October 4, 2021
A generation ago, the flat-earther at the end of the bar or the anti-evolutionist in front of a congregation could be ignored. But today’s science deniers—climate change skeptics and COVID-19 anti-vaxxers—threaten all of us. How do we reach those who deny reality when the stakes are so high and the challenge seems insurmountable?
Thursday, October 14 at 7:00pm ET on the next Skeptical Inquirer Presents live online event, Lee McIntyre will explore the causes of science denial and offer practical tools for tackling the misinformation crisis.
Drawing on the latest academic research and his own experience speaking with those doubtful of established facts—including at a recent flat-earth convention in Denver—McIntyre outlines the common themes and psychological roots of science denialism, illustrating a throughline from the disinformation campaigns created by tobacco companies in the 1950s to today’s climate deniers, anti-vaxxers, and COVID-deniers.
Importantly, he also offers tools, techniques, and reasoning strategies that are effective in mitigating the effects of scientific disinformation. When science denial becomes a public health threat, all of us—laypeople and experts alike—have a responsibility to help combat it.
Free registration is required to attend this live Zoom event, so sign up right now.
Author of the new book How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason, Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. He is also the author of Dark Ages: The Case for a Science of Human Behavior, Post-Truth, and The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience, all published by MIT Press.