Editor's Note Apr 10, 2019 at 4:00 am

Pissed-off climate change denier discovers The Stranger.

Johnny Sampson

Comments

2

is there anything more disturbing than peering into the mind of those who not only reject scientific evidence as a political stance but go further and make up their own data as a rebuttal?

It is one thing to dismiss the consensus opinion of the world's scientists but it is quite another to fabricate whole cloth fiction about something as important as global temperature data.

When i encounter an aquaintance or a family member who is dubious about the prospect of global warming, i initially wonder if they are just confused, but when i hear them speaking of this great wellspring of competing theory, the world is actually getting colder, It makes me feel actually ill. And it takes a lot to make me queasy. I guess i am the one who doesn't get them.

3

"is there anything more disturbing than peering into the mind of those who not only reject scientific evidence as a political stance but go further and make up their own data as a rebuttal?"

Yeah. We see it all the time with the wage gap/patriarchy/rape culture conspiracy theories. As well as the "77 genders" conspiracy theory, and that men and women are different. Talk about science deniers!

4

People who express themselves like this Drudge guy are almost impossible to talk to about anything, let alone politics. It's one of the main reasons I don't get involved in online debates anymore. You can't change their minds and you end up with nothing but a stream of insults hurled your way.

5

@3 TeeHeeHee: Your MAGA cap's on too tight. Unplug the nitrous oxide and stop mistaking corporate industrial waste as a reliable food source.
@4 RickFromTexas: Agreed. This Drudge idiot sounds like the kind of rube who'll lose his health coverage due to "pre-existing conditions", get slammed with a 50% tax hike, lose his job and benefits, suddenly become ill as the air and water quality in his hometown goes down the toilet from local industry, STILL blindly vote RepubliKKKan-----and blame all his misfortune on the Democrats.

6

I don't know why this article makes it sound like this sort of brigading is something new The Stranger. The Stranger has pretty much surrendered Slog to MAGA trolls and sock puppets rendering it a complete cesspool of dipshits.

7

@6
I sometimes harbor the suspicion that the Sock Puppet of a Thousand Handles is in fact a Stranger writer, sent in to stir up trouble.
Mr Second Person Singular, however, is just an idiot; genus: blithering

9

Please tell me you've baited him into writing you some more.

10

I attended the debate for a climate bill in the legislature recently. Unfortunately not only Drudge report readers make up facts to deny climate change and damage and devastation we'll all be facing. Of course they are paid by Big Oil to do it, whereas the Drudgies are duped into working against their interests.

11

So then, what constructive ideas do people have to engage in meaningful dialogs with climate change deniers instead of just trashing them as bunch of yahoos?

12

@11
Lulz

13

@11 You tell us.

15

@13: Start with small baby steps. Describe anecdotes about changing vacation plans because it's getting too hot there. Talk about the rising cost of produce. Just listen to a climate denier voice their opinion, think about what they have to say without contempt, thank them, and then graciously give them your opinion. It's not rocket science. We know how to be civil. Think positive.

Above all, avoid condescension.

Or just continue to pout and ruminate about how awful the other side is, like @14.

16

Burn the witches!

17

That picture is hilarious.

18

14 - are you kidding? it’s the other way around. some of us skepticals bring up up historical climate oscilations, or why graphs always start at 1880, or multidecadal oscillation, or solar influences, or nasa changing their past temp data downwards to show more of a straight uowards increase line to present, or the issues of urbanization and heat islands of thermomoter locations - and AGW believers just bring out the bullying group think that “scientists know better” and “the consensus” is in favor, which isn’t debating rhe facts at all and is just stating your faith. also the idea that big oil dollar is a more corruption force than government funding for the scientific witchhunt themes of linking any negative trends to climate, and linking temp to CO2. it is career suicide to research anything other than something already operating on the supposition that CO2 is the driver, not the follower. the idea that the science is pure and unbiased is naive and misunderstands the bullying, cliqueish group think that historically has always been a huge downside to our scientific modus operandi. why would scientists fall in line? money. why would TPTB want to identify carbon as an enemy, controlling ENERGY. nbd. just the very means for almost anything of material substance to happen in our world. worth considering i would say. remember how certain thought leaders were about WMD. even 1970s there was a scientific consensus scare about global cooling. look it up. i am still an ecologist at heart, but the politicization of AGW is too much to not at least wonder about cynical motives.

19

One word - geoengineering. Scientist and engineers around the world are working on technological solutions to combat climate change, many of which look quite promising. Much easier than trying to change the habits of billions of people. Google it. Help is on the way.

20

@10 iseult: sigh Just want I suspected. I share your concerns.
@16: Here's a better idea: Castrate and fully sterilize trolling MAGA morons.

21

The Stranger is a socialist digital rag, not a communist digital rag. Get it right!

22

@15 - Has that worked for you? Have you had any constructive, mind-changing conversations using that format?

23

@4 - The real point of online debates, IMHO, is to present ideas and convince the undecided ^readers^, not the ideologue you are debating with. Which it why coming across calmly while your opponent froths at the mouth is exceptionally useful.


Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.