How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason

Very important book. There is a lot of snark in the author's tone about those who deny science and this is a bit off-putting. Also, I think he does not quite delve as fully into liberal denial. A person who argues well can obfuscate their true motives by skilled rationalizing. It can be hard to get at the actual motives and feelings in the face of such arguments. Nonetheless, a really timely topic.

I found the author to be very entertaining, especially when he was talking about things like his attending a flat earther's conference. As far as my actually learning methods and techniques to use while conversing with science deniers, I didn't learn a lot.
It basically comes down to treating people with respect, empathy, listening to them and asking them "what about ....." questions. The same techniques I employed in my law enforcement career. I find dealing with inmates flawed views of the world to be very similar to those of science deniers. Absolutely sure of the correctness of their opinions, willing to shout down those who disagree with them, and grandstanding were their methods of being the "alpha" dogs. Very much like I see show more today in the science deniers.
After years of dealing with those type of inmates, I found it best to not take things personally, to do my best to maintain control of the situation, not get into a shouting match, and to, when possible, walk away. Eventually they will find out that they can't rule the world, and, if not pushed into a corner, come around to a more evolved position. show less

Worth the price of admission. The author has some good points and suggestions for working with the science-deniers in your life. The key to the book is the five common factors in denying science:
*cherry-picking evidence
*belief in conspiracy theories
*reliance on fake experts (and the denigration of real experts)
*committing logical errors
*setting impossible expectations for what science can achieve

The key message is to communicate, and communicate from a place of love and understanding and not hate. But keep communicating with those in your life.

Lee McIntyre’s book gives us a blueprint to talk to science deniers. If we follow 5e tips in this book, perhaps we can restore sanity in this country and begin respecting each other again.

McIntyre provides easy to understand tips on how to try and reach science deniers. He has a 5 step framework that he introduces early on. He then applies this framework to Flat Earthers, anti vaxxers, GMO deniers, and most importantly, COVID-19 deniers. If you’ve done a lot of reading into why people believe in the unbelievable, a lot of this stuff will be very familiar. But McIntyre helped me give a name to some thoughts I’d had about the science deniers in my own life. That’s where the book was valuable to me.

The people who need to read show more this are those who want to reach friends and loved ones. Some of the other reviews of this book will make it clear how big the challenge is. Without even realizing it, the negative reviews for this book will employ at least one tactic in McIntyre’s framework. They’re not going to be brought around by reading this. Instead, McIntyre coaches the science believers to listen to and try to respectfully rebut some of the flawed logic used by science deniers. It’s unlikely to work on most of them, but this book gives us something else to try.

I recommend this book to all. show less

Extensively researched and eloquently written, with the author's personal vignettes about his experiences and interviews with persons involved or affected by the subject matter.

References in the bibliography will be perused by me for future reads.

I was at a conference 2 years ago at which the author spoke, and was able to get my copy of this book signed by him.