It’s a sad paradox that many people have access to free education through the internet, and yet, some individuals refuse to believe in scientific facts.
Instead, they embrace conspiracy theories and fake news, and end up spreading misinformation (accidentally) or disinformation (deliberately).
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“For generations, science was one of the few things most people agreed on. No matter their education, political beliefs, or religion, most people trusted scientists, the scientific process, and the results of scientific inquiry,” Forbes writes.
“Today, the public’s trust in science is eroding, particularly among young people.” Based on a recent survey of young people between 13 and 21 years old, 40% of them weren’t sure if science helps the world more than it harms it.
“This skepticism, doubt, or outright disbelief in science (and scientists) may be one reason why conspiracy beliefs have become all too common among the public and our civic and business leaders, and why we need more critical thinking in science. And it has led researchers, philosophers, and others to question how society can reel deniers back in,” Forbes notes.
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Some people believe that it’s a waste of time and energy to try to change the opinions of science deniers and conspiracy theorists. Others think that it’s still worth the effort to push back against false information, wherever it might be found.
According to Forbes, it matters how you approach these skeptical individuals if you want to change their minds. For one, counterintuitively, you shouldn’t throw tons of facts and evidence at them. You should focus on building trust with them and then arguing against their flawed reasoning, instead.
“Intuitively, this is what most people want to do because most people believe that facts matter and evidence persuades. But they fail to realize that, generally speaking, science deniers are not interested in your evidence. They’ve already seen it and explained it away. Bombarding them with more doesn’t help. In fact, it may cause them to dig in their heels.”
Generally speaking, conspiracy theorists and extremists are driven by anger, resentment, grievance, and ideology, not by ignorance. So, it might be a mistake if you look down on these people’s intelligence or behave condescendingly.
Instead, what you need to focus on is patience, trust, and slowly building a relationship with these individuals.
“Creating trust is crucial for hard-core deniers. Also, face-to-face conversations are important. It’s unlikely that a hardcore denier will be convinced by a series of emails or social media posts from someone they do not know,” Forbes notes.
Something else that you should do is use the ‘technique rebuttal’ approach, where you expose the flaws in the other person’s logic and reasoning, instead of arguing facts.
