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Valuable resource for PR Professionals and Futurists in Scientific and Technology Fields
If our species' concept of "tomorrow" is a puzzle, then Greg Feist's book, "The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind," is one of the corner pieces. While Feist doesn't set out with the goal of helping PR people, his work inevitably will in four ways.
1. We all recognize that the position of "scientist" has reached archetype status in our society. The public has expectations of how they think, behave, look like and view the world from a moral and religious perspective. At the same time, they typically serve as the main spokesperson when a radical breakthrough is made. These two factors intersect when it comes to managing the PR for a holy cow type of announcement. Feist takes what we intuitively and haphazardly know about this archetype and breaks it down, well, scientifically. It's invaluable fodder for PR pros to study.
2. In calling for the psychology of science to be formalized as a field of study, Feist examines the evolutionary and historical roots of the scientific mind. (Read that sentence again, because it refers to two enormous and little-studied concepts.) His conclusion? We're innately scientific creatures. This means no audience, no matter how anti-science or highest level of science education achieved, is beyond the capacity to understand a breakthrough and establish an informed opinion.
3. Understanding why and how an audience's birth order affects their openness to disruptive ideas
4. The more difficult communications challenges that "invisible" fields like quantum physics and materials science face compared to "visible" ones like those in the domain of astronomy and biology.
For PR professionals who are working to advance scientific ideas that will change humanity's future, this book is a very useful tool.
If our species' concept of "tomorrow" is a puzzle, then Greg Feist's book, "The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind," is one of the corner pieces. While Feist doesn't set out with the goal of helping PR people, his work inevitably will in four ways.
1. We all recognize that the position of "scientist" has reached archetype status in our society. The public has expectations of how they think, behave, look like and view the world from a moral and religious perspective. At the same time, they typically serve as the main spokesperson when a radical breakthrough is made. These two factors intersect when it comes to managing the PR for a holy cow type of announcement. Feist takes what we intuitively and haphazardly know about this archetype and breaks it down, well, scientifically. It's invaluable fodder for PR pros to study.
2. In calling for the psychology of science to be formalized as a field of study, Feist examines the evolutionary and historical roots of the scientific mind. (Read that sentence again, because it refers to two enormous and little-studied concepts.) His conclusion? We're innately scientific creatures. This means no audience, no matter how anti-science or highest level of science education achieved, is beyond the capacity to understand a breakthrough and establish an informed opinion.
3. Understanding why and how an audience's birth order affects their openness to disruptive ideas
4. The more difficult communications challenges that "invisible" fields like quantum physics and materials science face compared to "visible" ones like those in the domain of astronomy and biology.
For PR professionals who are working to advance scientific ideas that will change humanity's future, this book is a very useful tool.
