Dialogue is largely what distinguishes humans from other species. It represents the foundation of our social and political organisation. I bet that even you were engaged in some form of dialogue during the last half hour (yes, Facebook chat counts). But aside from chatting to attract potential mates, dialogue can make a piece of writing much livelier!
image 1.
The reading: Blow Fly
Author Patricia Cornwell incorporates a great deal of direct speech between characters in her novel to produce an entertaining and impressive style of writing. Dialogue allows the characters to distinguish themselves and express their own perspectives. This is particularly useful in a suspenseful story like this one, which develops to discover who committed the murder investigated, and how blow-fly larvae were used to decompose the cadaver, getting rid of the evidence.
image 2.
A morphological, syntactical, and semantic exercise
Direct speech in a text appeals to readers from three aspects of linguistics.
Linguistic morphology includes sentence shape, structure, and wording; these tend to be more varied and eye-catching in reported speech than in a standard paragraph of text.
Syntax refers to sentence construction; phrases can be shorter and punchier in dialogue, might contain grammatical errors, slangs and other dynamic aspects of language.
Finally, speech is important for the purpose of semantics, or the study of the meaning of words, phrases, signs and symbols. Dialogue not only provides much contextualisation, but can also be more effective than third person narration in the speaker’s character, motivations, intentions, and values.
image3.
So, we enjoy reading dialogue not only because it is a visually stimulating exercise, but also because we are interested in the development of a narrative through the characters’ ideas and interactions.
Education by dialogue
Much like we’ve observed before the efficiency of teaching science through narration, we can assess the usefulness of dialogue in conveying information.
Back in 1981, Don Norman argued that in the field of education, we should remember the sociality of human beings and the significant influence that emotion can have their behaviour. Therefore, considering individuals as purely intellectual, logical, and reasoning can prove ineffective when one aims to persuade, educate, or provoke action (Patraglia, 2009). Hear, hear, scientists! And indeed, few recent studies confirm the value of direct interpersonal exchanges in education: I’ll link to them below.
I’m sure it’s happened to all of us. When having to skim-read a long text, we are happy to hover a little longer over parts reporting dialogue. Or perhaps we’ve been motivated to do something we normally wouldn’t have, after being personally approached on the street.
Written speech reminds us social creatures of the direct interpersonal interaction we thrive on. Hence, writers can attain more attention and interest from readers by including some dialogue in their texts. This is not always easy, however. Can you think of examples of some science writing which would result more engaging if dialogue was included, as opposed to some others where it might prove ineffective and/or inappropriate?
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References:
Cornwell, P. D. (2003). Blow Fly. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
* Doyle-Jones, C. (2006). Story Dialogue: Creating Community Through Storytelling (M. A. Thesis). Retrieved from Simon Fraser University Summit.
* Labonte, R., Feather, J., & Hills, M. (1999) A story/dialogue method for health promotion knowledge development and evaluation. Health Education Research 14(1), 29-50. Retrieved from Oxford Journals.
Norman, D. A. (1981). Perspectives on cognitive science. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
* Patraglia, J. (2009). The importance of being authentic: persuasion, narration, and dialogue in health communication and education. Health communication 24(2), 176-185. Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online.
* Refer to these studies if you’re interested in how they assessed the effectiveness of dialogue in education and persuasion.
Image references:
Image 1 modified from: Yarra Plenty. (n.d.). Chat [Image]. Retrieved from http://yprl.wordpress.com/chat/
Image 2 from: Hora por Hora. (2010) Taller de asertividad [Image]. Retrieved from http://horaporhora.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/taller-de-asertividad.html
Image 3 created by Elena Vettorel. (2012).
DIALOGUE is largely what distinguishes humans from other species. It represents the foundation of our social and political organisation. I bet that even you were engaged in some form of dialogue during the last half hour (yes, Facebook chat counts). But aside from chatting to attract potential mates, dialogue can make a piece of writing much livelier!
The reading: Blow Fly
Author Patricia Cornwell incorporates a great deal of direct speech between characters in her novel to produce an entertaining and impressive style of writing. Dialogue allows the characters to distinguish themselves and express their own perspectives. This is particularly useful in a suspenseful story like this one, which develops to discover who committed the murder investigated, and how blow-fly larvae were used to decompose the cadaver, getting rid of the evidence.
A morphological, syntactical, and semantic exercise
Direct speech in a text appeals to readers from three aspects of linguistics.
