Changing minds that hold baseless opinions

In the latest episode of Humboldt Last Week

I was scrolling the other day and I saw something that reminded me about a conversation I had with a member of the scientific community. I’d asked: How do you talk to non-scientific loved ones who hold strong but baseless opinions about subjects you’ve studied or researched?

They said you won’t get through to them telling them they’re wrong and pointing to the correct info. Instead, they said, ask them why they believe what they believe. Ask them why they think their source is reliable. Ask them if it’s possible that any source could be motivated by a world where clicks can equal income. Get them talking, and listen.

It doesn’t always work but sometimes you can help people change their own minds if they begin thinking about this stuff.

Also covered: The lowest tier of COVID restrictions, John Goodman, Jason Segel, another Guy Fieri feed, an Eddie Van Halen moment in Eureka, D1 football money, the world says we have “American Horror Story” architecture, HACHR lives on, a way to question baseless opinions, and more.

Humboldt Last Week is Humboldt County’s news podcast, brought to you in part by Belle Starr ClothingNorth Coast Co-op, Bongo Boy StudioPhotography by Shi, NCJ, RHBB, and KJNY. Also, enjoy our new-music show Humboldt Fresh Finds 🎵 Saturdays 7-8 PM here.

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hmm
Guest
hmm
3 years ago

They all believe that clicks = income. That alone does not discredit their sources in their eyes because our entire system is controlled by monied interests. At the heart of all conspiracy are supernatural and or pseudoscientific beliefs. If we stop raising children to believe bronze-age myths and instead teach them the epistemological philosophy that underpins scientific inquiry, we will see these supernatural and pseudoscientific beliefs disappear. People have to be taught why what you feel to be true (even if deeply felt) cannot be given preeminence over what we have good reason to think is most likely true.

We see this from both sides of the isle with the right primarily engaged in christianity, and the left willing to believe anything originating in the East has healing properties hitherto unknown to western medicine. ie healing crystal, sound healing, ect

Thirdeye
Guest
Thirdeye
3 years ago
Reply to  hmm

I don’t know about that New Age-y stuff informing the Left, but there is a definite moral minimizing of things Western. It’s like some combination of Rousseau’s notion of primordial innocence and a Garden of Eden myth with the snake bringing in evil Western ways.

Willie Bray
Guest
3 years ago

🕯🌳Hmmmmmm.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
3 years ago

Okay, I know a person that totally believes the earth is flat and can prove it “scientifically”.
Where do I start.

Cy Anse
Guest
Cy Anse
3 years ago

Show them the zoom.earth or google earth satellite views and ask them to explain them. And when they start, point out the logical inconsistencies in their reasoning — there should be plenty of them and they should be obvious.

But seriously, that’s when I usually just walk away from the discussion because they are unlikely to have anything meaningful to say on any science subject.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Cy Anse

If I ever met someone who truly believed the earth was flat and could give the reasons for that belief, it would be too interesting to hear to walk away.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Lol guest.
You and I have too much in common. I couldn’t just walk away without hearing his “logic”. He used the old marble on a basketball theory. Knowing that there was no way to convince this guy he was wrong I just said “wow, you must be right” and let him go on his way to entertain other folks with his flat Earth. If I knew who you were I would send him your way, he seems quite willing to cure our ignorance.

I am always amazed by the silly things that people will believe in without a speck of evidence. I could go on, but I would end up offending about 80% of the world’s population.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
3 years ago

Hey Ernie,

Did you know that daddy long legs are the most poisonous spiders in the world but their fangs are too small to bite a person?

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  I like stars

I’ve heard that, but I’ve never been bitten. However, while we are on the subject, did you know that a daddy long legs is not a spider? it is a “harvestman” (not a spider). To quote Jimmy Durante, “You could look it up”.

(however, if you look up the quote you will find that Yogi Berra said it)

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
3 years ago

I made a correction the say the “you could look it up” was a quote from Yogi Berra, not Durante, but it didn’t come through,

I wish that I could convince technology to cooperate.

guest
Guest
guest
3 years ago

That person wouldn’t be D.T?

