There are many ways to communicate complex ideas. Words, pictures, books, thesis’, video; just to name a few. Arguably, the most common form is verbal presentations with power point accompaniment. According to John Bohannon, scientist and writer with a Ph.d in biology, he states that the biggest threat to the global economy are the millions of bad power points and ineffective presentations. That is a bold claim. John argues that the cost comes through wasted time. During his presentation, John illustrates how dance is used -instead of power point – to convey complex ideas. John argues that dance is more effective than power point since because it is dynamic. The dancers bring to life relationships and ideas that are often lost through a static power point.
This idea of using dancers instead of power point came to him while talking to a friend. The friend was explaining how superfluids are created. John re-described the process using dancers as his “power point”. As a scientist, John explains how exciting it is to come up with new ideas and processes. Then the fun begins – communicating those ideas. Scientists are often at a loss when it comes to how to convey these messages.
Back to John’s original claim about reducing the US debt by decreasing the number of power points – John stated that in order to reduce the $14 trillion of US debt, one option the government is considering is to cut funding for the arts. This would reduce that debt by 1/1000% or $140 million. These are hard numbers. However, this creates other problems such as high unemployment for arts professionals. John’s solution is to hire unemployed dancers to prototype and communicate complex ideas in government, science, business and education. This will reduce the time cost of ineffective power points and presentations.
John has some interesting ideas. I see the benefit of using dancers or 3D motion to communicate. As a dancer myself I have experienced the power that comes from creating through movement. Dance tells a story and effective choreographers are skilled at using abstract shapes and movement to convey a message. Using dance as a medium of communication adds several dimensions to the communication process. It takes a 2D presentation (audio and visual) and explodes it to 4D.Dance allows people to connect emotionally to the idea being presented. As a result, the audience is more likely to remember it.
However, despite thinking this is a great idea, I have some misgivings. As a business student, I remain unconvinced of the economic feasibility of the project. Yes, cutting funding for the arts is a viable option to help reduce government debt. However, re-locating dancers to science, business and government projects will require huge changes to the current structured system. In the end, government grants may still end up paying the cheque for these dancers.
John is also the founder of “Dance Your Ph.d”, a competition where Ph.d students communicate their theses through dance. Here is the some related links for the 2011 winner. Enjoy!
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