Über dieses Projekt
My first book, which was successfully funded by the Kickstarter community, was about the importance of design to communication.
This book is a reflection about tone and persuasion.
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When I was a kid, I was not good at math. My dad, however, was, and he tried to teach me whenever I struggled. I've always looked up to him intellectually, but one thing he really lacks is the ability to communicate persuasively and patiently. He is good at being right. But he is bad at showing me he is right.
He used to teach me math like this:
1. He would explain a concept to me.
2. I wouldn't understand it, because his explanation was exactly how the book and my teacher taught it.
3. He would repeat the same explanation to me, in a slightly louder voice. He would add in something like, "How do you not get this?"
4. I would still not understand it.
5. He would repeat the same explanation even louder. My ears would be yanked, my head would be rapped on by his knuckles. My intelligence would be insulted. My eyes would fill with tears.
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My dad is a very smart man. He works in the Biomedical field, on better insulin pumps for diabetics. But he also is a Young Earth Creationist, believing the planet is 4000 years old. He has a PhD in Chemistry, but he does not believe in carbon dating. So now the tables have turned. I want to change his mind about this, about evolution. But then I think back to the way he tried to teach me math. And I began thinking, how could I reach him?
The Biologist’s perspective
Read an exclusive excerpt of the book here.
This project was inspired by my father, and several friends who are Christian/creationists, even though they are in the sciences (chemistry, medicine, computer science & engineering). This is how I would reach them:
First, not by dumbing down the concept, but by removing "trigger words" associated with evolution, such as natural selection, speciation, or fitness. I avoid this type of language because I don't want to alienate people, or bring up the negative connotations some people have against them.
Second, by making all of the graphs in the book blank. The biology textbooks I'm used to typically present you with experimental data, and then ask you to make a conclusion based on it. However, all the graphs in this book are blank. Instead, I give the reader two different hypotheses, and then encourage them to draw their own idea of what the data should look like. After they go through the book and fill out the graphs, they're given online access to the original published scientific paper from which the graph was taken. I want readers to inadvertently argue for the side of evolution. I want them to go all the way through the book, agreeing with all of the scientific principles, filling out the data exactly as actual biologists found it, and then get to the end, and THEN realize it was about evolution all along.
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I structured the book in this way:
Chapter 1: Statistics and sampling -- how scientists can make inferences about a population without having to look at every single individual.
Chapter 2: Introductory biochemistry -- showing that life and its associated structures can be explained in terms of physical laws, like solubility.
Chapter 3: Competition -- even small advantages are useful, and can eventually spread throughout a population, changing it.
Chapter 4: Extrapolation -- the processes covered in the previous chapter can result in rather large changes, if given enough time.
Chapter 5: Empathy -- cites the work of Peggy Mason, a UChicago professor who demonstrated that mice are capable of empathy.
The Christian’s perspective
Read an excerpt of the book here.
But I also want to dedicate this book to the Christians who reached out over the last few months. At first my book had no Christian elements. But then as I showed my project to more people, some of whom were religious, I decided to survey them more in depth. I arranged the interviews in this fashion: from weakest, most simple, cliched arguments, to ones that were complex, conflicted, or even full of doubt, but very personal and unique. Many of their arguments are quite moving and intellectual, and I want to give people this more expansive view of Christians.
I remember reading an article about the physicist Lawrence Krauss comparing teaching creationism to "child abuse." Teaching creationism is not a rational thing to do, and might take away from the child's education, but I don't think it's useful to describe it in such extreme terms; that only serves to make creationists resist even more. You cannot reach a student by humiliating or making fun of him; you have to try to reach him in terms he already believes in.
I think it would help if both sides had more respect for each other. That lends itself to a better dialogue, and reach a better conclusion, rather than each side demonizing the other and calling names. That's what I'm trying to do with this book. It's not just about what's right or wrong, it's also about the way you go about it.
The Artist’s perspective
I still love the idea of a physical book, and have decided to put this on Kickstarter to raise funds for a small, limited print run of beautifully designed hardcovers.
In this project, I play around with QR codes, screenshots, and scroll bars, trying to make a cohesive experience out of something drawn from a wide variety of sources (including scientific papers, books, iPhone photos, Creative Commons images from Flickr, Youtube videos, Facebook chats, and emails).
Conclusion
In working on this project, I've learned that things are less "binary" than they seem.
I guess my end goal is to get people who feel like they're on opposite ends of a divide to empathize with one another -- all without compromising the purpose of science education, which is to teach you how to interpret data, to not view the world mystery as something that can be understood, tested, and predicted instead of as a mystery, and how to piece together facts from a variety of seemingly unrelated fields of study into one cohesive narrative.
Thank you very much,
Brian
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Risiken und Herausforderungen
I've successfully created one scientific text, but that doesn't guarantee the success of this project.
The book is already written and designed, to the fullest of my ability. My biggest challenge is finding enough people to help me edit, in terms of fact-checking and usability of design. In my last project, editing took longer than I thought, and delayed my ability to fulfill my promise to my backers by a few months. I've learned my lesson and this time, I am projecting a much more conservative estimate for the date of fulfillment.
I'm now experienced with printing and shipping, and feel confident about that aspect of the project.
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Finanzierungszeitraum
- (31 Tage)