Dear Mr. Sowden, as I cannot be associated with a known book felon, please cancel my subscription immediately and instruct the Google to erase all contacts I have had with you. I do have a reputation to protect.
I completely understand your decision, and furthermore regret that the stress of this decision was unfairly thrust upon you by my callous and insensitive actions.
As such, and as an olive-lover AND an owner of a business with deep roots in the Greek agrarian economy, I feel my reputation-loss in being associated with you FAR outweighs the piffling loss of face that my book incident has cost you, and will of course be seeking compensation, including for the time it took me to write this reply, payable in olives.
My lawyer will follow up in a more formal manner. Thank you.
Dear Mr. Sowden, You now also owe Mr. Jensen a new laptop for having caused him to snort coffee all over his Lenovo. He trusts damages will be forthcoming.
"I still get the occasional joke from colleagues about my ‘crackpot consultant business’, but I’ve stopped thinking of our clients that way. They are driven by the same desire to understand nature and make a contribution to science as we are. They just weren’t lucky enough to get the required education early in life, and now they have a hard time figuring out where to even begin."
One of my favorite library experiences was when I was studying abroad at St. Andrews and was introduced to short-term loans. Having a required book that I was only able to check out for 2 hours helped me learn to focus time, plus it was just fun to take it to a coffee shop and read intensively next to a peat fire while it rained outside. I mean, does life get better than that?
I enjoyed the audio! Very Douglas Adams-doing-Hitchhiker's Guide-on-the-radio vibes 😀
>>"And I put up a note on my blog offering physics consultation, including help with theory development: ‘Talk to a physicist. Call me on Skype. $50 per 20 minutes.’"
I really love her hopeful conclusion, as you quoted - but also this bit too:
>>"But the most important lesson I’ve learned is that journalists are so successful at making physics seem not so complicated that many readers come away with the impression that they can easily do it themselves. How can we blame them for not knowing what it takes if we never tell them?"
This made me wince a bit. Because it's so painfully true and a danger for amateur science communicators like myself. And it's a reminder of the limitations of saying, for example, "yes you're doing research" (hah!). Because as Sabine says, there's often the lack of a basic 'grammar' in whatever the scientific field is, including maths, the universal language of physics. It's not just the reading you're doing that day, it's the 20 years of prep for that reading. That's why scientific papers can be so impenetrable to layfolk: it's not that it *is* impenetrable, it's just written in a subtly different language that only kind of looks like the ones we Muggles are used to reading.
(But isn't there also something rewarding in immersing yourself in something that difficult to understand? To realise the limits of your knowledge? I mean, that's the wall we have to clamber over in learning any new language - and that clambering can be fun!)
Such a good piece, thank you. And I love that she made a science consultation side-gig AND managed to advertise it in Aeon. LOL. I wonder if her calls went nuts after that was published?
I think it's true for all of us, not just amateur science communicators! There was one article a few years back that made me think about this very differently, and is why I get fixated on metaphors a lot. It was in the New Yorker I think, about epigenetics, and there was a lot of blowback from geneticists about how epigenetics was described because they said it was misleading. And I thought this is really the issue with science communication, is that in order to make it comprehensible to the general public you almost have to use metaphors, yet metaphors have to be chosen carefully and even then can end up leading people to the wrong conclusions.
When I'm fact-checking research I've written about, I'll often ask someone in that field to check my metaphors with a "is this metaphor or description a fairly accurate representation of what this research is saying." More recently, I've felt myself shunning metaphors. Not totally sure why. Maybe because it makes it feel like everything in human life can be too easily simplified.
Anyway, thought you'd enjoy that piece! I really appreciated her generosity in it.
Stay tuned as Mike, in a 1/1,000,000,000,000 freak accident, is hit by an asteroid just after being run over by a bus while on his way to the corner-store to buy a lottery ticket which will later turn out to be a winner.
Ha ha - I doubt it. I just read an article that said NYC libraries have given up on fines and anyone can return books without peril now. As soon as they did it, they had soooooo many books returned, many of which weren't even in their system. I think it's the trend of the future! What did crack me up was that the police would come to your door to see where you were in reading the book - what?!? That would never happen here!
Thank you! Agreed, it really is. I love the feeling of having just walked into a library, seeing an impossible amount of things to learn that far exceed the time I have to learn them. A multiverse of knowledge - and the front door is (usually) free entry. What's not to love?
