Earthquakes

(Shamelessly stolen from various websites...hey, it's my birthday blog, lol.)

ATTN Scientists:

It is a very good thing to communicate scientific principles and explanations to the laity. However, you must remember that most of them view the world differently than you do...so you have to speak their language. Here's an example...aside from the nuclear (and you should stress that the word is NOT nucular) power plant problems in Japan, suppose you want to explain something about the earthquake that created the whole problem, and the aftershocks...were the fault movements oscillatory or trepidatory? How to explain the difference? In "scientist mode" you might mention seismic waves, tectonic plates, or show something like this.

The laity enjoys visual aids, though I doubt this message would compute to most people. However, if you use THEIR language (think Larry the Cable Guy explains earthquakes) to explain these movements, they will pay more attention and understand....

This is a trepidatory earthquake - an up and down movement.

This is an oscillatory earthquake - a side to side movement.

This is a combination of the two.

Know your audience.

TRB