To answer that question myself, I honestly don’t know. There really is no easy answer to the question, “How do we communicate science to people who aren’t scientists?”, especially since every person and demographic has their own reasons as to why they may or may not “trust the scientists”.

For instance, many black people- especially those old enough to remember what life was like in the 1960s and before- vehemently distrust scientists and medical professionals for very valid reasons. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is one of the most famous cases of medical maltreatment of black people, especially since it didn’t end until 1972. Meanwhile, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, numerous Native American women were sterilized against their will, and were outright lied to by doctors who told them that their fallopian tubes could be retied after being severed when they got better. Even today, the health outcomes between white women and black women are significant, and are just now being seriously investigated by medical science. 

Clearly, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why people of color may be so wary of scientists and medical professionals. 

However, these examples don’t necessarily tell anyone why so many white people- especially upper-middle class white people- distrust science so much, too. 

Unfortunately- or, perhaps fortunately, depending on how one looks at it- I grew up with at least one foot in conservative, evangelical, fundamentalist Christianity (or “evangelicalism” for short). 

I remember my grandparents taking me to events held by Focus on the Family and buying me books written by Answers in Genesis. I also attended a very conservative private Christian school for exactly one year in 10th grade. Even today, a little over half of my entire family remains steadfast in the faith-and-flag conservative ideology. 

Knowing that, it makes perfect sense as to why I have been feeling like I’m losing touch with my family. Because, in a way, I have.

So, how do I continue to learn and gain new knowledge, without completely severing ties with my family? Is it even possible to do that? 

Those two questions I have for myself, go hand-in-hand with the questions surrounding communicating science to people who aren’t fully-fledged science nerds. 

After all, one of my goals in my career is to be able to communicate science to people who couldn’t care less about what Hank Green or Cleo Abram have to say. And/or who don’t like people like Dr. Richard Dawkins or Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson because of what they’ve said about faith. 

How could I possibly be a good science communicator if I can’t even explain the simplest shit to my own family in a way that they can understand and accept?

Truth is, I can’t.