I recently joined in conversation with a group of professionals who, like me, are passionate about turning science topics into a storytelling affair. Guiding discussions was global change biologist, climate philanthropy consultant and Science Through Story founder, Sara Elshafie who is well known for her work with organizations who seek to transform their science into meaningful knowledge for their audiences. Her work sits among a growing number of others' including mine, who understand by experience that conveying complex knowledge to vastly varied people from within an equally varied socio-cultural situations is fraught.
I’ve come to appreciate desserts. The Hostess chocolate pies I used to keep a buck in my pocket for simply don’t cut it anymore. I especially have a thing for New York Cheesecake. Bored with the monotony of bakery and restaurant cheesecake sameness, a quest to find or contrive a recipe that would satisfy my New York Cheesecake fondness began. If you think, as I once did, that cheesecake is cheesecake is cheesecake, a recipe I stumbled upon may leave such an unfounded assumption wanting.
George Carlin famously said “Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be.” If I could I would grant Mr. Carlin some high accolade because In finding this recipe, I bring you a glass of any feature that is no longer harbinger of small minded, binary limitations. The formula broke the ‘blah’ and ‘meh’ of cheesecake reality, creating a ‘holy cream cheese’ Batman 21st century tastebud rave of nuanced mastication. To call it personally meaningful would understate just how profound of a discovery this has been. My perspective, changed, my epicurial eyes opened to this and other
So now you can say, you’ve just “met” a character (me) based on a personal and true experience (replete with tantalizing embellishments). By knowing something about me, mundane, trivial, scandalous… you can share in a dessert lover’s journey into cheesecake bliss. And if you DO share my cheesecake sentiments something else happened too - you got a little curious about the recipe. Here it is. Make it, eat it…you won’t regret it. https://www.seriouseats.com/epic-new-york-cheesecake-from-bravetart
Carlin’s is a simple observation introducing a radical notion that ideas aren’t static. Just the opposite; given free rein they can run, run amok, crash and burn, launch into space - as in the sky is the limit. His pun allows givens room to break or reform with a little urging. Experiences, realizations, new information, these and more lead to meanings we can in some ways expect to be lurking behind the drama masks of personas we use to in stories to convey ideas.
You met the character of me today. I didn’t make me up; I’m real…I represent someone (likely someones) who was satisfied with Hostess Chocolate pies, then realized he wanted something else…something more. A cascade of events that created a dilemma needing some kind of resolution emerged and was indeed resolved upon undertaking a journey to discover something personally meaningful, satisfying the aim of the quest.
Who or what you or your audience meets tomorrow depends on the story needing to be told to reach a meaningful outcome for them.
In the next of this “Character Developed Science” series, you’ll learn about approaches science storytellers use to make information something that audiences personally care about.