Linguistic morphology includes sentence shape, structure, and wording; these tend to be more varied and eye-catching in reported speech than in a standard paragraph of text.
Syntax refers to sentence construction; phrases can be shorter and punchier in dialogue, might contain grammatical errors, slangs and other dynamic aspects of language.
Finally, speech is important for the purpose of semantics, or the study of the meaning of words, phrases, signs and symbols. Dialogue not only provides much contextualisation, but can also be more effective than third person narration in the speaker’s character, motivations, intentions, and values.
So, we enjoy reading dialogue not only because it is a visually stimulating exercise, but also because we are interested in the development of a narrative through the characters’ ideas and interactions.
Education by dialogue
Much like we’ve observed before the efficiency of teaching science through narration, we can assess the usefulness of dialogue in conveying information.
Back in 1981, Don Norman argued that in the field of education, we should remember the sociality of human beings and the significant influence that emotion can have their behaviour. Therefore, considering individuals as purely intellectual, logical, and reasoning can prove ineffective when one aims to persuade, educate, or provoke action (Patraglia, 2009). Hear, hear, scientists! And indeed, few recent studies confirm the value of direct interpersonal exchanges in education: I’ll link to them below.
I’m sure it’s happened to all of us. When having to skim-read a long text, we are happy to hover a little longer over parts reporting dialogue. Or perhaps we’ve been motivated to do something we normally wouldn’t have, after being personally approached on the street.
Written speech reminds us social creatures of the direct interpersonal interaction we thrive on. Hence, writers can attain more attention and interest from readers by including some dialogue in their texts. This is not always easy, however. Can you think of examples of some science writing which would result more engaging if dialogue was included, as opposed to some others where it might prove ineffective and/or inappropriate?
References:
Cornwell, P. D. (2003). Blow Fly. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
* Doyle-Jones, C. (2006). Story Dialogue: Creating Community Through Storytelling (M. A. Thesis). Retrieved from Simon Fraser University Summit.
* Labonte, R., Feather, J., & Hills, M. (1999) A story/dialogue method for health promotion knowledge development and evaluation. Health Education Research 14(1), 29-50. Retrieved from Oxford Journals.
Norman, D. A. (1981). Perspectives on cognitive science. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
* Patraglia, J. (2009). The importance of being authentic: persuasion, narration, and dialogue in health communication and education. Health communication 24(2), 176-185. Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online.
* Refer to these studies if you’re interested in how they assessed the effectiveness of dialogue in education and persuasion.
Image references:
Image 1 modified from: Yarra Plenty. (n.d.). Chat [Image]. Retrieved from http://yprl.wordpress.com/chat/
Image 2 created by Elena Vettorel. (2012).
Image 3 from: Hora por Hora. (2010) Taller de asertividad [Image]. Retrieved from http://horaporhora.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/taller-de-asertividad.html
Where would we be without “You had me at hello” or “You can’t handle the truth”? I find one of the most important and memorable aspects of telling a story is dialogue. We use it everyday, we use it to communicate and express ourselves, so why should it be any different when writing it?
In “My Little Brother On Drugs” by Jenny Everett [1], dialogue is used to communicate with the readers. Everett infuses dialogue, description and science to re-tell her experience of her 9-year-old brother taking prescribed growth hormones.
“…Keep the skin dimpled, otherwise all the medicine wont go in me. When you take out the needle, do it straight up and fast. And, Jenny, please don’t hit a vein. That huwts me.”
This short piece of dialogue from Everett’s story expresses her brother’s personality and allows the reader to sympathize with his position and admire his bravery. Everett takes the readers on her own journey; she wants them to experience her world and her personal feelings. Everett uses dialogue as a platform to engage her readers.
‘I pierce the fatty tissue and wince…’
Descriptive sentences like the one above forces the reader to attach feelings to pictures in their mind. It connects the reader to the story. Everett has no lack of descriptive sentences in her story, and thus it allows her to pass her own feelings and emotions onto the reader, cleverly enabling me to relate to her story, even though I don’t even have a brother.
I think Jenny’s story could strike a cord with most of her readers. Her use of dialogue makes you familiar with her characters, while her descriptive work enables you to relate to her own emotions.
Dialogue and description make Everett’s story memorable.
What other aspects do you think make a story memorable?
