Graham Readfearn of The Guardian interviews Naomi Oreskes about her new book. In the interview she explains why she believes that the denialists have been successful. There is also a really great clip of her trying to persuade Nick Minchin, a “climate skeptic” from Australia, that climate change is real. He seems reasonable in the clip but in a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STAxhSoJvak short clip from the beginning of the ABC documentary “I Can Change Your Mind About Climate” that aired in Australia in 2012 he seems much less reasonable. (see the Skeptical Science blog for more on this documentary). There is no evidence that the documentary changing anyone’s minds. I’m not sure that anything will change the minds of the true believers. But I do believe that the efforts of Oreskes, Donald Prothero and others can make a difference.
Science
Science Deniers and History Deniers are the Same
Donald Prothero explains the nature of science deniers. His assessment is also useful for understanding history deniers (most infamously Holocaust deniers).
Another Study Shows That Beliefs are More Powerful Than Facts
I used to think that people would change their minds if they only had the facts. I learned long ago that this assumption was naïve. Recent research has only confirmed this insight. In The New York Times, Brendan Nyhan wrote about a new study that shows that knowledge of the evidence was not the issue. As Nyhan notes, the science will lose if it “contradicts their political or religious views.” Now we need to figure out to break out of this ideological trap so that we can solve our most pressing problems.
TED Talk: “Why We Should Trust Scientists” by Naomi Oreskes
This is a great TED talk. Noami Oreskes, a historian of science, clearly explains why we should believe in science. We all need to make sure our students understand how and why science works. It is vital as a democracy that our citizens understand science. We are all paying the price for the current trend of denialism (vaccines, climate science, evolution).
History Chick in AZ 