Person A: (regurgitates really stupid talking point)
Person B: “I don’t believe that’s accurate, study (x) shows this, (y) action was completed by (z), there’s recordings of this happening”
Person A: “Well what about (less stupid regurgitated talking point)?”
Person B: “I don’t have the time/energy to personally refute all this stupid bullshit.”
Person A: “You see? You can’t deny it! I knew you were full of crap. I’m going to disregard all of the evidence you presented from the first point because of this.”
The other problem is, a large portion of the population is now vocally anti-science. “If (thing I’ve always been told by my elders/peers) conflicts with (hard data from peer-reviewed sources), I’m going to believe (the former), because the ‘scientific community’ is controlled by the boogyman that’s out to turn our kids Jewish with space lasers and melt their genitals with chemtrails.”
Ask me why I don’t speak with my father anymore lol.
My father: “This ‘Climate change’ is a hoax perpetuated by political parties to redistribute financial power away from the opposition, under the guise of this ‘saving the planet’ bullshit.”
Me: (provides hard data refuting this)
My father: “You actually believe that so-called ‘science?’ This is why I regret sending you to college.”
Your first example is exactly what I wish we would collectively agree to avoid as a society. Recognizing when someone’s trying to scam you (such as in a dishonest debate) needs to be taught in school starting young. When everyone has the skills necessary to recognize that Person A cannot be trusted, it becomes easy to solve the problem.
The times when you are ethically allowed to or even obliged to disregard someone’s blatantly dishonest message can be taught to anyone if we all decide that is important enough. Freedom of speech is vulnerable to bad actors, and it’s only the people who are willing to play fair who will suffer without better education and regulations put in place.
The other problem is, a large portion of the population is now vocally anti-science. “If (thing I’ve always been told by my elders/peers) conflicts with (hard data from peer-reviewed sources), I’m going to believe (the former), because the ‘scientific community’ is controlled by the boogyman that’s out to turn our kids Jewish with space lasers and melt their genitals with chemtrails.”
Ask me why I don’t speak with my father anymore lol.
Your first example is exactly what I wish we would collectively agree to avoid as a society. Recognizing when someone’s trying to scam you (such as in a dishonest debate) needs to be taught in school starting young. When everyone has the skills necessary to recognize that Person A cannot be trusted, it becomes easy to solve the problem.
The times when you are ethically allowed to or even obliged to disregard someone’s blatantly dishonest message can be taught to anyone if we all decide that is important enough. Freedom of speech is vulnerable to bad actors, and it’s only the people who are willing to play fair who will suffer without better education and regulations put in place.