July 08, 2009

Interviewed

Bora was kind enough to include me in his interview series for SciencOnline'09, and he posted the results today. It's a very strange experience being interviewed, especially when the questions include minefields like:

What are your thoughts on the never-ending debates between groups of people who are generally on the same side, but differ in one tiny detail, usually of strategy? For example, in the evolution/creation debate, silent vs. vocal atheists, or different strands of feminism (including the question of women in STEM), people who are on the same page 99% of the time, spend a lot of time aggressively arguing the remaining 1%?

He's a rabble-rouser, is our Bora. Let me know how well you think I handled it.

6 comments:

Jason Thibeault said...

Your answer was graceful and insightful. And this coming from someone who probably fits into the 1% more often than he should.

Bora Zivkovic said...

;-)

Great interview!

Kelly McCullough said...

Nicely done.

Anonymous said...

That was a great interview! Your answers, as Jason said were very graceful and especially insightful. You definitely have me curious about your job, though I know you can't talk about it, I'm just a curious kind of creature.

Stephanie Zvan said...

Thanks, all.

Mike Haubrich said...

Nice interview. I have an idea regarding this paragraph:

One of the things that those of us who have those voices are going to have to figure out is how to balance being forceful (or charming or cutting) enough to overcome society's dominant messages with creating an atmosphere in which the quieter and more awkward voices aren't shouted down. I think some of the arguments that are happening are steps in the direction of figuring this out, but I don't think anyone has the answers right now.

I think tempering the discussion with a bit of gentle, wry humor to keep people drawn in and to smile if not LOL during such heated exchanges will assist in keeping the exchange going. Perhaps this would help to keep things moving in the discussion.

It's what I try to do, anyway.