Interestingly, science memes can be just what the world needs right now. According to wildlife biologist Michael Barnes, much of science has lost its curiosity.
As a result, Barnes thinks that the scientific community has created an exclusive club where your entry into it is a publication, and to stay in it, you must continue to do so at the expense of integrity, new and exciting knowledge, and trust from the public.
This exclusivity, he believes, has created a rift.
“By being overly technical, esoteric, and pedantic, the scientific community has made it virtually impossible for the layperson to understand the information being presented to them, resulting in animosity and divisiveness that has led us to this current anti-science movement,” Barnes writes.
“We look down on and condescend those who don't understand the process and then act surprised when people reject the knowledge gained from hard, credible science. For example, the current environment of climate change denial is one of the larger issues of our time.”
Therefore, Barnes thinks that it's time for a change, and that includes funny science memes. “It's not enough to throw complicated jargon at the public. There needs to be better and more meaningful communication,” he says.
“We've come to the apex of an 'us vs. them' dichotomy where it doesn't matter what is said. 'We' are right and 'they' are wrong, and that's final. Communication needs to be more open and transparent. Both for the sake of those conducting research and those it's being communicated to, i.e., the public.”
While Barnes believes that researchers need to be more precise and transparent in their research, I'll try to argue that science memes can actually facilitate all sorts of dialogues about the sciences.
After all, as writer Helen Brown pointed out, they aren't just entertainment but also have a serious side. According to researchers looking at modern forms of communication, these funniest science memes are a language in themselves, with a capacity to transcend cultures and construct collective identities between people. Not to mention that memes can also be powerful tools for self-expression, connection, social influence, and even political subversion.
Paolo Gerbaudo, a reader in digital politics and director of the Centre for Digital Culture at King's College London, describes funny science memes as a “sort of a ready-made language with many kinds of stereotypes, symbols, situations. A palette that people can use, much like emojis, in a way, to convey content.”
