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Speaking the Same Language. Gina Eosco, Chris Vaccaro, Julie Demuth 2008 Summer WAS*IS, August 8, 2008. If only he had WAS*IS…. Why address this issue. We come from different places (geographically, academically, experientially, …). We use different languages!. Perhaps more important….
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Speaking the Same Language Gina Eosco, Chris Vaccaro, Julie Demuth 2008 Summer WAS*IS, August 8, 2008
Why address this issue • We come from different places (geographically, academically, experientially, …) • We use different languages!
Perhaps more important… • Is not what we know we don’t know, but what we don’t know we don’t know • And/or what we don’t make an effort to realize • And/or what we don’t bother to fully address even if we do realize Even if we use the same language, the words may have different meanings!
Wisdom from your fellow WAS*ISer… Karen Pennesi, Linguistic anthropologist extraordinaire! • Distinctions salient to one group may be meaningless to another. • It is not enough to clearly define scientific terms, it is also important to find out what they mean to other people.
Proceed with caution… . . . • Cultural context • Multiple definitions • Validity of non-scientific concepts • Education vs translation • Explain limitations • As Pennesi notes in her paper, “…there is no simple formula for effective forecast communication.”
Some helpful suggestions… • Assumptions – I don’t know what you know and/or what you think • Clarity – Wise use of jargon! • Culture – We’re not all from the same place geographically, academically, experientially, we’re all members of multiple interpretive communities… Language is understood in the context of its usage!!
More suggestions • Bravery – There are no stupid questions/comments, so tell me if you don’t understand/agree • Patience – There are no stupid questions/comments, so let’s talk about it if you don’t understand/agree . . . You’ll learn more!
#1 Suggestion -- Be aware! If you’re talking to me and I’m looking at you like this… …it could be that I don’t understand what you mean or that I don’t agree.
What do these mean to you? Layperson / users Experts Decision makers Stakeholders Practitioners Vulnerability/ resilience Impacts Forecasting / observation / prediction / outlook / projection Service Policy Empirical Disaster / hazard Risk Confidence / certainty Uncertainty / probability/ deterministic / accuracy Threat / warning / watch / advisory Climate / weather Mitigation Social science