Appreciation post: A talk with a guy at a diner in Flagstaff that made me rethink how I talk about conspiracies

About a year ago, I was having coffee at a diner in Flagstaff and got into a chat with a trucker at the counter. He was deep into the whole 'flat earth' thing and started laying out his points. Instead of my usual move of listing counter facts, I just asked him, 'What first made you doubt the globe model?' He paused for a good ten seconds and said, 'A video my kid showed me about boats going over the horizon.' We ended up having a real talk about trust in media, not just a fight. It taught me to ask about the 'why' first, not just shoot down the 'what'. Anyone else find that asking a simple question like that can change the whole tone of a debate?

2 comments

2 Comments

riley9562mo ago

Spot something similar with my uncle and climate stuff. He'd just yell about hoaxes until I asked which scientist he first heard that from. Turns out it was some talk radio guy who got caught lying about something else years ago. That tiny question about the source, not the facts, made him actually pause. It's like you're not attacking his belief, you're just checking the receipt on where he bought it. Changes the whole game.

elliot_lane962mo ago

That "checking the receipt" line from riley956 is perfect. It made me realize we never ask what someone is protecting when they hold a weird belief. Like, is it their self image as a smart person who sees the truth, or maybe just fear of a chaotic world? If you ask about that need first, the facts part gets way easier.