Ah! I'm jealous. That is one of the parts of New York that really calls to me. Morning in the Library reading rooms, afternoon in Central Park processing it all. YES PLS.
I used to spend hours in Hull Uni library finding journal papers and photo copying them - many hours at a time what would only take minutes now. I do wonder though - and I've found myself doing this - the ease of access to information online does sometimes lead me not to read things thoroughly, eagerly wondering what the next of the 100 links will show. Whereas when you go to a library - have spent the effort to find a reference I think you are more likely to give it a proper read. After all you've spent a fair amount of effort finding the book, pulling it down from the shelf, finding the page - reading it properly and giving it your full attention seems the least you can do after all that effort!
Cheers, Dave! Yeah, that's well worth considering too. As you say, the whole place is set up for that kind of research - and beyond the practical benefits for information retrieval purposes, maybe that's having a huge effect on our behaviour and our ability to put our thoughts into order? I mean, arguably a library is an enormous working metaphor for a logically structured "mind", and being in the middle of that must be triggering an imaginative response in us? And all this also would tie in with Annie Murphy Paul's recent work on our "extended minds", where our surroundings can be regarded as situated cognition, a working part of our minds: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/mind-in-the-gap
I think for women, research about medical issues is critical because we have to be able to advocate for ourselves. I've read articles that suggest that for cases like endometriosis for example, women see on average 7 doctors before they get a proper diagnosis. I can list so many other personal stories of women who have had to demand tests or even treatment that they have been refused because doctors won't believe them. I know of a couple of cases where personal research has kept people alive. We like to denigrate WebMD but there are so many brilliant sources of information online that empower people to at the very least ask good questions about their health and treatment.
So very true. There's the flat-out misinformation, but there's also the kind that's more an undercurrent of sexism, intolerence and ignorance, bolstered by an arrogant self-assurance that refuses to admit it could be wrong. For example, in the case of what's in the news right now, I've been seeing a huge amount of cluelessness from certain influential men about what an ectopic pregnancy actually is & what happens with it. No attempt to get even the most basic understanding of it, easily found by typing it into WebMD or the NHS website. That's...a huge problem.
(Also an issue: see the correction in the middle of the newsletter's transcript that I just added, after some thoughtful feedback via Twitter.)
Also: no soapbox needed! Please consider this entire newsletter made out of soapboxes. This is how we do things here. NO EXTRA FURNITURE REQUIRED.
>>"He doubled-down on his claims after being proven wrong, penning a 20-page thesis nearly three weeks later explaining why he believes he's still right."<<
🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦 I mean - I kinda admire the fact that he's willing to explain his thinking publicly. But whatever credit he gets there is totally wiped out by his unwillingness to accept he's wrong, or even *could* be wrong.
It's just mind boggling. I mean, she's an OBGYN with a PhD. You'd think at some point during her studies she'd have had to pass a test where she labelled all the parts.
I published it as a podcast episode! Right now that's the only way to do it - it still goes out as an email to everyone on your list, so it worked in mostly the same way, and gets displayed on the Web homepage of your newsletter.
If you click on the "New Episode" button in the Dashboard, instead of "New Post" as usual, that'll get you started.
Dear Mr. Sowden, as I cannot be associated with a known book felon, please cancel my subscription immediately and instruct the Google to erase all contacts I have had with you. I do have a reputation to protect.
Dear Mr Jensen,
I completely understand your decision, and furthermore regret that the stress of this decision was unfairly thrust upon you by my callous and insensitive actions.
I have however been in contact with my newsletter's shareholders (a wholesale olive-processing business based in Athens) and they would like to sit down with you and discuss your recent role in destroying all their profits for the past year: https://brentandmichaelaregoingplaces.substack.com/p/travel-writer-blamed-for-major-athens
As such, and as an olive-lover AND an owner of a business with deep roots in the Greek agrarian economy, I feel my reputation-loss in being associated with you FAR outweighs the piffling loss of face that my book incident has cost you, and will of course be seeking compensation, including for the time it took me to write this reply, payable in olives.
My lawyer will follow up in a more formal manner. Thank you.
Dear Mr. Sowden, You now also owe Mr. Jensen a new laptop for having caused him to snort coffee all over his Lenovo. He trusts damages will be forthcoming.
