Phil Plait – Don’t Be a Dick

I finally had time to watch Phil Plait’s “Don’t Be A Dick” talk. Like all of Phil Plait’s talks, this is a must view also. He explains how hard it is to changes people’s minds when they think they are right, and being a dick about it makes it that much harder.

One of my biggest pet peeves is people that believe in woo, or any other nonsense that is not based on facts. I try to be nice about it when I see it.

I gave up talking to my family about their woo beliefs. My Brother is a chiropractor, and the rest of my family is pretty religious. Their belief in nonsense runs rampant. I don’t want any family fights, so I just keep my mouth shut.

But online is a different story. I try to be nice and point people who believe in woo in the right direction. Whenever I see someone online afraid to vaccinate their kids because they are afraid of Autism, I try to point them to the REAL facts. Most of the time I just get blown off.

Often times I hear people talking about going to an acupuncturist, or taking some worthless supplement, or getting their ears cleaned out with ear candling — all nonsense.

It’s really had to get people to look at the REAL facts. It’s so easy for people to know what answers they want, and then find sites that confirm them. The internet is full of woo, and many of the woo sites come up high on Google because they all have some kind of product to sell you. Real facts are hard to find, and when you do they are a really dry read. The real trick is learning how to think critically, and use common sense.