The Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above-Average Physique has a bunch of new badges. As such, I award myself the following, with badge descriptions followed by my reasons:
The “talking science” badge: Required for all members. Assumes the recipient conducts himself/herself in such a manner as to talk science whenever he/she gets the chance. Not easily fazed by looks of disinterest from friends of the act of “zoning out” by well-intentioned loved ones. — Duh, if I was capable of not talking about geeky science stuff, or of shutting up when everyone’s eyes are rolling out of their heads, I wouldn’t be geektastik, now would I?
The “I blog about science” badge: In which the recipient maintains a blog where at least a quarter of the material is about science. — Self-explanatory, no?
The “I may look like a scientist but I’m actually also a ninja” badge: Lethal when in combination with the “destroyer of quackery” badge. — Fact: The purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people.
The “world’s foremost expert on an obscure subject” badge: In which the recipient is the leading expert in a field that few others share an interest in. — Okay, so it’s not scientific field, and I’m not a leader in it, but I did major in Comparative Literature, specializing in the literature of former French, Spanish, and British colonies in the Caribbean, all in original languages.
The “non-explainer” badge (LEVEL I): Where the recipient can no longer explain what they do to their parents. — I’m a “Technology & Communications Consultant.” Yeah.
Dave Ng is Director of the Advanced Molecular Biology Lab, the educational arm of University of British Columbia’s Michael Smith labs. He also edits the Science Creative Quarterly, the flagship publication of the O.O.T.S.S.O.E.R.A.A.A.P. (or simply, “the Science Scouts”).
UPDATE: I have been trying to format pictures of the actual badges, but my blog editor is being annoying. Anyway…
