FOR GREATER INCLUSION, NORMALIZE KIND CURIOSITY

Research published during the previous year indicated that a large majority (nearly 80%) of all scientists attending professional conferences experienced bullying behavior. Thus, scientific bullying is not an aberrant behavior. It is a normative one. To achieve a more inclusive Geosciences discipline, it is incumbent on each individual to counter bullying by practicing kindness. Scientists are trained to approach their research results and those of others with skepticism. However, skepticism is neither synonymous with bullying nor antithetical to kindness. Rather than training scientists to be aggressively skeptical, perhaps science is better served if we train scientists to be kindly curious. Approaching one’s research and that of others with kind curiosity alters the approach to questioning; skeptical questioning may take the air of inquisition whereas kindly curious questioning is inquisitive. Intense skepticism may be construed as confrontational whereas intense curiosity is affirmational, conveying interest and a spirit of mutual learning or discovery, even through scientific disagreements. Henceforth, engage kind curiosity over skepticism. Graciously acknowledge presenters for their decision to share their research with the professional community and pose questions with a kind demeanor of curiosity rather than skepticism. You may find presenters more receptive and willing to provide more elaborate, enlightening responses that aid your understanding and that clarify the scientific predicate of the presenter. Ensuing discussions may better advance the goals of science to reveal universal knowledge while enriching the professional experience of the questioner and the questioned. Normalizing kindness creates a professional climate of cooperation, collaboration, and congeniality that conveys to individuals that they are valued for their humanity and their contributions to the scientific endeavor (i.e., included).