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c/fake-news-autopsybrooket43brooket431d agoRising Star

Read a debunked climate hoax that my uncle keeps sharing on Facebook

My uncle posted this article about a scientist who supposedly faked global warming data back in 2015, and I spent an hour tracking down the original study. Turns out the article twisted a minor error in one chart from a different author into a huge conspiracy claim with no proof. Have any of you actually confronted a relative about these rebranded hoaxes and gotten them to reconsider?
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abbyp61
abbyp611d ago
OH man, I tried with my own uncle on the same kind of thing. I showed him the actual study and the retraction, but he just said "they're all in on it" and changed the subject. It's SO frustrating because they trust some random blog over actual science. I think the only thing that works is keeping it short and just asking "what proof do you have that isn't from that one website?" Usually that gets a lot of silence.
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marybutler
Abby's got the right idea but honestly sometimes I just let them have it. My uncle sends the same kind of junk and I just reply "sounds legit" and move on. They're not going to change their mind because you showed them a study they already decided was fake.
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green.iris
Respectfully disagree - sometimes staying quiet just lets bad ideas spread without any pushback at all.
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