an interview with jonah lehrer

so guess what?! as you can see by the title, you guys get treated with an interview with jonah lehrer! he's written proust was a neuroscientist, how we decide, his own blog on wired.com, and contributes to radiolab and wired magazine, plus he quotes bob dylan. so an all around very cool guy, and lets all be sure to thank him should we ever meet him.

what journey did you take to become a science writer?
I became a science writer because I couldn't become a scientist. In fact, I was so bad at bench science that the post-doc I was working for (and he remains one of my best friends) used to joke that I "excelled at experimental failure". This ineptitude led me to think about science writing, which struck me as the best of both worlds, since I could continue to think about scientific ideas but didn't have to wear latex gloves, sacrifice mice, or worry about calibrating micropipettes. As Bob Dylan said, "There's no success like failure."

were you different from your peers as a teenager? did you have a hard time because of it?
I was a pretty big nerd. But my best friends were also pretty nerdy, so I didn't mind. Too much.

what advice would you give to teens who want to become science writers?
I'm afraid I don't have any good advice. I'm still learning how to write myself One thing I've learned, though, is that writing is a craft. There are no born writers. One has to practice and practice and practice. (That's why blogging has been so important for me - it's forced deliberate practice, with lots of critical comments!) And maybe, if you're lucky, your sentences will get a little bit better most days, a little bit more transparent and clear and readable. You will say more with fewer words. But there are no short-cuts. I'm convinced that, before you can write a good sentence, you have to write lots of really bad sentences, and then spend lots of time editing those sentences. So the writing process isn't always fun. But the upside is that, as a science writer, you'll get to ask some of the smartest people on the planet a lot of really naive questions. That's the best part of the job.

make an impact

so just the other day my dad was showing me the new yorker article about tavi, the fashion blogger who's my age and gets invited to fashion shows all the time and stuff because she has a huge following. you know, that tavi? and it just got me thinking, what would all the creative youth like tavi (and because i'm vain i like to think myself) have done, say, fifty years ago? now that we're in a culture obessed with youth to such a high degree, are youth listened to more? and how much of an impact (obviously it has had an impact) has the internet made?
i think the answer is yes, but before we all start cheering, lets remember that a voice can be a double edged sword. yes, now kids and teens can put their voices out there, it's important that we remember not to be frivolous with this new power. the less we write about issues that are important to us, the less impact we will make when we do have something important to say. so please, try not to fill the internet with random babble. if you have something you care about, get it out there.
the internet isn't the only form of media around, either. there are great groups like youth radio and youth speaks in the bay area that help young people hone and find a platform for their opinions, and i'm sure there are orginizations like them where you live. so go ahead, make an impact.
p.s. are you a youth who already does this? tell me how!