How can you change the mind of a person who believes climate change is a "hoax"

[louis c]

yet that same person is thoroughly convinced that Noah's magic floating zoo, as it appears in the Bible, is absolutely true.

[CrispyQ]

1. I email them this:

[bearsfootball516]

2. There's a certain point when simply put, you can't.

If this is a person who is in their 40's or older, they've probably believed it all their life and it's absolutely ingrained in them. There's nothing you can do to change their mind.

[Kaleva]

3. Why try?

[world wide wally]

4. I just tell them that it doesn't matter what they think.

If they think green is red, that doesn't matter either.

[KPN]

5. Me too. And we are right ... it doesn't matter.

In the end, they are on the wrong side of history. I tell them that too -- bugs the hell out of em. But that's okay because they already bug the hell out of me -- not to mention threaten my kids' future existence.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. You can't. That's a person who is not grounded in

reality or what can actually happen.

You could, I suppose, try to start a conversation about the Ark and just how big it would have had to be to contain all of the very many species there actually are. Maybe with some prodding and encouragement that person would finally understand that it would not be physically possible for a ship to be built to contain all species, not to mention the feeding and excrement nightmares.

For your edification, the science of geology as we know it came about when men of faith tried to find proof of the Biblical Flood. They couldn't find it, because such a flood never happened, but along the way they started understanding things like just how old the planet actually is. Read The Rocks Don't Lie by David R. Montgomery.

Your friend is probably completely convinced the Earth is only 6,000 years old, and nothing you say or offer as proof otherwise will persuade him or her. But that book I noted is fascinating precisely because early on the intent of geologists was to prove the Bible was correct. Luckily they were open minded enough to look at the evidence in the rocks and go from there.

[Girard442]

8. You could try, but a whole industry has sprung up to provide supporting arguments for Creationism.

The arguments don't hold up to serious scrutiny, but as long as they're out there, people can feel their beliefs have some support of the scientific community.

"I can't argue with you but Dr. Bulsche and Dr. Hytter have co-authored a whole series of papers about how the Ark was real."

[gratuitous]

7. Stay in contact, ask questions, add information

You're not going to undo decades of indoctrination all at once, but ask pertinent questions, such as "If it's a hoax, as you say, who stands to benefit from cleaner air and water?" or "I remember when the car industry was dead set against putting catalytic converters in cars because it would drive up the price and they couldn't market a car that was environmentally cleaner. They seem to have adjusted, and aren't we all the better for it, with more fuel efficient cars and fewer emissions?"

Ask open-ended questions that might jump-start the person's brain. These cockamamie claims of hoaxes don't withstand a lot of scrutiny. That is, it's easier to holler "Hoax!" than it is to explain what the hoax is. Once you get past the surface to the explanation, then you can start picking apart the underlying justifications: "You know, maybe Big Oil has an interest in continuing its polluting ways other than some hoax that you can't really explain or justify."

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. All you have to do is notice

that cities like Pittsburgh are not shrouded in smoke all day long any more.

Some pictures taken in the 1940's.

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?downsize=715 &output-format=auto&output-quality=auto

There are more of these at this link: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/stunning-photos-of-pittsburghs-air-pollution-in-the-1940s?utm_term=.xedp7AYYZo#.urA0Jxeepw

And California's smog is greatly diminished since the 1960's. They can still get terrible smog there these days, but emission controls have made a huge difference.

[greymattermom]

10. Take a simpler approach

The concept of climate change is very broad. Instead, talk about ocean temperature. Anyone with a thermometer can measure it.
Now, we are having more and larger hurricanes because the ocean temperature is warmer than in the past few years. Storms happen when the weather is warm and humid, as anyone who lives on the east coast or has been in Florida knows. It's easier to understand that way.

[mercuryblues]

11. at this point

anyone who denies climate change out of hand does not know the difference between carbon monoxide and carbon monoxide....tell him to pull his car into the garage, close the door, get in the car and start it. Let me know how inhaling all that carbon works out for you.

[Leith]

12. One Simple Point

Were all animals (known in the world now) native to the area that Noah was living in at the time?

If not, when did he collect the marsupials from Australia and the llamas, etc. from South America, and the penguins from the Antarctic, polar bears from the Arctic? How did land plants survive from being under saltwater for so long?

How long did it take him to put them all back to where they belonged? If he didn't put them all back, why did the animals themselves make the long treks without leaving as much as a single trace of having been there?

There's a whole lot more to it than just room on the ark.

[beachbum bob]

13. why bother? They have proven to have no intellectual curiosity.

they is NO HOPE in changing some one's beliefs..as there is no basis in logic or reason. Put your energy else where to help us rid our country of the blight in 2018 and 2020

[Missn-Hitch]

14. It just can't be done.

It's all about Gawd. The hurricanes and fires are because of abortion, gays and porn. They REALLY believe the only cure is to be rid of such of things and go to church. See, it's as simple as that.

[TheMastersNemesis]

15. Tie Them To A Pier Until High Tide. Just Joking Of Course.

[Stallion]

17. Or as Fred Sanford Told Esther...

Why don't you Go down to seaside at low tide
Wait for high tide
and commit Suicide

[Oneironaut]

16. The problem with CTers is their use of ad-hoc explanations to continue the conspiracy theory.

- Everyone who disagrees is too dumb to understand or is a shill
- The currently agreed on science is all one big conspiracy
- All facts that invalidate the conspiracy are fake news
- The only legitimate source of information is a webpage created in some crackpot's basement. All other sources of information are fake news.
- If there are conflicting ideas in the conspiracy, an explanation is invented on the spot to explain the conflict away.
- The conspiracy must never be criticized or analyzed. It must be believed at face value.
- Anyone who gets in the way of the conspiracy is immediately the recipient of vicious personal attacks or worse. It's them vs. the world. There can be no legitimate disagreement against their ideas. Anyone who disagrees must be destroyed.

[L. Coyote]

18. Try to get them to invest in Florida beachfront property.

Once money is involved, common sense takes over.

[Downtown Hound]

19. I just ask them if they really think they are smarter than the global scientific community

because they read some stupid article on some right wing site or Disinfowars. I also explain to them that carbon dioxide is a heat absorbent material and that we are putting 25 billion tons of it into the air every year and that the science behind global warming is actually pretty simple and could really be figured out by simple google searches, but these scientists with PhD's have been studying it for years. And then I finish it off with, "You really think you're smarter than all of them?"

If they answer yes, then I stop talking to them at that point. There's no point and it's a waste of energy that could better be spent elsewhere. You're not going to get through to somebody that arrogant.

[Orsino]

20. By realizing that what someone makes money saying isn't necessarily what he believes.

People change their "beliefs" all the time, when no one is paying them to maintain those beliefs.