Билл Най и Софи Шранд обсудили роль юмора в науке и демократии в Обамском центре

Emmy Award winner Bill Nye, better known as “The Science Guy,” and science comedian Sophie Shrand spoke to the packed auditorium at the Obama Presidential Center late last month about how they use humor to make serious topics accessible while inspiring critical thinking and civic participation. The discussion, moderated by OPC Vice President Tina Tchen, unfolded as a series of playful back-and-forth exchanges between Nye and Shrand. "There is neuroscience behind why laughter is such a great learning tool," Shrand said, kicking off a discussion about how hormones affect memory. Referring to a brunette joke she had just made, Shrand turned to the audience. "How does it feel when you were all laughing?" she asked. Then she turned to Nye: "How does it feel, Bill?” "Thought it felt great," he replied. Then, for emphasis, Nye added, "Like I couldn't forget anything." The audience laughed. "When you laugh, your cortisol, the stress hormones, go down," Shrand said, again turning to the audience. "Lower stress hormones, lower cortisol, lower adrenaline. Your feel-good hormones go up: dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin goes up." "Anyone heard of oxytocin?" Shrand asked. "Huge fan, I think," Nye replied. The audience chuckled. Shrand explained that oxytocin is "the bonding chemical, the neurochemical responsible for trust." "You can now be open to new ideas and receptive to learning, and that learning can really stick," she said. After a few more minutes of back-and-forth, Tchen redirected the discussion. "What's the relationship between science and democracy, and how do we teach and use laughter to teach democracy?" she asked. Nye reached into his pocket, pulled out a small booklet containing the U.S. Constitution and began leafing through it. "Woo! Article One is about the legislative branch," Nye said. Then, reading, he continued: "We're going to have a Congress. We're going to have senators. We're going to have Congress people. We're going to have elections." The audience laughed nervously. "But let's talk about Article One, Section Eight, Clause Eight," Nye said. "Congress is to promote the progress of science and useful arts,” he quoted. "I have been in many offices of senators and members of Congress and their staff, and they don't know that the word science, the actual physical, actual word science, is actually in the actual Constitution, 1787." "Say whatever else you will about these guys," Nye continued, referring to the framers of the Constitution. "That is some insightful insight." As the discussion came to an end, Sarah Burke, a teacher at Healy Elementary School in Bridgeport, asked Nye and Shrand about artificial intelligence. "In your opinion, how much and for what should students use AI or generative AI?" she asked. The audience responded with a chorus of “oohs.” "I guess that's where your judgment comes in," Nye said. "The thing is, artificial intelligence has the ability to answer so many questions so fast, and it has the ability to answer them wrong,” he continued. “So here we are. We are living at this crazy time where all this information is at our fingertips, and all this misinformation. You could teach one skill. How do you define a woman? I don't know. How do you define critical thinking? Do you have a way? Do you have a shorthand way of saying that?” Nye asked Burke. “I think it's when students are able to articulate ideas and debate with each other with what's in their head already," Burke said. "Nailed it," Shrand interjected.