We ask on account of this paper on how to talk to people who think that climate change isn’t as bad as many are making out:
Although efforts to sway climate deniers may seem futile, the researchers found four approaches in peer-reviewed studies from the past two years that could be most effective:
1. Reframing solutions to climate change as ways to uphold the social system and work toward its stability and longevity
2. Reducing the ideological divide by incorporating the purity of the Earth, rather than how we harm or care for it
3. Having conversations about the scientific consensus around climate change with trusted individuals
4. Encouraging people to explicitly discuss their values and stance on climate change prior to engaging with climate information
Wong-Parodi said she found the fourth approach to be the most intriguing because less research has been done in that area than the other three — and it seems to have a lot of potential for behavior change. Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, “Pathways to changing the minds of climate deniers” at ScienceDaily
Our physics color commentator Rob Sheldon was intrigued by all this and offers a thought:
Summarizing then, in order to accept global warming we need to appeal to
(1) SJW,
(2) Gaia worship,
(3) politics,
(4) values.
Wow. Not once is it seen as a problem in epistemology–finding the truth. Did I just see Stanford’s School of Earth Sciences saying that facts aren’t important any more?
Actually, the very idea of “facts,” in Sheldon’s sense, is in dispute today. Cf the current war on objectivity.
Given all that, the Earth sciences people might be happier with Gaia worship—at least in the respectable form of panpsychism or the conscious universe.
Look on the bright side: They aren’t calling for dissent from their views—or, maybe later, ravings—to be made a crime. People who feel they are fighting an apocalyptic menace often go that way.
Takehome Point: Whatever your religion, it is better not to be a hysteric or listen to such.
Panpsychism: You are conscious but so is your coffee mug (Choose the panpsychism that suits you.)