People have come to my public talks to argue with me that the Big Bang never happened. People have sent me handwritten letters explaining how dark matter means that ghosts are real. People have asked me for my scientific opinion about homeopathy—and scoffed when they didn’t like my answer. People have told me, to my face, that what they just learned on a TV show proves that aliens built the pyramids and that I didn’t understand the science.

People have left comments on my YouTube videos saying… well, let’s not even go there.

I encounter pseudoscience everywhere I go. And I have to admit, it can be frustrating. But in all my years of working with the public, I’ve found a potential strategy. And that strategy doesn’t involve confronting pseudoscience head-on but rather empathizing with why people have pseudoscientific beliefs and finding ways to get them to understand and appreciate the scientific method.

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[–] snooggums@kbin.social 29 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

Instead, I try to practice what’s known as radical empathy. This is empathy given to another person without any expectation of receiving it back in return. I try to see the world through someone else’s eyes and use that to find common ground.

That's just empathy. How is basic empathy radical?

[–] xor@sh.itjust.works 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

well i guess he's saying that normally empathy requires reciprocity

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have no idea where the author got that idea. No common definition involves anything like reciprocity and I can't think of a single example where that would be a requirement for someone to be empathic.

[–] xor@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

i've heard the opposite, "they hate us so why should we care about them!"
so i imagine from something like that....

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 11 points 9 months ago

That is a lack of empathy.

[–] JUST_LET_ME_FAP@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

It feels like basic empathy is so uncommon in some spheres nowadays that it might be "radical"

[–] sik0fewl@kbin.social 8 points 9 months ago

It’s radical because fewer and fewer people are empathetic these days.

[–] Steve 1 points 9 months ago

The same way radical honesty is telling someone their new haircut is bad.
It's not going to help you, or help people to like you, in any way. But you do it. Even when many think you shouldn't. Because it's the right thing to do, just on principal alone.