to illustrate the story. Who would you rather be? Cool BMX kid or tweed-clad science guy?

 

[EGT]

Well, look at the picture the BBC used to illustrate the story. Who would you rather be? Cool BMX kid or tweed-clad science guy?

The cool BMX kid is in fact the scientist!

 

[dops7107]

Well, look at the picture the BBC used to illustrate the story. Who would you rather be? Cool BMX kid or tweed-clad science guy?

Well... that's why I want to know about whether stereotypes still hold. When you put it like that, it's no wonder the results of the survey were so.

i fear for our futures.

Interesting... I think. What do you mean?

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

I want to be one when I grow up!
(BMX riding scientist, that is!)

 

[iBlue]

The cool BMX kid is in fact the scientist!

indeed. that is a groovy little demonstration in physics.

 

[bousozoku]

They never watched "Love Potion # 9".

I think that science will take care of itself and that science itself is quite attractive. Do attractive people actually serve a purpose? j/k

 

[Jaffa Cake]

The cool BMX kid is in fact the scientist!

See? I fell for the typical scientist stereotype. If you could see me now, you'd see that I'm kicking myself.

 

[caveman_uk]

I am a scientist and I don't own anything made of tweed. (I do have some nice slippers though ).

 

[emotion]

I'm a scientist (i have two degrees) and ride a bmx. Beware of stereotypes.

 

[XIII]

Scientists are important, and I respect their work..

Oh, and why are we having this poll...?

 

[dops7107]

Well I'm quite encouraged by our (non-scientific) poll results. Of course, I'd like to think that a bunch of technophiles with intelligence and taste would respect science as a career!

 

[Abstract]

I am a scientist and I don't own anything made of tweed. (I do have some nice slippers though ).

I'm a scientist (i have two degrees) and ride a bmx. Beware of stereotypes.

I'm a scientist and still have a social life, relax more often than most people could ever imagine, went to the beach twice this weekend AND went to a party and got drunk (with other non-scientist, non-geeky people), I don't look unappealing or awkward either physically or fashion-wise (strictly my opinion ), and a few cute girls like me right now.

Yes, beware stereotypes.


(I do own a jacket like the one in the photo, though. It has brown suede elbow patches as well, and yes, I think that's cool)

 

[Qoxiivi]

It's quite symptomatic of what's wrong with society today. Why should we aspire to be cool and sexy like footballers or pop stars?

For a multitude of ****ed up reasons (which I don't have time to go into) it's because they're positioned and sold to kids as role models rather than people who, when you think about it, they should aspire to be like - scientists, artists, philosophers, human rights and aid workers etc. In short, people with intelligence, integrity, compassion and courage who enrich, enlighten and positively contribute to other's lives in a meaningful way.

But no: "I don't want to be a scientist mummy, I want to be a shiny plastic magic man like the one on telly..."

Or something like that anyway.

 

[katie ta achoo]

Scientists are sooooo cool!
My dad is a neurobiologist, and I remember going to work with him when I was little.
HE HAS THE COOLEST MICROSCOPES IN THERE!!!

When I was wee, I wanted to be a scientist.
Now, I want to be a pseudoscientist. (economics.)

SCIENTISTS ROCK!
I've had SUCH a crush on Bill Nye the science guy since I was in like... 2nd grade.

I LOVE SCIENTISTS!!!

 

[CubaTBird]

BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY is cool..

http://www.billnye.com/

 

[Kernow]

My sister is a scientist, and she seems normal.

I have a huge respect for scientists. What irritates me is the poor state of science reporting in the media (at least over here). It seems that anyone with a GCSE in Biology is qualified to become 'The Science Correspondent', whose job it is to reduce everything to a headline ('Miracle drug will make you thinner', 'Freaky glow in the dark pigs' etc) without actually giving any insight into the work that has been done. This is the kind of thing tackled in the weekly 'Bad Science' column in the Guardian newspaper.

I think that the stereotypes of scientists are probably fueled by ignorance, which the above does little to help.

*Takes a deep breath and calms down*

 

[freeny]

What is "Normal"?

 

[miloblithe]

Scientists are pretty dynamic, interesting people.

Engineers on the other hand...

 

[applegirl]

BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY is cool..

Bill Nye went to my university, he would to come back all the time and sit in on lectures. By the time I left he'd come back probably 4 times a year and it was like "meh, did you see Bill Nye the other day..."

 

[ejb190]

I also consider myself a scientist.

One of my favorite things to do is to teach others about science in a way that gets rid of the techno-babble and makes ideas accessible to non-experts. In my experience, genetic engineering is not that complicated to teach. You just have to use lots of analogies.

A friend of mine recently took a college intro Botany class that might as well have been called Scientific Vocabulary. They weren’t learning ideas, they were learning terms and definitions. No wonder why people learn to hate science.

 

[joepunk]

I love science and history. I guess that is why I am a Design student then

I recently saw a Bill Nye episode after a very long hiatus from my middle school science class. Awe, the lovely days of middle school. Actually my science teacher looked somewhat like Bill himself. He was very cool. I wonder if he still works at my old school. I guess he would be a few teachers that I would not mind seeing again.

 

[plinden]

Among those who said they would not like to be scientists, reasons included: "Because you would constantly be depressed and tired and not have time for family"

Hold on - I'll ask my wife (she researches how pollution - e.g. benzene - can cause leukaemia) ...

Nope - she says she's tired and depressed because of family ...

I'm a software engineer so give me a computer and I'm happy.

 

[dops7107]

... qualified to become 'The Science Correspondent', whose job it is to reduce everything to a headline ('Miracle drug will make you thinner', 'Freaky glow in the dark pigs' etc) without actually giving any insight into the work that has been done.

I know just how you feel. In fact, when I saw that "glow in the dark pig" story on the BBC I was pretty irate. It does us scientists no favours whatsoever. I am not so keen on scientists making press releases for GFP-expressing pigs merely because they know it will get attention (the more important thing is the proof of concept, but the green thing is bound to get the press more interested than any other transgenic marker). However what really riled me was the language of the idiot who wrote it, as you say. In particular he/she used the phrase "will make the genetic material glow green", or words to that effect. And there's no dark involved.

Hmm... they seem to have edited the offending article. I'm pretty sure I am right about what it said... now changed to

Because the pig's genetic material encodes a protein that shows up as green, it is easy to spot.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4605202.stm

This is the kind of thing tackled in the weekly 'Bad Science' column in the Guardian newspaper.

This is an excellent column. Amusing *and* educational