Staying curious about the world and scientific advancements is one of the best things that you can do in life. Not only do you keep your mind sharp, but you also stay open-minded, flexible, and grounded in reality. What’s more, being a lifelong learner means that you stay humble as you do your best to fill in your knowledge blind spots, something that we all have, regardless of how smart and educated we (think we) are.
According to one commentary by Marilyn Winkleby, PhD, MPH, and Judith Ned, MEd, EdD, universities, medical schools, and other professional schools have a “unique capacity to promote excitement about science and medicine to young people.”
This can be done by connecting them with “strong role models, state-of-the-art laboratories, innovative technology, and hospital and lab internships.”
“Given the greater flexibility of university extracurricular programs compared with public high school instruction, there is also the opportunity to focus on learning processes as opposed to learning outcomes that promote stimulating, experiential, and cooperative learning.
"Furthermore, universities can expose low-income and ethnic minority students to the culture of higher education, expand their knowledge base, and convey the need for them to enter science and health-related careers. In return, university-affiliated programs provide opportunities for faculty, staff and students to develop skills in teaching science and create a positive awareness of universities among local communities,” Winkleby and Ned write.
During a previous interview, Bored Panda had a friendly chat with Roger Harris, the founder of the immensely popular ‘Science Humor’ public group on Facebook. He opened up about some of the challenges he faced moderating such a large community, as well as how humor and education intertwine.
According to Harris, “there’ve been many” challenges.
“Just the other day, someone tried to share a meme about Schrödinger's cat that was neither here nor there,” the founder of ‘Science Humor’ joked in an earlier interview with Bored Panda.
“But jokes aside, moderating a group this size is like conducting a rather large and chaotic experiment,” he said.
According to the founder, the trickiest part of managing such an overwhelmingly popular online community is “balancing free expression with maintaining decorum.”
“Thankfully, with a set of strict rules and a spot of British resilience, we've managed quite alright,” Harris told us earlier.
From Harris’ perspective, humor is a wonderful way to make science and education more approachable topics for everyone. They can complement each other very well.
“I've always believed that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and in this case, a good joke can make even the most complex scientific theory digestible,” he said.
“If our memes and jokes spark a moment of curiosity or even better, a Google search, then I believe we're on the right path to promoting science in the most delightful way possible,” the founder of ‘Science Humor’ told Bored Panda.
#17
It's both a tree and not a tree at the same time.
And if a cat does get involved, it may or may not survive
From his perspective, the future of the ‘Science Humor’ community looks bright. “While 'Science Humor' has been a rollicking adventure, there's always the thought of where to next. Perhaps a 'Science Humor' YouTube channel? Or maybe a podcast? Though, I must confess, I'm partial to the idea of a book. 'Science Humor: A Decade of Memes & Enlightenment'. What do you reckon?" he mused at the time.