1. Everett, J. (2005). My little brother on drugs. In J. Weiner & T. Folger (Eds), The Best American Science and Nature Writing (pp 53-63). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company
The animal kingdom is filled with more variation and uniqueness than anything else on earth. This variation allows both the heights of beauty as well as the bizarre and absurd. It is this absurdity that the article ‘World’s most bizarre mating rituals’ celebrates. Written by Mara Flannery for Cosmos Online, it is about exactly what the title entails – the lewd and uncanny sexual behaviour of various members of the animal kingdom. The article outlines seven general behaviours that are repeated in different species worldwide and give a few examples of species in which they occur. It’s all there, too, from female angler fish dissolving and assimilating the, dozens of male spoon worms living inside the womb of the female, and something terrifyingly referred to as ‘traumatic penetration’ in the bedbug boudoirs.
The first thing that struck me about this article was the surprising dryness with which it was written. I had assumed, given the absurd and juicy nature of the topic matter, some humour would be injected, but little to none can be found. What I had anticipated to be a riotous journey full of double-entendre, hilarious puns and tacky sex jokes turned out to be simply a reeling off of a list of the crazy things animals do. It wasn’t that it wasn’t enjoyable by virtue of that alone; I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped I would. This article could’ve made so much more of an impact if it had used humour – as it was, reciting a list is not involving nor is it really enjoyable. This article will pull your through more by content than style, and while the content is very interesting – who doesn’t like reading about ‘sexual cannibalism? – it just lacked the punch and pizzazz that I wanted this article to have.
One benefit of this style, though, is that it communicates the science, and this article has done that very well. The behaviours are explained well through the individual examples that are given. The descriptions of these are short and sweet – they tell you everything you need to know in as short a time as possible. It even includes quotes from two experts – Zuk and Johnson, both behavioural ecologists – which serve to illustrate the context of these behaviours and how they came about through natural selection. The prescriptive style, for its lack in effect, made up for this with its simplicity, descriptiveness and ease of understanding.
Had I written this article, I would definitely have tried to interject some comedy; anything! A tacky pun here and a cheeky, Benny Hill-esque double-entendre there, just to add some more fun and draw the reader in more. Something to capitalize on the potential of the subject matter. It’s like I always say, the day you start taking sex too seriously is the day that you die. And, come on, who doesn’t find the idea of a female fish with dozens of testicles funny?
Nobody. That’s who.
The article can be found here, at Cosmos Online.
Up for discussion: do you think comedy can be an aspect which can improve and embellish science writing in particular subject areas? Or it dryness and humourlessness the way to go?
The article “Sexually deprived flies turn to alcohol”[1] summarizes a paper[2] published in Science that correlates the act of sex and the consumption of alcoholic food in fruit flies. It was found that both the act of sex and the act of consuming alcohol were linked to the levels of a certain neurotransmitter, neuropeptide F (NPF), present in the fruit flies. Flies that had recently had sex showed high levels of NPF, while flies that had their sexual advances denied showed low levels of NPF. The flies that were spurned (and therefore had low levels of NPF) then tended to consume significantly more alcohol more than the sexually gratified flies.
On face value this story doesn’t appear to have much value to the average reader. Who cares about alcoholic, sexually frustrated fruit flies? Not many people regularly interact with fruit flies, and they certainly don’t seem to be scientifically equivalent to humans in this case.
What makes this study newsworthy is the link that the author draws between the study of fruit flies and related issue of drug addiction in humans. As lead author of the scientific paper and geneticist Galit Shohat-Ophir is quoted as saying:
“Understanding this system in flies might tell us [why the] human brain perceives social interactions as rewarding, and how systems and situations in which the reward systems don’t function properly like in addiction arise. This may give us more tools in the future to develop better therapies”[1]
By making this link the author ensures that more people will be intrigued by the article, purely because it is about something they can relate to. Without this link the potential audience of this story would be seriously limited.
But is the link between flies and humans really there, or is it just an attempt to make this story more readable at the expense of scientific accuracy?
In my opinion the link is there, and the author accurately and fairly demonstrates that fact. The scientific study doesn’t draw any erroneous conclusions, and neither does the author. The relationship between alcohol, sex and neurotransmitters is fairly represented, and both the study and the Cosmos article explain how other factors were ruled out, and how there is a neurologically similar transmitter (and similar behaviours) found in humans. There is even a brief section near the end of the story in which another scientist encourages the reader to be sceptical about the study and not to draw conclusions that aren’t there. The author never claims overly strong connections between alcohol and sex, and there aren’t any statements that declare unreasonable causations. All in all, the story stays true to the science, and yet manages to make it interesting and easy to read.
