Dr. Kacy TillmanNov 23, 2022
I sat by an election denier on the airplane and he started poking me in the arm to be emphatic about his views on people stealing ballots secretly and the airplane was full and I couldn’t move anywhere so I started explaining the yellow fever in very great detail, all the way down to telling him about the bloody vomit that looks like coffee grounds and it worked. He stopped talking to me. The moral of this story is you can’t out-weird an academic; our toolset is too vast. #vastearlyamerica
Show threadExpatrié

@kacytillman

Thanks for the wonderful post. The problem with your approach, for me at least, is that it takes endless patience, and it’s somewhat analogous to speaking with a plant. I applaud your perseverance, which is beyond my capacity. I merely put on my noise canceling headphones and tune then out.

Nov 23, 2022 at 4:22pmWeb
Show threadAphrodite (recharging)Nov 23, 2022

@americanabroad @kacytillman

I’m going to disagree with you.

It requires just a little more patience than the target.

The tactic is a bet that you know the tactically gross subject more deeply than the target knows their subject, which in this case is winning with house money since Dr Tillman actually has a knowledge base and the rube pushing the bullshit only knows either duckspeak responses if they’re a follower and only bullshit if they’re a leader.

Show threadBrainPilgrimNov 23, 2022
@americanabroad @kacytillman @Aphrodite I'll do anything to make them leave me alone.
Show threadHrothgir O'DomnaillNov 23, 2022
@Aphrodite
This is why i used to travel with earphones. Whether I was listening to music or not, I'd quitely bop, and hum tunelessly.from time to time.Required no patience since I put them on as soon as the safety demonstration ended.
Show threadExpatriéNov 27, 2022
@Hrothgir @Aphrodite That’s what I do as well.
Show threadJohn CarlsonNov 24, 2022
@Aphrodite @americanabroad @kacytillman This is a double win: getting out of an unpleasant conversation and into a conversation that is actually interesting. Any conversation about arthropod-borne pathogens is going to have interesting biology, ecology, history and there are such important lessons for public health applicable to non-arthropod vectored diseases. Well done!! 🦟
Show threadExpatriéNov 27, 2022

@Aphrodite @kacytillman

I understand the basis of your disagreement. I was speaking only on the basis of limited personal experience as a (former) academic and as someone who gets simply exhausted speaking to those who reject anything resembling empirical evidence. I applaud those who still believe it’s possible to have such dialogues. I’ve simply given up.

Show threadAphrodite (recharging)Nov 27, 2022

@americanabroad @kacytillman

I’m just a hacker, though I attempt to maintain and expand a wide, not quite deep enough pool of knowledge. Personally I prefer a different approach, though, IRL.

If I approach with the attitude that I want to communicate, I have a puzzle in front of me to play with.

The puzzle is how to get through the thought stopping tripwires he’s allowed to surround his mind.

Success means they realize for at least a moment they don’t recognize who they are at the moment.

Show threadhelplessduckMar 13, 2023
@Aphrodite @americanabroad @kacytillman
"Duckspeak?!" I do beg your pardon! 😂