To share, or not to share feelings
Can scientists express their genuine fears and emotions about the climate crisis, the decline and destruction of nature, and the impacts on people and still be seen as credible, objective experts?
As a news article by Damian Carrington, Environment Editor for The Guardian, highlights, some scientists think not.
Back in May, Damian ran an article sharing what 380 climate scientists felt about the future. Dr Ruth Cerezo-Mota, shared the story of depression. Dr Henri Waisman talked about regularly facing moments of despair and guilt. Dr Lorraine Whitmarsh spoke about the “worry about the future my children are inheriting.”
As Damien reports, some of the climate scientists who participated in the survey have spoken out about how they were “mocked and gaslighted after speaking up about their fears for the future.”
“They said they had been told they were not qualified to take part in this broad discussion of the climate crisis, were spreading doom and were not impartial,” Damian wrote in the article.
The thing is, it is very hard to be completely impartial, completely unobjective about anything. Our biases, our past experiences, and the knowledge we’ve gained, all shape how we perceive the world. Scientists work hard to ensure that the work they produce is as objective as possible, but scientists are people. Hiding emotions doesn’t change that. It just makes scientists seem, at best, aloof.
But it could also make serious situations seem less serious. “When we’re calling out and saying we’re really worried, we’re upset, it should remind people that these things are not OK,” Professor Lisa Schipper, told Damian.
In fact, in a Nature Climate Change comment article, Professor Lisa Schipper, Dr Shobha Maharaj, and Professor Gretta Pecl, argue that emotion can drive scientists to study what they do. “We experience distress when faced with impacts of climate change because we care, because we love the natural world and because we want to do what we can to minimise pain and suffering of fellow humans,” Gretta explained to Damian.
What do you think? Should scientists share their emotions?
➡️ Read the article ‘We have emotions too’: Climate scientists respond to attacks on objectivity by Damian Carrington.
