Why I Won’t Watch That Video ‘Debunking’ Climate Change

It happens pretty frequently. I get tagged on social media by someone pointing out a You Tube video that I should watch (thank goodness for Mute features). It is usually some conspiracy theory or pseudo-science “mumbo jumbo” twisting or misrepresenting the science. I received one of these yesterday. Here’s why I don’t watch the videos and some suggested ways to respond when a random follower or your favorite uncle sends that stuff your way.

The first reason is that it is usually textbook confirmation bias. Speaking of videos, I saw a wonderful explanation of confirmation bias the other day on TikTok. I cannot share or link to it because of the choice of colorful language. In a nutshell, she said that if you are not conducting reproducible research that has been evaluated by other scientists then you are just “Googling” stuff (she used a colorfully different word that stars with “s”) that aligns with what you already believe.

Britannica online defines confirmation bias as, “the tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with one’s existing beliefs.” Experts say that confirmation bias is particularly dangerous because certain people truly assume they have collected enough data or evidence to support their false claims. Over the years, I have observed this in my fields of climate science and meteorology, respectively. In the past two years, confirmation bias has become a mainstay during the COVID-19 pandemic too.

To be fair, there is an incredible amount of good information on the Internet. It is useful to develop some filters to detect them. My guide to consuming science information online might help some. How do you respond when someone shares the bad stuff though? One approach could be just an eye roll and move on. Candidly, that is a perfectly acceptable approach if you can clearly detect an agenda or hostility. Another approach can be to ask why such information being shared outweighs years of peer reviewed study and what is happening around them. One of the reasons much of the climate change contrarianism feels like it has waned in recent years is that many of the things we expected to happen are happening and in some cases, with more vigor or pace. In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists warned of exponential growth and significant hardship. That’s happening too. Go figure, there actually seems to be something to scientists understanding their discipline.

The “show me” approach is effective because throwing academic credentials or expertise out there can often cause a person to dig in more. Yep, isn’t that weird? Some people actually get offended when an infectious disease scientist has the audacity to tell someone they probably know a bit more about viruses than they do. Keystroke wisdom, in the minds of some people, has replaced coursework, degrees, years of experience, and such. “The Death of Expertise” by Tom Nichols explores the reasons we are at this point in society. If there is a sliver of good news, much of the public still trusts scientists but not among all Americans, according to the Pew Research Center.

Ironically, I am waiting on a garage door repairman as this is being written. Guess what? I would not find it condescending or offensive at all if he said I think I know more about how to fix your garage door than you do. I would smile and agree. That’s exactly why I called him. I value his expertise and understand that it is for my benefit. My Google search or You Tube video lesson would certainly have led to an epic failure in my garage.