😂
Hurrah for libraries! And for research. Did you read that piece in Aeon by Sabine Hossenfelder about engaging with ... hm, let's say "people with slightly skewed perceptions of science"? https://aeon.co/ideas/what-i-learned-as-a-hired-consultant-for-autodidact-physicists
"I still get the occasional joke from colleagues about my ‘crackpot consultant business’, but I’ve stopped thinking of our clients that way. They are driven by the same desire to understand nature and make a contribution to science as we are. They just weren’t lucky enough to get the required education early in life, and now they have a hard time figuring out where to even begin."
One of my favorite library experiences was when I was studying abroad at St. Andrews and was introduced to short-term loans. Having a required book that I was only able to check out for 2 hours helped me learn to focus time, plus it was just fun to take it to a coffee shop and read intensively next to a peat fire while it rained outside. I mean, does life get better than that?
I enjoyed the audio! Very Douglas Adams-doing-Hitchhiker's Guide-on-the-radio vibes 😀
OMG, that Aeon piece is fantastic:
>>"And I put up a note on my blog offering physics consultation, including help with theory development: ‘Talk to a physicist. Call me on Skype. $50 per 20 minutes.’"
I really love her hopeful conclusion, as you quoted - but also this bit too:
>>"But the most important lesson I’ve learned is that journalists are so successful at making physics seem not so complicated that many readers come away with the impression that they can easily do it themselves. How can we blame them for not knowing what it takes if we never tell them?"
This made me wince a bit. Because it's so painfully true and a danger for amateur science communicators like myself. And it's a reminder of the limitations of saying, for example, "yes you're doing research" (hah!). Because as Sabine says, there's often the lack of a basic 'grammar' in whatever the scientific field is, including maths, the universal language of physics. It's not just the reading you're doing that day, it's the 20 years of prep for that reading. That's why scientific papers can be so impenetrable to layfolk: it's not that it *is* impenetrable, it's just written in a subtly different language that only kind of looks like the ones we Muggles are used to reading.
(But isn't there also something rewarding in immersing yourself in something that difficult to understand? To realise the limits of your knowledge? I mean, that's the wall we have to clamber over in learning any new language - and that clambering can be fun!)
Such a good piece, thank you. And I love that she made a science consultation side-gig AND managed to advertise it in Aeon. LOL. I wonder if her calls went nuts after that was published?
I think it's true for all of us, not just amateur science communicators! There was one article a few years back that made me think about this very differently, and is why I get fixated on metaphors a lot. It was in the New Yorker I think, about epigenetics, and there was a lot of blowback from geneticists about how epigenetics was described because they said it was misleading. And I thought this is really the issue with science communication, is that in order to make it comprehensible to the general public you almost have to use metaphors, yet metaphors have to be chosen carefully and even then can end up leading people to the wrong conclusions.
When I'm fact-checking research I've written about, I'll often ask someone in that field to check my metaphors with a "is this metaphor or description a fairly accurate representation of what this research is saying." More recently, I've felt myself shunning metaphors. Not totally sure why. Maybe because it makes it feel like everything in human life can be too easily simplified.
Anyway, thought you'd enjoy that piece! I really appreciated her generosity in it.
:) I love this and I love that you were able to return that book, debt free!
I suspect I used up my lifetime supply of luck!
Stay tuned as Mike, in a 1/1,000,000,000,000 freak accident, is hit by an asteroid just after being run over by a bus while on his way to the corner-store to buy a lottery ticket which will later turn out to be a winner.
Ha ha - I doubt it. I just read an article that said NYC libraries have given up on fines and anyone can return books without peril now. As soon as they did it, they had soooooo many books returned, many of which weren't even in their system. I think it's the trend of the future! What did crack me up was that the police would come to your door to see where you were in reading the book - what?!? That would never happen here!
This is fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing. I grew up in the library. I spend most days researching. (It's simply the best food for thought.)
Thank you! Agreed, it really is. I love the feeling of having just walked into a library, seeing an impossible amount of things to learn that far exceed the time I have to learn them. A multiverse of knowledge - and the front door is (usually) free entry. What's not to love?
Libraries ARE awesome. Great post, Mike. I used to spend hours in the New York Public Library reading room when I lived in NY. Have a great weekend!
Ah! I'm jealous. That is one of the parts of New York that really calls to me. Morning in the Library reading rooms, afternoon in Central Park processing it all. YES PLS.
