Had an encounter with some Global Warming Deniers today. Something struck me about their tactics and logic, that I think apply to many other CTists.
#1- Attack the opposition. The guys I was talking to referred to Liberals as "gullible" and "authoritarian" and "sheep".
#2- Lay seeds of baseless speculation. The guys I talked to asked "who is funding these climatologists who believe in man-made climate change???". They had no evidence of any funding sources that would lend to their motivations being dishonest or nefarious, but they still left their little baseless speculation for people to play with.
#3- Make it about Freedom of Speech. The guys, claimed this was about Freedom of Speech. Not science, or data, or facts, or research. They argued that disputing or disregarding their ideas, is an afront to free speech, and America was supposed to be all about free speech. So I guess we should therefore listen to their ideas, just because.
#4- Disregard consensus. The guys claimed that it doesn't matter that most climatologists and related scientists believe that man-made climate change is real. The mere fact that some obscure meteorologist or civil engineer or dentist thinks that climate change is a natural, cyclical event or isn't even happening, is enough reason to doubt the whole thing.
Seems that all conspiracy theorists use these tactics in one form or another. Whether its 9-11 Deniers, Holocaust Deniers, Moon-Landing Deniers, Flat-Earthers, they all use these tactics and flawed logic.
Why is this? What is it about the psychology of these tactics that CTists find so appealing?
#1- Attack the opposition. The guys I was talking to referred to Liberals as "gullible" and "authoritarian" and "sheep".
#2- Lay seeds of baseless speculation. The guys I talked to asked "who is funding these climatologists who believe in man-made climate change???". They had no evidence of any funding sources that would lend to their motivations being dishonest or nefarious, but they still left their little baseless speculation for people to play with.
#3- Make it about Freedom of Speech. The guys, claimed this was about Freedom of Speech. Not science, or data, or facts, or research. They argued that disputing or disregarding their ideas, is an afront to free speech, and America was supposed to be all about free speech. So I guess we should therefore listen to their ideas, just because.
#4- Disregard consensus. The guys claimed that it doesn't matter that most climatologists and related scientists believe that man-made climate change is real. The mere fact that some obscure meteorologist or civil engineer or dentist thinks that climate change is a natural, cyclical event or isn't even happening, is enough reason to doubt the whole thing.
Seems that all conspiracy theorists use these tactics in one form or another. Whether its 9-11 Deniers, Holocaust Deniers, Moon-Landing Deniers, Flat-Earthers, they all use these tactics and flawed logic.
Why is this? What is it about the psychology of these tactics that CTists find so appealing?
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3y13x5R
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire