nasa, you’re trying way too hard to be trendy

Trying to look edgy, hip and stylish has been a marketing and public outreach strategy for decades and when you have the right corporate culture and the right product, it works. But let’s be honest here. Rocket science or engineering are not exactly the most exciting things to teenagers who have dating, music and movies on the mind. And when you’re trying to be edgy, you’ve either got it or you don’t because faking it can be much worse than just staying silent. Case in point is a NASA 360 blog post from Johnny Alonso which sounds like a bad mix of text-speak and an impersonation of Alicia Silverstone from Clueless. This attempt to sound hip and in tune with pop culture is so heavy handed, it’s a living textbook example of how not to do scientific outreach.

I know, I know. To keep innovating and researching both for academic knowledge and profit, we need to keep teenagers in high school interested in science, but it seems as if everyone from politicians to the media world is working against that goal. Faux populism stressing how “too much” education breeds snobs and elitists, or how math and science are just too hard for regular people coming from politicians, and today’s addiction to reality shows and our culture’s focus on making big celebrities out of random people on TV, breed what could only be described as virulent aversion to science. On top of that, the web is teeming with pseudoscience that could rot your ears off and creationists are successfully trying to undermine scientific curriculums since all they really care about is advancing their religious dogmas, and their hatred for science keeps them motivated and vicious in their zeal.

It’s a dour situation. Science, not too long ago hailed as the way to a better and brighter tomorrow, now seems to be under relentless assault. You have to connect with the younger generations and persuade them to reach for the test tubes and equations. They can rev up research and development. They can reject those crass and self-serving messages advocating ignorance and disdain for education. They can turn this metaphorical ship around. But they need to be inspired and that’s not go happen with pseudo-hipness that starts with “hai guyz, whaz up?” They’ll see it as out of date, offensive and mocking. Instead, we need to come up with movies and books that show how science can be put to use in everyday life. We need to create media that’s educational, that promotes learning and shows its personal and monetary rewards. And we can’t have any of that preachy, condescending after school special material. No, we need exciting, mainstream blockbusters and TV shows with better science and books with characters who inspire by example, not by clumsy lectures.

The point is that you want to provoke younger generations to take an active interest in science not because you tried to mock their culture or constructivist sloganeering. They have to take an interest because you showed a little snippet of science that provoked their interest. We need to provide them with the chance to ask and show them that an interest in chemistry, or biology, or physics, really can pay off. Younger generations respect those with knowledge and brainpower, regardless of the typical high school pettiness with which we’re familiar. And so, rather than break a hip while trying to be hip, you need to tap into their existing knowledge and show them some respect. Not blog posts which real like an attempt at Onion-esque satire of teenage stereotypes by a 39 year old actor pretending to be fifteen.