And of course any story that contains keywords like ‘sex’, ‘drugs’ and ‘alcohol’ are instantly going to be attention grabbing.
References:
[1] Soppe, R. (2012, 16 March). Sexually deprived flies turn to alcohol. Cosmos Online. Retrieved from http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/5419/full
[2] Shohat-Ophir, G., et. al. (2012) Sexual Deprivation Increases Ethanol Intake in Drosophila. Science. 335(6074):1351-1355. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6074/1351.abstract?sid=de92f881-a57d-4ced-b34a-531162f2a2a6
Question: What are the attributes of this story that make it news worthy? Does the author portray the scientific research fairly?
Science fiction seems to have a tradition of predicting where science will take us in the future. Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein gave an insight into the possibility of modern surgery techniques and transplants, and Jules Verne wrote about submarines and Rockets in his novels, however absurd these things seemed at the time. It’s no surprise then that scientists are now working on an invisibility cloak something we see in fantasy novels like Harry Potter .
Boonsri Dickenson explains the efforts of scientist to come up with a material which is able to bend light and make the person cloaked in it invisible. Making this story credible involves explaining the science of how an invisibility cloak would work and how it is made. This means that Boonsri keeps the popular culture references at the start of the article which at first draws us into reading it, and starts discussing the realities of the technology still in its primitive stage this causes any preconceived notions of what an invisibility cloak would do firmly within the fantasy novels as we learn that invisible materials are only a fraction of a millimetre in length and only work in two dimensions.
Focusing on the scientists the author tries to make the story appear more credible including direct quotes by them. In particular, we are introduced to Ulf Leonhardt who must create a ‘blueprint’ within two years – a small amount of time for something first thought impossible. Much of the article follows the ideas of the scientists involved in making the cloaks and their challenges and opinions on what the technology could be used for. In this way, we are introduced to people who share a similar fascination on the subject while also gaining an insight into their work and the science involved.
While the science in the article has to be accurate for the story to be credible this can be difficult when the science behind it (mainly theoretical physics) is very dry and boring. The author strikes a good balance here by using simple statements to make then science sound simpler:
“light changes its path when it travels through air to water. It’s like looking at a mirage on a hot day.”
This also helps make a fascinating concept like the science of invisibility which captivates our imagination a little more interesting than the reality of the technology.
Boonsri writes a credible science story while still retaining the magic of invisibility, as she points out while an invisibility cloak seems implausible now
“New Scientist predicts that by 2039, invisibility cloaks would be part of our everyday life”.
There’s no telling where the technology could be in the future, anything that has a potential military function like invisibility is sure to receive further development the real challenge will be communicating to people people that these experiments are worthwhile and credible.
When I say graphic novels, what comes to mind? Do you think of comics for children and teenagers solely for pleasure? Have you ever thought of a comic being used for entertainment and in the medical field?
Well
“doctors, nurses and patients are increasingly using graphic art to unpack their experience of medicine and disease.” [1]
They are also using graphic novels to train their students in the medical profession.
Who would have thought that reading comics like Archie, For better or worse or Snoopy as kids, we would also be able to learn and be entertained with medical comics such as “Mom’s Cancer.”
Brian Fies started the webcomic “Mom’s cancer” when
“his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer.” [1]
He started this comic because he wanted to share his story and wanted to educate other people on what to expect. He thought that this way was the best way to tell a story, because it uses pictures with a few words and it told more than if it was just the pictures or words alone. Fies uses metaphors, for example he uses her mother walking on a tightrope which signifies her balancing her medication.
Over a hundred years ago, comics were meant to be for adults, but somewhere along the way, people started writing for children and teenagers, therefore it stuck. Through years of comic writers for adults had to battle the unfortunate stereotypes. Now there are a large number of comics scholars where there are all forms of graphic novels for all ages.
What fascinates me the most is that teachers in the medical field are using comics to teach their students. Some teachers use it because it helps students with doctor-patient relationship. How to communicate with the patient regarding news, having consent and to help them experience what the patient is experiencing as well. Czerwiec, who is a hospice nurse and has published “Comic Nurse” believes that comics help to engage both sides of the brain, words access one thing and images challenges you on another level, to use them both together is very powerful.
