Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
As scientists, we tend to think that if we simply lay out the facts, the solutions to the world’s problems will be obvious. Show people the evidence that humans are contributing to global climate change and they will immediately realize that governments and individuals need to work together to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Show them the evidence that vaccines prevent disease with minimal risk and parents will immediately realize that they should make sure their children are immunized against rubella and whooping cough. But of course that doesn’t happen. Why? Because facts aren’t enough. Last month, Richard Grant wrote an article for The Guardian explaining why. He makes two very important points.
- People don’t like being told what to do.
- It’s more about who we are and our relationships than about what is right or true.
And he concludes with a very important observation:
Most science communication isn’t about persuading people; it’s self-affirmation for those already on the inside. Look at us, it says, aren’t we clever? We are exclusive, we are a gang, we are family.
That’s not communication. It’s not changing minds and it’s certainly not winning hearts and minds.
It’s tribalism.
We need to listen more than we talk. We need to understand what people are concerned about and address those concerns. Aristotle understood this a couple of millenia ago (Rhetoric). Blaise Pascal made the same point nearly 400 years ago.
People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others. (link)
So let’s listen to people. Let’s try to understand their concerns. And then, let’s figure out what we can do to address their concerns.