Scientists are doing amazing things and making discoveries for humanity, but they don’t get the recognition they deserve. Meanwhile, people doing random stuff on social media or reality shows get all the fame. Is that fair?
Scientists are doing amazing things and making discoveries for humanity, but they don’t get the recognition they deserve. Meanwhile, people doing random stuff on social media or reality shows get all the fame. Is that fair?
Comments
Those who do good usually stay away from fame. Since they value their soul over anything.
Its not some conspiracy.
What do you want to happen? Award shows with a red carpet? Talk shows inviting scientists?
If people started watching those things they will happen. The media doesn’t care, they just want more views and a bigger audience.
The people want to watch shitty reality shows and stupid drama on TV. Not serious science shows.
The celebrity scientists are the ones I don’t trust.
Not going to happen, sadly.
If you watch old American late night TV shows, they used to have public intellectuals on. Think Gore Vidal, Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman – people like that.
Future historians may consider that a cultural high-water mark.
I wish the world worked like that but it doesn’t.
Each of them is doing what’s expected of them
No, because they wouldn’t be safe. Lots of crazy people running around that are dangerous and hostile towards scientists.
Do you watch the nobel price awards?
Many scientists are famous within their fields. Also, as someone who loves research and academia, I would hate to become a celebrity for my work.
This is even discounting the fact that a lot of scientific progress is not, in fact, made by a single person, but several teams working together and building off of each others’ work. “Science” is such a vast field – just look at the millions of articles that are published every year.
What would happen in this “fair” world of yours?
I would really love a show like “Real Scientists of (enter any city)”. Just watching them do their jobs and have civilized discussions about obscure theoretical details. Would be a giant step forward from “housewives” throwing wine over each other because one of them claimed the other one had three nosejobs instead of two.
I’m a scientist and I don’t want to be a celebrity. I have many colleagues who are doing noteworthy things and they don’t want to be celebrities.
Recognised in our field? Absolutely. Celebrities? No.
The pressure would be immense and would compromise our work. Plus, we aren’t doing it for fame – we just want to learn stuff.
A lot of famous discoveries seem like bs until they work. Gravity, round earth, nuclear power, crispr, etc. Sometimes tech being hush stops people from rising up against it, like gene editing. Those semi-dire wolf baes. You know how people be.
Brian Cox
Professor of particle physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester
Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science
Presenter of science programmes, especially BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage and the Wonders of… series
Author of science books, including Why Does E=mc2? and The Quantum Universe.
Keyboard player for the British bands Dare and D:Ream. D:Ream had number 1 hits in the UK and also in the US Dance charts
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours for services to science and promoted to Commander of the same Order (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to the promotion of science.
On 15 March 2011, he won Best Presenter and Best Science/Natural History programme by the Royal Television Society for Wonders of the Universe. On 25 March 2011, he won twice at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for ‘Best Performer’ in a non-acting role, while Wonders of the Solar System was named best documentary series of 2010.
In July 2012, Cox was conferred the honorary award of Doctor of the University (Hon DUniv) from the University of Huddersfield, presented by Sir Patrick Stewart. Later that year, he was awarded the Institute of Physics President’s medal by Sir Peter Knight, following which he gave a speech on the value of education in science and the need to invest more in future generations of scientists. On 5 October 2012, Cox was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv) by the Open University for his “Exceptional contribution to Education and Culture”. In 2012 he also was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize of the Royal Society “for his excellent work in science communication.” He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2016. In 2022, he was awarded the Hawking Fellowship by the Cambridge Union in the University of Cambridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(physicist)#
Honestly, I agree, scientists deserve way more spotlight, they’re actually changing the world while most celebs just chase clout.
People don’t find scientists compelling, exciting or sexy. You could try and market them as such but good luck with that. You’d also get complaints if you took a relatively attractive woman scientist and started hamming up how hot she was; people would say that she’s being objectified and treated like a sex object, when that’s the whole point of celebrities.
Scientists are already well paid the last thing you want to give these eggheads is even more fame and power
I think more public interest in state-of-the-art stuff like CAR-T would be beneficial. I don’t know if scientist celebrity is the way to go.
We should not make scientists Celebrities, we should celebrate Science publicly. We should make science Shows.
I once had the idea – but i am not a great videographer nor would i ever be a Streamer… but i thought of an inspiring Show called “Behind the curtain of Science”.
To show how many people and what crucial Jobs are needed to make Science possible.
A day in CERN for one of the Electrotechnicans fixing Stuff at the accelerators. A report from a firm who actually builds Labratories. Glass blowers for chemical reactors. What people need to do at the national weather Service to enable Metreologists to create Weather Reports… like the guys flying through Hurricanes for Science. The ships going out to place Buoys.
And then show all the mundane places in everybodies life where this Science helps. Like… what Science fields are involved in a daily Farmers life. Veterinary- Biology-, Chemical Science, the engineering going into a tractor, Weather Reports, up to the Satellites for GPS, Land measurement and stuff.
We need to inform people what Science does for them.
Science is doing amazing things because the scientists are focused on science and not a popularity contest
The moment you make it a popularity contest with celebrities and such you ruin the science.
Leave the celebrity business to the reality show stars and let the scientists focus on science and not popularity
The question is is being recognised by the masses what makes a celebrity?
What does being a celebrity mean if not recognised by the masses?
What counts as the masses?
A scientist being seen as a celebrity changes the definition to what a celebrity actually is because being a celebrity, to me, doesn’t automatically mean anything worthwhile/good to society, other than being recognisable.
Do I want scientists to be recognised, sure. Do I want those that are considered celebrities to be less recognised and idolised than scientists, sure. But that ain’t going to happen. Even if people knew that it would be the end of the world to idolise those that aren’t scientists, I believe they wouldn’t be able to help themselves. It is what it is.
unfortunately most scientists are boring
source: know a lot of scientists, am one too
Didn’t they try this a little during COVID over the vaccine creation? And this opened up and exposed the scientists to both the deserved adulation but also the ability of the insane nutters to try and do whatever nutcase thing they feel like doing. And most scientists don’t earn celebrity level dollars unless they are holding some rare and expensive patent so can’t pay for the security levels required these days for celebrities.
Being endlessly entertaining is harder than people think. Scientists aren’t very good at it. TV numbers would plummit worldwide as people switch off their TV from boredom
How about dumping celebrity culture entirely?