Others believe that “medical comics are a valuable resource for educating health care professionals.” [1] These medical comics “illustrates and writes about an important aspect of the illness experience.” [1]
Some things to consider when writing for science graphic novel is to make sure readers will understand the jargon associated with the subject matter, in this case could be medical terms. If not, they could illustrate it in a picture or explain it in a few words. The pictures also help the reader, by having a good visual to accompany the words it makes the graphic novel more enjoyable. Graphic novels are usually short compared to textbooks or novels therefore science graphic novels would have to get to the point and tend to be more direct with little or no explanation. Compared to science textbooks where they would give pages of explanation on a chemical equation. Science comic strips are more for entertainment and there are chances where you could learn things too. Writing a science graphic novel most of the time is to both educate and entertain using metaphors, visuals and analogies. In the case of “Mom’s Cancer,” he used personal stories so the reader could understand what he went through or could learn what to expect.
Reference:
[1] O’Luanaigh, C. (2010, July 14). Comics put patients in the picture. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2010/jul/14/medical-comics-patients
Conference review being a summary of the proceedings is a platform for sharing information and therefore should be interesting to the reader as well. Sunny Bains outlines the reasons for writing a conference review. Firstly, the review is to direct the reader to what is new in a particular field. Secondly, is to consolidate loosely linked trends of issues discussed during the conference. Thirdly, the writer has to fulfil an obligation of providing feedback to the donor or as part of normal duty to anchor the publicity for own organisation and when it is the requirement for editor to have it. Bains makes an observation that in reviewing the conference the journalists sometimes are biased towards interesting stories and end up adding their own thought. Bains offers a caution to journalists about conference review; that not all are worth the trouble of the review as they tend to be multidisciplinary and at the same time uncommon. Bains says that a good conference review must be interesting and useful to the reader. In meeting this declaration he further outlines five tips that he thinks make a conference review both interesting and useful to the reader. Following are what makes a good conference review:
• Conference review must as much as possible avoid including the organisers, the venue and how the discussions or plenary progressed unless it is destined for a magazine or an institutional website;
• The writer must not be wasteful with information but instead be precise, simple and interesting. This helps the reader to absorb easily. To simplify an otherwise complex issue for the readers/audience the review must make a summary of convincing projects in order to bring impact. Then also include any obvious support or opposing views demonstrated by the presentations to the selected for the review and of course other projects which were not part of the presentation for comparison purposes;
• Carry out a check on any sequential alignment of the presentations and probably take it to be the theme of the review. Then come up with details to become the discussion points.
• The writer is to decide to make special emphasis on the emerging issues and probably give justification of their growing importance. This could be issues that were not popular or of concern in the past but suddenly they become largely of interest.
• Finally Sunny Bains reveals to the writer that a good science conference review should reflect all that was discussed so that even those who did not attend are able to follow up on issues of interest.
Reading Sunny Bains tips on writing a good science conference review you realise that there is need to gauge the target audience medium of dissemination and a sifting of what to say. This gives me an idea of what a good conference review is all about. An example is given a of conference report which may include the background of the workshop which also incorporates the objectives. Also included are the issues during paper presentations and plenary session outcomes. Finally, the recommendations or resolutions made. For networking and reference purposes list of participants and what role they had in the conference may also be provided. This information may be presented electronically, giving web address.
Having followed what Sunny Bains says I am convinced a good conference review is possible, what do you think?
To read what Sunny Bains wrote please follow this link http://www.absw.org.uk/new.events/features/433
It is easier for accountants to agree than scientist, simply because science doesn’t have a one fit answers for a problem. The result depend on what was found to be true at that particular time, based on facts at that particular point in time. But what is it that science communicator has to do to have a better understanding of the research outcomes?
You don’t need to master nitty-gritties of statistics in order to understand and communicate scientific findings, however probing of the findings need to done to separate the truth from trash. Lewis Cope in his article “Understanding and using statistics” is trying to give us the ways which will help in digging for more information behind the statics.
He starts by explaining more on “Probability, Power and large numbers” principle which takes care of results by chance. These results can be avoided simply by having a large sample size. The other thing to be considered here is the likelihood of a certain result to be obtained. He gave an example of cases of ”lung cancer in smokers” , this is an obvious things, we all know that smoking causes lung cancer and it not strange to find a smoker diagnosed with this type of cancer.
