Science communication isn鈥檛 always easy, especially if you are trying to get across the mind-boggling complexity of immunology or climate change in a 10 minute video. But Philipp Dettmer, the founder of science YouTube channel, (German for 鈥渋n a nutshell鈥�), believes scientific topics don鈥檛 have to be hard to understand. 鈥淓verything complicated is only complicated because someone is bad at explaining it,鈥� he says. Kurzgesagt videos have received billions of views and now Dettmer has written his first book, , in which he brings to life one of our most complex biological systems.
Conrad Quilty-Harper: In a nutshell, what is Kurzgesagt?
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Philipp Dettmer: It鈥檚 a big science YouTube channel trying to do stuff that makes science interesting. I started the channel after university because I didn鈥檛 want to get a real job. The idea was to make two videos [with German voiceover], and that was honestly supposed to be it. But I had a gut feeling to make the videos in English, too. And then it went viral.
Who are your videos aimed at?
I don鈥檛 want to have a target audience. I want to make the videos in a way where it works for everybody. Grandparents are supposed to be able to watch them with their grandkids. You know, my first and foremost goal is to spark curiosity. Learning how we actually work is breathtaking, it鈥檚 amazing. We just make the videos as well as we can, whatever that means at the time we鈥檙e making them.
Your book has some really amazing descriptions. In one part, when describing the actions of the C3 protein in your immune system, you write: 鈥淚magine you would go through the day minding your business and suddenly hundreds of thousands of flies, in unison, covered your skin head to toe. This would be a horrifying experience and not something you could just ignore.鈥� How do you come up with that stuff?
Everything complicated is only complicated because someone is bad at explaining it. I鈥檓 convinced that every single fact in every single field can be turned into a number of different short stories. We as a species, as a society, we should come together and make the decision to simplify the language of basically all scientific disciplines, as much as it makes sense, of course. It will always be more complex than regular human language. But I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a reason why it has to be as hard as it is now. Especially in immunology, which is a shame. Because as a science it is such an interesting field. People might have fun reading about it if it wasn鈥檛 so horrible. The human immune system is the most complex biological system we know after the human brain, and yet most of us never learn how it works or what it is.
And it鈥檚 important too, especially in the context of vaccines. Does that motivate you as well? Good information beating bad information?
With Kurzgesagt, my foremost goal is to spark curiosity. To make people interested in researching themselves. My main goal is to inspire people to do very, real research for themselves. We try very, very hard to not spread false narratives about science. We will publish a video about this in December where we talk a little bit about oversimplification and science. After doing it for so many years, it鈥檚 shocking how hard it is to do it properly because you need to make decisions about how and what to simplify, and you can鈥檛 escape [those decisions].
In your book, you also write about how being diagnosed and treated for cancer was a curious thing that motivated you to write your book. How so?
I know, you鈥檙e not supposed to say [things like this] but technically it was a super interesting time. Cancer is not pleasant and chemo is not pleasant. I can鈥檛 recommend that. But it was super interesting actually learning how medicine works on that level, how you work. I used that time to ask a bazillion questions and to learn more and read more. I mean, I had time. So in a sense, it was one of the most interesting times of my life.
At the time, it was another reason to learn. Like [I was] addressing my immune system and [thinking], hey, guys. What? How? You鈥檙e not supposed to miss this, why did you miss it? And I鈥檓 learning about that. And then again, not being angry at my body, but grateful that with a little bit of help from my doctors the [chemotherapy] melted and ate the tumours.
Good information can help you make better decisions in your life. Are there any things that make you optimistic for the future? What gets you excited rather than scared?
Immunology. What we now know today is breathtaking. It鈥檚 amazing. It鈥檚 learning how we actually work and the complex systems we are. Vaccines, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, all the stuff, that鈥檚 helping people to live longer, healthier lives. I think ending disease should, very firmly be one of the goals of humanity. And we are going in this direction. It鈥檚 just we have been going slowly, slowly, slowly and now super fast.
So that鈥檚 the positive side of the pandemic in a way?
Yeah, for sure. I鈥檓 pretty sure the pandemic will have done so much for virus research.
What鈥檚 the biggest misconception about the immune system?
I feel that it is a thing that most people don鈥檛 have any sort of mental image of. People feel confident about saying, 鈥淥h, my immune system does that, or my immune system is good or weak or whatever鈥�. It鈥檚 sort of a cloudy entity in our minds. But in reality, it鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 this super multifaceted organ system that runs through your whole body, interacts with every process that you have. [It鈥檚] an incredibly large army of many, and sadly, we don鈥檛 learn enough about the immune system to imagine a picture in our mind.
What鈥檚 your favourite bit of the immune system?
I think my favourite bit would be the neutrophil extracellular trap. Your soldier cells deciding to explode themselves in like a suicide bomber fashion. And, they do that by taking the whole genetic code, the DNA, and unfolding it and mixing it with all the deadly chemicals they have inside them and then just vomiting it out.
Imagine you took your brain out of your skull, spiked it with blades and then punched someone with that. You would expect to be dead then, right? But, neutrophils sometimes survive this process and they keep on fighting. What even are those cells? The immune system is mental, and there are so many stories like that.
For someone who鈥檚 never read anything about the immune system, what would you hope they come away with from your book?
I hope people come away from that with a really genuinely different appreciation of the body and what it means to be sick. So the next time they are sick, it鈥檚 less scary. It鈥檚 more concrete and they feel more in control. And the other big thing is to hopefully be amazed by biology and your body. And amazed by all the universes inside of universes inside of universes. And somehow all of it works.
Are there any topics that scare you?聽
I think the topic that scares me most is climate change. I just could not research the topic without getting so depressed that I felt I can鈥檛 put this in a video. I thought, this is actually not helpful, this is counterproductive if I don鈥檛 find a way to spin it differently. But by talking to actual scientists, I got back from a climate change depression that was so bad.
What did they tell you?
That it鈥檚 not the apocalypse. And if it鈥檚 not the apocalypse, that means we can still do something. I feel like once you鈥檙e in this like doomerism mindset, it鈥檚 like a trap and it really traps you to, like, move forward or like back in any direction, really.
What would you say to scientists who are working in some abstract field to better spread their ideas and their findings?
Talk to science communicators. Make it easier for us to make your science approachable to other people. There鈥檚 a good relationship, I feel, between scientists and science communicators, at least on YouTube. Everybody is very open, very kind.
Philipp Dettmer鈥檚 book, , is out now, published by Hodder.
