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A conversation with a denialist
You scientists are just closed minded about the possibility that climate change might not be happening.
No, we aren’t. I’m happy to debate anyone who has looked at the facts in detail and come to the opposite conclusion.
Okay, I’m a guy with a classics degree and I like to swan around claiming I’m a member of the House of Lords. Do I count?
Not really. I mean a scientist. Someone with some expertise in the topic.
Oh yes, they exist. I’ve got a whole list of them.
Great! Who are they then?
Well, I can’t tell you.
Why on earth not?
Because if I did tell you the people who disagree with you, you’d just persecute them.
What are you on about?
Yeah, because you are closed-minded, I can’t tell you about any of the people who disagree with you because if you knew who they were, you’d persecute them for not agreeing with you.
Okay. Isn’t there a simpler explanation though? Might it just be that there are no credentialed experts who really disagree with the general consensus on climate change? I mean, Occam’s Razor and all that - a list I cannot see because I might be nasty to them is pretty much equivalent to a list with nobody on it, right?
See! You are still being closed minded.
How could I not be closed minded?
Well, you could agree with me…
And why should I do that? Perhaps you could present me with someone with the relevant scientific expertise who can argue for the conclusion you seek to establish?
Yeah, but if I did that, you’d just persecute them because you are a big meanie.
The camera pans down rapidly as the cameraman suddenly loses the will to live.
Station Approach, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 1