Check biasness of the conclusions of the study or explanations of the results. Failure to consider other researchers findings or explanations on similar topic shows unprofessionalism. In doing a research it is either a certain point of view is being verified to be true or not, so it is actually a revolving story from somewhere else, so the new discoveries has to be compared to other findings done in the same study area.
Another principle is that of trusting some studies based on impact or indication the findings will have. As stated by Lewis Cope, epidemiological studies tend to study mites to find the effectiveness or dangers of some medicines, vaccines, or chemicals to human beings, so despite the sample being involved in these kinds of studies is small, the impact is great.
Peer review is another thing that also strengthens statistical findings, in every field of study there are professionals who can either agree or disagree with a research finding, find out if the researcher has considered other explanations from his peers and if there are any disagreements check the reasoning the differences.
Statistical distribution of the results needs to be considered as well, “how many samples are above or below average. This will give a good clue on the general outcome of the research.
Assess if correct sampling technique was used. All the above mentioned “principles” will hold if the sampling technique used was correct. Some researchers can deliberately choose a certain way of sampling just to get the result they want which cannot be a true reflection of realities. As indicated earlier, that the larger the sample the better the result, but if that large sample was not randomly selected, the result will not a true representation .For instance using online survey to assess a general acceptance of something by a nation. Online survey will automatically screen out a population that does not have access to internet. Random sampling is always the best way of achieving a better result.
This article gave an insight of what to look for in research statistics to have a clear idea before communicating to the general public, do you agree?
Reference
Cope, L. Understanding and using statistics. In Blum D, Knudson M & Henig RM (Eds), A field guide for science writers (pp 18-25).
Imagine, if you will, a stranger who looks very different to most people you’ve every seen. He saunters into your remote home and tells you he can fix your problems using methods you’ve never heard of or understand.
You’d be sceptical, right?
You would want to know how he’s going to fix your problem, and why. Similarly to the Fore people of Papua New Guinea in Anderson’s “The Collector of Lost Souls”, you would be hard pressed to not feel deeply suspicious. This is compounded if your ‘helper’ is not terribly forthcoming with the reasons for his charity, or how these strange tools work and left you to assume; in this case some sort of sorcery was the accepted explanation among the people.
Not so science communication friendly.
The problem detailed is clearly that of science and the hunger for knowledge being lost in translation- not between languages, but cultures. Dr. Gajdusek, the western doctor, was there trying to help to cure ‘kuru’, a nervous disease that had become an epidemic among these people. The problem is, in trying to categorise the disease and find out what was causing it he needed data. He needed blood samples, autopsies of people killed by the disease, things that people of a superstitious culture would naturally be wary of just handing over to a stranger.
Nonetheless, you would need a certain code of ethics to ensure not only that everybody feels they’ve achieved the best possible outcome, but we all know the dead are a sensitive issue. While autopsies are normalised for those of us who watch CSI 24/7, to other cultures this could seem unbelievable, a bizarre request that would need much justification. In the case of the Fore people Dr. Gajdusek was studying, they had their own method of disposing of dead bodies; this included limited cannibalism, which was actually how the disease was spread. When the doctors wanted the brains of the diseased, this confused the Fore as to their motivation:
“It was the autopsy that prompted the most discussion, in part because the white men seemed so anxious about it. Fore where familiar with examining the body for signs of sorcery, so maybe the ‘doktas’ were merely doing that, too. But these peculiar white men seemed obsessed with taking away brains. When they practised cannibalism, Fore did not esteem this organ.”
The ‘kuru’ epidemic amongst these people was a disease related to Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, the bovine version of which is commonly know as ‘Mad Cow disease’. It causes neurons in the brain to die, leaving the brain with a sponge-like appearance under a microscope. Gajdusek later earned a Nobel Prize for his research.
Nonetheless, ethical considerations must be made. According to the text, Gajdusek was trading money and goods for samples from living Fore and autopsies of bodies, which is a system in serious need of moderation. How was he to know whether he was offering culturally appropriate payment? How were the Fore to know whether to accept it?
If somebody wanted to cure your family of a disease, would you let them do autopsies and use your blood to try it? Even if you didn’t know how they expected to cure it, or what they were doing with it?
Anderson, W. (2008). The scientist and his magic. In The Collectors of Lost Souls (pp 91-100). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Post by Shannon Wylie
