Imagine you descended from the surface into Plato's Cave and told them "you're in Plato's Cave!" And they responded "No, YOU'RE in Plato's Cave!"

 

In this episode, we will speak about how to deal with science denial. To learn about science communication in general, we focus on one particular extreme case of science denial, which is the idea that we live on a Flat Earth.

 

Our guide is the creator of the youtube channel I Can Science That, which you can find here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_FH_YLAQjG4ZiKisRSK5iA

I Can Science That engages in conversations with Flat Earthers and other types of science denial. Unlike other channels, he focuses on having discussions in which both parties listen to each other and try to understand each others' viewpoint, rather than debates in which each party tries to win.

 

Sources

The Flat Earthers are a peculiar group. For an introduction, check out the 2008 Netflix documentary "Behind The Curve". We also discuss the book and documentary Merchants of Doubt by Oreskes and Conway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ii9zGFDtc 

Some youtube links:

Vsauce on "Is Earth Actually Flat?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNqNnUJVcVs  

Richard Feynman's talk on "Why?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36GT2zI8lVA 

And Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjTTS-KMupo 

 

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Mario

http://lifefromplatoscave.com/ 

 

Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lifefromplatoscave 

 

I'd love to hear your questions or comments:

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