Bill Nye on Conspiracy Theorists: NASA's Moon Landing, Vaccines, Astrology, and Tarot Cards|

Bill Nye on Conspiracy Theorists: NASA's Moon Landing, Vaccines, Astrology, and Tarot Cards
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Denial comes in all flavors. Some think the moon landing was staged, some think Tupac is alive, and others reject vaccines. If the United States learnt anything in the 2016 election, it's that social bubbles need to be broken down — so how do you reason with someone who ignores evidence or bends it to fit their worldview? This has been on Bill Nye's mind more and more since climate change denial has become a political issue rather than a scientific one. People can't change their minds instantly when their beliefs are ingrained, so it's not a matter of convincing them on the spot. Nye suggests working together towards scientific understanding by tactfully pointing out that perhaps this person is rejecting evidence because the alternative makes them uncomfortable. Understanding is a process, not a flip switch. Bill Nye's most recent book is Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World.
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BILL NYE:

Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life.

In Seattle Nye began to combine his love of science with his flair for comedy, when he won the Steve Martin look-alike contest and developed dual careers as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Nye then quit his day engineering day job and made the transition to a night job as a comedy writer and performer on Seattle’s home-grown ensemble comedy show “Almost Live.” This is where “Bill Nye the Science Guy®” was born. The show appeared before Saturday Night Live and later on Comedy Central, originating at KING-TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate.

While working on the Science Guy show, Nye won seven national Emmy Awards for writing, performing, and producing. The show won 18 Emmys in five years. In between creating the shows, he wrote five children’s books about science, including his latest title, “Bill Nye’s Great Big Book of Tiny Germs.”

Nye is the host of three currently-running television series. “The 100 Greatest Discoveries” airs on the Science Channel. “The Eyes of Nye” airs on PBS stations across the country.

Bill’s latest project is hosting a show on Planet Green called “Stuff Happens.” It’s about environmentally responsible choices that consumers can make as they go about their day and their shopping. Also, you’ll see Nye in his good-natured rivalry with his neighbor Ed Begley. They compete to see who can save the most energy and produce the smallest carbon footprint. Nye has 4,000 watts of solar power and a solar-boosted hot water system. There’s also the low water use garden and underground watering system. It’s fun for him; he’s an engineer with an energy conservation hobby.

Nye is currently the Executive Director of The Planetary Society, the world’s largest space interest organization.
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TRANSCRIPT:

Daniel: Hi Bill. My name is Daniel from Texas. My question is how do you reach someone who is maybe a conspiracy theorist or someone who is anti-vaccines, someone who is staunchly scientifically illiterate and agree with them on what a good source of facts is? Thank you.

Bill Nye: So Daniel. How do I recommend reasoning with a conspiracy theorist. Right now, the last couple of months I’ve been messing around with this idea of cognitive dissonance. This is to say you have a world view; You’re presented with evidence that conflicts with the world view; So you either have to change your world view, which is hard because you’ve lived your whole life with it, or you just dismiss the evidence and dismiss the authorities that may have provided the evidence. The authority could be a person or it could be a book. Or, excuse me, an article on the electric-internet-computer-machine.

So you dismiss the evidence, so that you don’t have this discomfort or conflict in your mind—this dissonance. That’s what I’m working with right now, and apparently the way to overcome that is to say, “We’re all in this together, let’s learn about this together.”

Present the conspiracy theorist with the idea that he or she may be rejecting evidence because it’s just so uncomfortable. And you’re in it together. We’re in it together. I’m uncomfortable too. But when it comes to moon landings, just ask t...

[Megatron-ygkp]

“Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pidgeon. It'll just knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and strut about like it's won anyway.”

[WYT]

Anybody remember Buzz Aldrin punching the guy in the face who called him a coward and a liar? 😂

[ambush]

I don't think I have ever seen a suit jacket with leather sleeves like this before.

[owlbus]

Bill Nye the Electronic Internet Computer Machine Guy

[ixIRISHLEGENDxi]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson said it as best I can imagine. Ask them what piece of evidence would convince them otherwise. So as long as you are not talking about spirituality and whatnot, you can give them that explicit evidence. They either accept it and you can have a conversation, or they don't and you can then move on to other topics because they don't currently have the want or capacity to have that conversation honestly.

[nathanielwebb]

So Bill, how do I recommend reasoning with someone who is paid off, indoctrinated and full of cognitive dissonance.

[SkySpiral]

This is extremely useful. It is true that it takes a long time to change a view that you have incorporated into your identity. Moral of the story? Don't fall in love with your own views so much that you're unwilling to change them when new evidence presents a valid reason to.

[julienparis]

God this comment section is something else

[nataliesam]

The landing telemetry records were all lost according to NASA...

[MeanMisterMustard]

Bill Nye the somehow I convinced people I'm qualified IRL because I played a scientist on TV Guy

[PallerPrime]

The only come back needed for conspiracies: That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

[Mariomario-gtoy]

idiots can't be reasoned because they literally deny anything that they don't like. I.e climate change deniers or flat earthers or religious people etc. this is why I like Bill Nye.

[mancaveedc]

I hear a whole bunch hypocrisy. I feel the exact same, IN REVERSE. Present the “scientific” community with evidence that challenges or contradicts and they scoff, ridicule and mock, and refuse to rebut with any legit evidence.

[JohnnyJazzFreak]

What blows me away is that Bill doesn't even see the supreme irony of his cognitive dissonance argument applying even more supremely to official storyists.

[w.]

What he said at 2:10 is very important. It takes time, even years. People can't change their minds over one antagonistic conversation

[Otome_chan]

I find the more I look at the evidence, and the more I question what I had previously believed blindly, the more of a conspiracy theorist I become, because it turns out the evidence is *against* the establishment narratives and *for* the conspiracy theories. What do I do?

[slowrunnr]

The most important thing with trying to change somebody's opinion is to empathize with them. Speaking to them in a condescending manner and with an "I'm better than you" approach will only push them further away. Even if they know the facts don't fit their opinion, they're not going to want to side with somebody who clearly does not respect them.

Try to figure out why their view is so important to them, and be understanding. Then you can talk to them with facts that contradict their view

[imbok]

I also spend no effort trying to convince children that Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny isn't real. In the end, what they think is simply not relevant.

[cjua]

simply don't. I remember a quote but not sure who said it, "never argue with and idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience". Many of those people will dismiss credible sources, cite their own then you're just stuck at an impasse

[addictedtonotsmoking]

Given the primitive special effects technology of the 1960s, genuinely landing on the moon was actually easier than faking it in a studio. Basically, the only effects that could pull that off are CGI, which was invented decades after space shuttles.