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  • Lausten replied to the topic Why don't scientists take on Intelligent Design? in the forum Science and Technology 5 years, 3 months ago

    So, I know the ā€œbe niceā€ discussion is a difficult one. Another question, less personal needs to be asked if you are going to take on something like ID; Who do you want to reach? If you want to go after the people who are spending their days producing faux papers and getting paid to speak about it, I think you are banging your head against a wall. The next layer down is those who repeat this stuff for free on their blogs and facebook pages or church basements. I’d say those are just about as pointless, but it’s worth disrupting their message now and then. They are the ones who have acquired the skills of winning arguments without worrying about the facts.

    I’d aim for the ones who attend those classes and read those social sites. They can be nudged with gentler questions about how they know what they know. They might say to your face that they read a book or ā€œheard itā€ somewhere, but your question will chip away at their cognitive dissonance. They are usually open to hearing something else too, like a spiritual interpretation of stardust or evolution as a story. http://www.thegreatstory.org/what_is.html

    Below that, I find most people go to church ā€œfor the communityā€ and don’t worry about the beliefs too much. They will be convinced by science contributing to world health and by atheists being good people in that community.