The Worldview Backfire Effect

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If you can, avoid arguing with people on the fringes. Changing their minds will push the fringes into an even narrower slot in the distribution of ideas. Research shows that using words like carbon offset instead of carbon tax greatly improves the chances of a successful persuasion attempt.

If dumping evidence into people’s laps often just makes their beliefs stronger, would we just be better off trying some other tactic, or does the truth ever win?

Do people ever come around, or are we causing more harm than good by leaning on facts instead of some other technique?

In this episode we learn from two scientists how to combat the backfire effect. One used an ingenious research method to identify the breaking point at which people stop resisting and begin accepting the fact that they might be wrong. The other literally wrote the instruction manual for avoiding the backfire effect and debunking myths using the latest psychological research into effective persuasive techniques.

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