A perfect day.
I love that room. Probably my favorite part of NYC!
It really is so special!
Great article Mike, and nicely read!
I used to spend hours in Hull Uni library finding journal papers and photo copying them - many hours at a time what would only take minutes now. I do wonder though - and I've found myself doing this - the ease of access to information online does sometimes lead me not to read things thoroughly, eagerly wondering what the next of the 100 links will show. Whereas when you go to a library - have spent the effort to find a reference I think you are more likely to give it a proper read. After all you've spent a fair amount of effort finding the book, pulling it down from the shelf, finding the page - reading it properly and giving it your full attention seems the least you can do after all that effort!
Cheers, Dave! Yeah, that's well worth considering too. As you say, the whole place is set up for that kind of research - and beyond the practical benefits for information retrieval purposes, maybe that's having a huge effect on our behaviour and our ability to put our thoughts into order? I mean, arguably a library is an enormous working metaphor for a logically structured "mind", and being in the middle of that must be triggering an imaginative response in us? And all this also would tie in with Annie Murphy Paul's recent work on our "extended minds", where our surroundings can be regarded as situated cognition, a working part of our minds: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/mind-in-the-gap
So - yeah. Agreed. Hugely important!
I think for women, research about medical issues is critical because we have to be able to advocate for ourselves. I've read articles that suggest that for cases like endometriosis for example, women see on average 7 doctors before they get a proper diagnosis. I can list so many other personal stories of women who have had to demand tests or even treatment that they have been refused because doctors won't believe them. I know of a couple of cases where personal research has kept people alive. We like to denigrate WebMD but there are so many brilliant sources of information online that empower people to at the very least ask good questions about their health and treatment.
(climbs off soapbox)
So very true. There's the flat-out misinformation, but there's also the kind that's more an undercurrent of sexism, intolerence and ignorance, bolstered by an arrogant self-assurance that refuses to admit it could be wrong. For example, in the case of what's in the news right now, I've been seeing a huge amount of cluelessness from certain influential men about what an ectopic pregnancy actually is & what happens with it. No attempt to get even the most basic understanding of it, easily found by typing it into WebMD or the NHS website. That's...a huge problem.
(Also an issue: see the correction in the middle of the newsletter's transcript that I just added, after some thoughtful feedback via Twitter.)
Also: no soapbox needed! Please consider this entire newsletter made out of soapboxes. This is how we do things here. NO EXTRA FURNITURE REQUIRED.
this is my all time absolute favourite of people arguing online about body parts: https://www.insider.com/mansplain-vulva-gynecologist-twitter-2019-3
>>"He doubled-down on his claims after being proven wrong, penning a 20-page thesis nearly three weeks later explaining why he believes he's still right."<<
🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦 I mean - I kinda admire the fact that he's willing to explain his thinking publicly. But whatever credit he gets there is totally wiped out by his unwillingness to accept he's wrong, or even *could* be wrong.
And when you're being called out for sounding like an ass, pedantry is...perhaps not the best way forward: https://twitter.com/paulbullen/status/1094738460475219968
Eeeee. Some folk.
It's just mind boggling. I mean, she's an OBGYN with a PhD. You'd think at some point during her studies she'd have had to pass a test where she labelled all the parts.
Good grief. Abandoning my usual online restraint for a moment -- I am so tired of this shit!
I know way too many women who've had to go down this same path for endometriosis. It's immensely frustrating.
It always reminds me of that phrase - It's lucky women only want equal rights and not revenge...
I dunno, I'm feeling pretty close some days!
I hear you
“If it happens in the Library it’s research.”
Part of a recent campaign by the British Lbrary, in which they advertise their on-site facilities as
* shops
* cafes
* the whole wealth of human knowledge, endeavour an experience to date
* events
* exhibitions
https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/9-15-september-2019/british-library-campaign/
This made me laugh so much. 😁 Just the right amount of cheek. Perfectly done.
How did you use substack audio feature. More like where is it.
I published it as a podcast episode! Right now that's the only way to do it - it still goes out as an email to everyone on your list, so it worked in mostly the same way, and gets displayed on the Web homepage of your newsletter.
If you click on the "New Episode" button in the Dashboard, instead of "New Post" as usual, that'll get you started.
Thank you. So you have to read it yourself. Sorry, but please do you know any app or something that will read it for me?