Shelter Cove Resident
Guest
Shelter Cove Resident
3 years ago

if the earth is flat, one would wonder how we have twilight, then darkness if surface is flat. Perhaps set up an experiment with a flat surface with one light that moves like the sun, then switch to a ball…

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Why do you believe people are looking at you?

Willow Creeker
Guest
Willow Creeker
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

It is an interesting reaction. Try looking at a driver while you pass them. They will almost always sense it before you enter their peripheral vision. I used to do it as a kid all the time and I could never figure out why it was so effective.

rollin
Guest
rollin
3 years ago
Reply to  Willow Creeker

Let me help you. They didn’t sense anything, you were entering their peripheral vision.

https://youtu.be/-b5aW08ivHU

Sixth Sense
Guest
Sixth Sense
3 years ago
Reply to  Willow Creeker

That’s very interesting, Willow Creeker.

I definitely believe you.
What a fascinating kids game!

Some people are more observant than others.

Others are a little to quick to dismiss the gifts of others.

For example:

I get premonitions.

Like…

Someone’s going to tell me I’m full of shit…

No, really, I do.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Wow, Really, lol. There is a war on Freedom and Free thinking right now. It really is 1984 in this state. The thought police are coming to pound into your head that 4+4=5. This is a very dangerous time we are living in. The very real problem with all of this is we are supposed to have rights that allow us to believe and think what we want and protect us from this type of situation. Science in itself is varying hypothesis and deductions concluded by varying peoples theories. Almost all scientist know global warming is occurring because our planet is in its sun cycle which means we are as closest to the sun as we can get in a 26,000 yr sun cycle. Yet, this does not fit into the current political agenda and most scientists work for corporations or government facilities who make money off of the ignorance of the public by selling them the “Green house effect” theory that only completely ignorant people believe in. We live in a place where most people are farmers and gardeners. Every gardener knows that if you add CO2 to your rooms in an indoor or green house the plants turn green and flourish. You would think this was a no brainer but yet you see people are too ignorant to understand this for some reason. ALL scientists know this but this goes against the political current of selling you a “greener future”, lol. Come on people start using your heads. You have an immune system for a reason and you have a brain for a reason. I suggest everyone start using both of them and leave these agenda’s where they belong. In a garbage heap and landfills where all the plastic and lithium batteries are going to go and continue to poison us for thousands of yrs to come because once lithium is extracted and used it is one of the most toxic elements on our planet. So anyone with lithium batteries in their “green” cars are doing more damage then any gas or diesel would ever do. Question everything and then follow the money. Then study the ideologies associated with each corporation and the lobbyists and politicians they support. Then you will usually find their agenda’s are very anti-human and pro corporations so the scientists are usually bought and payed for to support whatever agenda they want to sell you. Scientist need money to live and money to fund their projects so they go along with the agenda of who pays them. Very, very sad but very true. Another point I would like to make before I end this is they want to remove CARBON from the planet……Do you know what is a carbon based life form???? HUMANS…….think about it people.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Guest

Thank you, you have more explanatory patience than I do and every word you said is true.

In 1972 the scientists told us we were going to run out of oil. That’s when I started studying alternative energies including every NIST ( National Institute of Standards and Technology ) study done as well as attending Stanford lectures by alternative energy inventors.

If you ever apply for an alt. energy grant you will find out a lot about how funding works.

Erik
Guest
Erik
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

No. “Where are we currently in the natural cycle (Milankovitch cycle)? The warmest point of the last cycle was around 10,000 years ago, at the peak of the Holocene. Since then, there has been an overall cooling trend, consistent with a continuation of the natural cycle, and this cooling would continue for thousands of years into the future if all else remained the same. But since 1750 however, the CO2 content of the atmosphere has deviated from the natural cycle. Instead of decreasing, it has increased because of the fossil-fuel burning. Methane and nitrous oxide have also increased unnaturally because of agricultural practices and other factors. The world has also warmed unnaturally. We are now deviating from the natural cycle.”
Anthropogenic biosphere collapse is not only real, it’s way beyond what we are being told by the mainstream media. That doesn’t mean it’s not being used for an agenda. Order out of chaos. Obviously electric cars tied to the grid are not the answer, at best they will slightly prolong the collapse of industrial society and increase the user’s dependence on a another centralized system.

rollin
Guest
rollin
3 years ago
Reply to  Erik

“The warmest point of the last cycle was around 10,000 years ago, at the peak of the Holocene”

Nice attempt at sounding like you know what you are talking about. You don’t! We are currently in the Holocene….bro!

