I really like Citizen Science. Beyond its scientific impact, I’ve seen it have a hugely beneficial impact on people who get involved in this way (I know a lot of people who help with collecting samples of river water and testing its quality). Rather than scientific progress being something that is done to a person, with them having no say in it due to not being a scientist, they get to be a part of the progress, which gives them a sense of personal investment in our scientific knowledge.
Plus it helps them to trust science more, because they get to see it as it really is: deeply messy and human. Us scientists are not nearly as objective as we may like to believe, but that’s sort of the whole point of the scientific method — that’s how we try to acknowledge and set aside our subjective messiness, and get closer to objectivity, even if we can never truly reach it. Getting to understand how science functions within society gives people a deeper sense of trust because it’s more authentic.
And on top of that, citizen science is useful for challenging the arrogance of scientists who believe that their field of study makes them superior to people who studied the humanities (or people who didn’t do higher education). I know, because deep in the back of my brain, I was one of those asshole scientists. Getting involved in citizen science project helped me to recognise how valuable it can be to get different perspectives and systems of knowledge production. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on beyond the ivory tower, and I’m glad to have been thoroughly humbled by the experience.
It’s also so cool as well to get to share stuff that I love with people I didn’t think I had much in common with. Turns out we have a big thing in common: we don’t want shit in our rivers, we know the water companies are fucking us over with their bullshit excuses, and we want to be able to take our vague mistrust and anxiety, and turn it into something concrete we can use. And so we find ourselves united in our quest to quantify the ways in which the water companies are failing in their duty.
It’s very cool, and it makes me a bit more hopeful for the role of science in society
I really like Citizen Science. Beyond its scientific impact, I’ve seen it have a hugely beneficial impact on people who get involved in this way (I know a lot of people who help with collecting samples of river water and testing its quality). Rather than scientific progress being something that is done to a person, with them having no say in it due to not being a scientist, they get to be a part of the progress, which gives them a sense of personal investment in our scientific knowledge.
Plus it helps them to trust science more, because they get to see it as it really is: deeply messy and human. Us scientists are not nearly as objective as we may like to believe, but that’s sort of the whole point of the scientific method — that’s how we try to acknowledge and set aside our subjective messiness, and get closer to objectivity, even if we can never truly reach it. Getting to understand how science functions within society gives people a deeper sense of trust because it’s more authentic.
And on top of that, citizen science is useful for challenging the arrogance of scientists who believe that their field of study makes them superior to people who studied the humanities (or people who didn’t do higher education). I know, because deep in the back of my brain, I was one of those asshole scientists. Getting involved in citizen science project helped me to recognise how valuable it can be to get different perspectives and systems of knowledge production. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on beyond the ivory tower, and I’m glad to have been thoroughly humbled by the experience.
It’s also so cool as well to get to share stuff that I love with people I didn’t think I had much in common with. Turns out we have a big thing in common: we don’t want shit in our rivers, we know the water companies are fucking us over with their bullshit excuses, and we want to be able to take our vague mistrust and anxiety, and turn it into something concrete we can use. And so we find ourselves united in our quest to quantify the ways in which the water companies are failing in their duty.
It’s very cool, and it makes me a bit more hopeful for the role of science in society
A good percentage of modern projects in the UK at least requre it as a component.