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Posted
1 hour ago, Phi for All said:

We had a thread once upon a time about the benefits/drawbacks of ridicule in science. Iirc, it can have its desired effect, which is to essentially derail a line of thought known to be unproductive. It's the equivalent of your Italian grandmother giving you a slap to the back of the head with her big ring and telling you to think about what you just said.

It's worked so well on anti-vaxxers...climate change denialsts...

Posted
18 minutes ago, MigL said:


It seems to have worked with D Trump supporters; none of them post here anymore.

 

None that you know of... 

I always imagine a tiny cohort of Trumpists who aren't total morons or total bigots but have naiveté in politics and cling to the idea that,  flawed as he is as a human being, he is a vehicle for what they imagine as an isolationist,  small-government ideology that they sincerely believe will be a good thing.   I've met a couple like that.   I really had to bite my lip not to say things like did someone drop you on your head when you were little? 

Posted
15 minutes ago, J.C.MacSwell said:

It's worked so well on anti-vaxxers...climate change denialsts...

It actually worked on many, but also triggered a lot of cognitive biases that cause the anti-vaxxers and AGW deniers to double-down on their thinking (which was likely to happen from a more scientific response anyway). Ridicule is a technique that galvanizes people, but you can just as easily sour someone's perspective on your arguments as make them see something they've been missing.

I think ultimately ridicule is something more effectively applied privately, among family and friends. An internet forum lacks the context to make ridicule effective broadly. 

21 minutes ago, MigL said:

I don't know, JC.
It seems to have worked with D Trump supporters; none of them post here anymore.

I'm guessing here, but I thought it was because they didn't like being contradicted so much, and there are bound to be sites where the liberals are easier to shout down. I'm sure they thought they were arguing in good faith, but I remember people objecting to their POTUS being called a liar, even when you could provide daily links to untruths he'd spoken. People like that shout from soapboxes, they don't discuss anything.

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