Rafa Carbajal: “There is a lack of a system to evaluate reliable dissemination accounts on social networks”

WIRED en Español talks with Rafa Carbajal about the need for an evaluation of dissemination on social networks, human curiosity and, of course, monosodium glutamate.

This interview has been edited to improve readability.

WIRED: You are a scientist, professor, popularizer and author. Deep down, what unites all this?

Rafa Carbajal: Actually, I just discovered my vocation. I am a research professor at the National Technology of Mexico, in Santiago Papasquiaro, Durango. I liked being in the laboratory, with my experiments. For reasons of fate, I started making content for social networks for certain areas of technology and then for the main account, and I discovered that what I really like is doing scientific dissemination. I really like to share the little that I know, but above all I like to arouse curiosity in people so that they, on their own, seek more information.

There is a phrase that I like, although it is not mine: we disseminators must be sowers of doubt. We must sow curiosity so that people, on their own, seek knowledge. We must open the door for people to realize that science is present in their daily lives, that it is there every day.

There are people out there who say that when you know a lot of things you are unhappier, but I see it the opposite way. When people marvel at nature and are informed, they are happier. The popularizer must awaken their curiosity so that they see how extraordinary the world is. We have to be aware of all the threats we have, but we also have to be aware of all the tools we have to combat those threats and be able to make a better world for everyone.

WIRED: Perhaps one of the worst things there can be is education without curiosity. Begin to communicate content, knowledge, without connecting with the other.

Rafa Carbajal: That is a problem we have a lot in classrooms. After years of teaching, you notice that the same bureaucracy of the system is dragging you down. As a teacher, you get into a routine. You lose passion for teaching. When you lose that passion, you stop sharing enthusiasm with the students. Then the boys also lose interest in your subject. Human beings are curious by nature, but bureaucracy can cause teachers to lose their passion for teaching.

WIRED: And precisely the book that you have been presenting at fairs, Yum Yum, what a wave with the foodis designed for children.

Rafa Carbajal: There are many books that tell children what to eat, but the book that Dr. Luc and I wrote tries to explain why. Talk about food science. Originally it was going to be aimed at kids who are finishing high school and who want to start studying nutrition, biochemistry or food engineering. Then we realized it was better to start lower. I remembered that when we did science fairs, it was the children who were amazed by the experiments. We wanted to make the book with the firm idea that children are very intelligent, that there are no stupid children. Adults who read it carefully will also enjoy it. Fortunately, we have done very well presenting it and we have filled venues in Monterrey, at the Guadalajara fair and other places. Mariana Roldón’s illustrations helped a lot to make it eye-catching.