“But since 1750 however, the CO2 content of the atmosphere has deviated from the natural cycle.”

Sorry but you’re full of shit. There is no “natural C02 cycle”. And the “overall cooling trend” that you mindlessly speak of has had many warm periods prior to the evil, co2 producing, industrial revolution that has afforded us the luxury of not living like animals.

“The world has also warmed unnaturally”

You, or anyone else, has NO CLUE the extent of the truthfulness of that statement. The planet has had falling temperatures with co2 levels many multiples higher than what it is today.

This article very much describes liberals like you who will hear NO SCIENCE regarding actual science and then preach to us all about science, be it masks, global warming ( uh oh, i mean climate change), or the failures of socialism.

researcher
Guest
researcher
3 years ago
Reply to  Erik

If we had building codes that said that any house that has the ability to produce energy = (wind, solar, water watts etc) will and store that energy using it to fuel the car, heat the water etc, it would cover alot of the energy needed. There of course will always be times of recharging off site but eventually most of that energy will be renewable too someday soon.

The data involved with global warming is readily available. The earth is warming, glaciers melting and on and on it goes. To deny a simple fact like “the green house effect” is no different than to deny a round earth. Both of those conspiracy theories, no warming and no round earth, have no basis in reality. All evidence points in the opposite direction with nothing to support the conspiracies. If anyone has evidence that the world is not getting warmer every year, factual data that is supported, I’d like to see it. One only need look at the last 20 years. 19 of the 20 warmest years on this planet have occurred in that time frame with this year about to to set a new record once again. That is a simple fact.

The world is not only warming, but at a faster pace than anyone could have imagined 30 years ago. Instead of trying to prove the impossible, we should be putting all our effort into finding and implementing solutions. Anything is a waste of time.

Rod Gass
Guest
Rod Gass
3 years ago
Reply to  researcher

//we should be putting all our effort into finding and implementing solutions// Yes in very strong terms.

I’ve noticed that the topic of global human overpopulation is again resting on the back burner. Problems being addressed are social, as in human related. This solution is being ignored and deflected.

Sorta makes me wonder why a pandemic(covid-19) is cursed as a problem and completely ignored as a solution.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Just for you….Wurking

Big Orly’s Diary: Bulk-Lot Wisdom from Up the Holler

https://www.unz.com/freed/big-orlys-diary-bulk-lot-wisdom-from-up-the-holler/

rollin
Guest
rollin
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Read guests post, then read wurking stiff’s post. Then guess who the Biden voter is.

stuber
Guest
stuber
3 years ago

Thank you, you save me a lot of time replying, lol. I am a Catholic, love Mass and my church. If you do not believe, or have a different way, I don’t give a shit. The problem lies when someone has decided they have the right or authority to tell me I cannot worship or think the way I do and must conform to their narrative or be punished. That’s where the second amendment comes in so we can protect our rights as carbon beings.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 years ago

Immigration and World Poverty Explained with GUMBALLS – Does Immigration Really Help The Poor?

Take 6 min to challenge what you’ve been told.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlVMW7g5QBI&feature=youtu.be

DavidNabarro76@comcast.com
Guest
3 years ago

“This is the genius behind the ways this program of worldwide social engineering has been rolled out, as well-meaning people are enrolled as supporters through poetic-sounding but fuzzy phrases, pledges of concern for the masses of humanity, and clever misdirection.”

https://globalizationofcalifornia.com/u-n-agenda-21-still-advancing-worldwide/#lightbox/2/

Show me the kooliad, Ms. Kemp.

