But honestly, how do you talk to those people? They’re so caught up in their us-versus-them mentality and think they have the monopoly on truth, that I don’t see any way of convincing them that they’re not only making a potentially fatal mistake but are a danger to those around them.
I just don’t bother TBH. Same with all these alt-right type people who keep trying to start pointless arguments online, I just ignore them. You can’t combat nonsense with facts, they’re not going to learn anything or change their views, I’m certainly not going to come around to whatever they’re peddling, all they want to do is get their little dopamine hit by blasting bullshit at me until I give up because they think that’s what winning is. It’s a waste of time and energy as far as I’m concerned.
There are times when it’s useful to engage these people, though never for the purpose of convincing them. Sometimes, there’s an opportunity to provide a counterpoint for anyone else “listening” who hasn’t yet been sucked into crazy-town, to help keep them away from that path.
I like to put it that “science education isn’t a cure, it’s a vaccine”; you can’t realistically change the mind of someone (especially of a stranger) who’s already bought in to a mindset like this; but in some cases, you can help prevent it from spreading.
That said, if you’re not particularly good at e.g. public speaking, or science outreach, or whatever, you can end up playing into a troll’s hands (assuming you’re interacting with an intentional troll and not just a deluded person). So it can be tricky, and personally I’m not very good at it.
But honestly, how do you talk to those people? They’re so caught up in their us-versus-them mentality and think they have the monopoly on truth, that I don’t see any way of convincing them that they’re not only making a potentially fatal mistake but are a danger to those around them.
I just don’t bother TBH. Same with all these alt-right type people who keep trying to start pointless arguments online, I just ignore them. You can’t combat nonsense with facts, they’re not going to learn anything or change their views, I’m certainly not going to come around to whatever they’re peddling, all they want to do is get their little dopamine hit by blasting bullshit at me until I give up because they think that’s what winning is. It’s a waste of time and energy as far as I’m concerned.
There are times when it’s useful to engage these people, though never for the purpose of convincing them. Sometimes, there’s an opportunity to provide a counterpoint for anyone else “listening” who hasn’t yet been sucked into crazy-town, to help keep them away from that path.
I like to put it that “science education isn’t a cure, it’s a vaccine”; you can’t realistically change the mind of someone (especially of a stranger) who’s already bought in to a mindset like this; but in some cases, you can help prevent it from spreading.
That said, if you’re not particularly good at e.g. public speaking, or science outreach, or whatever, you can end up playing into a troll’s hands (assuming you’re interacting with an intentional troll and not just a deluded person). So it can be tricky, and personally I’m not very good at it.