The fact that *anybody* still denies climate change blows my mind. But unfortunately, I do know a few people who are dubious that climate change is happening, or if it is happening they think it's not caused by human activity and there is hence no need to change our collective behavior.
Something I've often pondered is how to best approach the topic, or conduct a discussion with a denier so that you have a reasonable chance of changing their mind - assuming such a thing is possible.
Now instinctively, I often get frustrated and angry in the face of such willful stupidity. But showing that anger (by yelling "you stupid fuck" for instance) obviously does not actually help.
And it's natural to want to use facts to shoot down and refute their arguments. But that doesn't work either. It doesn't work for lots of reasons, some of which are discussed here. In fact, not only are facts ineffective, they can actually make the existing wrongheaded beliefs stronger! This is due to something called the "Backfire Effect", the implications of which are really quite frightening.
So if a rational, fact-based discussion doesn't work, what does? My recent thinking is that you have to let that person come to their own realisation and understanding of the truth. You can do that by encouraging them to actually think about the issue, and I think the best way to do that is to ask questions. They don't necessarily have to be leading questions, or overly combative.
For example, "Where do you think the science is wrong?". "Do you believe co2 is a greenhouse gas?". Do you believe co2 levels are now 40% higher than at the start of the Industrial Revolution? Why / Why not?"
Just reasonable questions that encourages them to *think* through the issue. And often, believe it or not, that's actually enough.
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