General Plot
Guest
General Plot
3 years ago

I’ll be damned.
David Nabarro 76 etc. just provided the link to the information I just researched, but I couldn’t provide the link.
Thank you DN76.
Anyone that disputes that Agenda 21 is real and is being implemented here and now should definitely read the link he provided.

I just finished reading it after searching Humboldt County General Plan Agenda 21.

Then he provided the link.
Check it out.

Santa Cruz, San Francisco have big plans.

It’s bad news.

There is a big difference between affordable housing and affordable homes.

New World Order?

No thanks.

Habitation zones?

Fuck that.

Totally what our planning department is up to.

Read the link above.
Compare it to the HCPD tactics of late, not to mention the Supes.

If I am not mistaken, Mike Wilson is the local ICLEI rep.

Geist
Guest
Geist
3 years ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_detection

Agency over-detection and a hint of paranoia.

For sure
Guest
For sure
3 years ago

As much as possible, try to understand & cultivate timeless truths…things that will always be true… Laughing, crying, eating, sleeping Loving…, art, music, flowers, animals. Stick with things that are human & true, whether you live in a primitive tribe, or in the highest tech environment . Cooperation, goodwill, nature, kindness, agriculture- Things that matter, regardless of what shape you think the Earth is. Add to the sum total of goodness every minute of your life.

DavidNabarro76@comcast.com.com
Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  For sure

For Sure.🙌

Sounds like a need to turn off the outside world.

Looks like opting out of the corporate government pay to play is the first step.

Rod Gass
Guest
Rod Gass
3 years ago
Reply to  For sure

For Sure,

Well said. Life is what we make of it!

We each can try to establish our best trajectory, but somehow life itself seems to manage this. That’s not to say we don’t understand the status quo, nor even cause and effect.

It’s been quoted … a person is the most civilized when existing as a hermit. Easy to agree with. Nobody is pissing you off.

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Just for the record I say 26,000 yr sun cycle because it is easier then explaining “The galactic photon belt alignment” and “Earth processional cycle” and “Milankovitch cycles” and Axiel precession” and the “Precession of Equinoxes”. All of these are happening in direct relation to global warming as in the models talked about by Potsdam institute for climate impact research. There were over 30,000 renown scientists who disputed global warming and these are the studies where I have found and researched my facts. I realized after I read the comments I need to include ALL information so people can study all the facts themselves. I forget people do not know these facts anymore thanks to “standardized learning” and “common core”.

Angela Robinson
Guest
Angela Robinson
3 years ago
Reply to  Guest

“Renowned”?

citation required.

Was one of them named Heywood Jablome? 🙂

edited: I found your “30,000 renowned scientists”.

The Oregon petition.

A petition from 1998. With no way to know the authenticity of the signers. The ““Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine” “, Art Robinson’s little personal “institute”…Art Robinson who was the head of the Oregon GOP for a bit, Art Robinson who wanted people to mail him their pee. Art Robinson, well known Oregon crackpot.

I had forgotten he was part of that 1998 petition. The only requirement to sign the petition was an undergraduate degree in any science. Which, again, was something that could not be verified. Even the majority of PHDs had degrees in engineering, well the PHDs Robinson

I am always amused when someone uses words like “renowned” or “venerable” or anything word that actually is the opposite.

HotCoffee
Guest
HotCoffee
3 years ago

So based on a science where scientists do not agree, Ca. decides to eliminate gas appliances and vehicles in favor of electricity, yet they can’t even keep the electricity on for it’s current uses.
In fact PG and E threatens to shut it down today.
Neither have they hardened the grid against attacks or sun spots that scientists say is a very real threat. Why? Seems to me like putting the cart before the horse.
Just bringing the concept back to current practicality….how will it affect your life?

Guest
Guest
Guest
3 years ago

Typos happen especially when you use phones to make comments. You can either believe or not believe but the petition was filed and by 30,000 signatures and yes most were RENOWNED scientists. You can also continue to nit pick many small typos and certain persons credibility but it still wont change the facts.