Whether you're wading in among the denialists (whom fear often drives and whose social circles tend to reinforce denialism) or speaking to the people on the fence or the indifferent, building trust with your audience is key. Even people who are committed to the non-evidence-based side of 'controversial' science may listen to some extent if the trust is there, if there's a name behind information that always proves reliable. Part of this has to do with undoing a message, as described above, and part of it has to do with exercising due diligence and presenting as someone who will listen compassionately without being dismissive. How do we build that trust? Do we apply different tactics to reach different groups engaging in different kinds of science denial (e.g., global climate change or vaccines), or does a general framework exist? How do we address the power of belief and socially driven bias? And finally, how do reach--and keep attention of--people who are on the fence?
Questions: - Science denialism permeates all aspects of sociopolitical discourse. What drives it? How can we reduce its power? - Have you seen examples of someone's effectively addressing science denialism? - Is the question really denying *science*, or is it that rejecting science helps a person retain deeply help social/religious beliefs? - Social circles tend to reinforce belief systems. Is it possible to reach into social circles built around denying scientific evidence? - When we talk abt tackling science denialism, who is audience? Deniers or those on fence or both? Do they require different game plans?