{"id":433883,"date":"2026-03-24T15:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=433883"},"modified":"2026-03-24T15:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:36:26","slug":"is-public-stupidity-behind-climate-change-apathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=433883","title":{"rendered":"Is Public Stupidity Behind Climate Change Apathy?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cHumans aren\u2019t rational\u2026. How, then, can we combat misinformation when simply presenting the facts is no longer enough \u2013 and may even backfire?\u201d \u2013 Nate Hagens (below)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Climate messaging is in turmoil. \u201cMaybe the problem is not climate denial,\u201d Gilad Regev observed<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Maybe it\u2019s climate messaging. We\u2019ve been attempting to scare or shame people into caring, and it\u2019s not effective. Is it time to completely rethink how we talk about climate and sustainability? We\u2019ve spent years trying to influence people through fear, data, and moral urgency. The results? Mixed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Joe Romm in a comment<\/a> dissed Regev, complaining about a huge, well-funded public disinformation campaign by Big Oil. (If only some of that mega-money was really flowing to think tanks such as IER or CEI or Heartland\u2026.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Take<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter Nate Hagens<\/a>, Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future (ISEOF). His article, \u201cWhy Science Communication Fails: How to Break Down Misleading Arguments and Inoculate Against Misinformation\u201d The Great Simplification<\/a> (February 27, 2026) follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans aren\u2019t rational. We don\u2019t evaluate facts objectively; instead, we interpret them through our biases, experiences, and backgrounds. What\u2019s more, we\u2019re psychologically motivated to reject or distort information that threatens our identity or worldview \u2013 even if it\u2019s scientifically valid. Add to that our modern media landscape where everyone has a different source of \u201ctruth\u201d for world events, our ability to understand what is actually<\/em> true is weaker than ever. How, then, can we combat misinformation when simply presenting the facts is no longer enough \u2013 and may even backfire?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this episode, Nate is joined by John Cook, a researcher who has spent nearly two decades studying science communication and the psychology of misinformation. John shares his journey from creating the education website Skeptical Science in 2007 to his shocking discovery that his well-intentioned debunking efforts might have been counterproductive. He also discusses the \u201cFLICC\u201d framework \u2013 a set of five techniques (Fake experts, Logical fallacies, Impossible expectations, Cherry picking, and Conspiracy theories) that cut across all forms of misinformation, from the denial of global heating to vaccine hesitancy, and more. Additionally, John\u2019s research reveals a counterintuitive truth: our tribal identities matter more than our political beliefs in determining what science we accept \u2013 yet our aversion to being tricked is bipartisan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to reaching a shared understanding of the world, why does every conversation matter \u2013 regardless of whether it ends in agreement? When attacks on science have shifted from denying findings to attacking solutions and scientists themselves, are we fighting yesterday\u2019s battle with outdated communication strategies? And while we can\u2019t eliminate motivated reasoning (to which we\u2019re all susceptible), how can we work around it by teaching people to recognize how they\u2019re being misled, rather than just telling them what to believe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sorry, but ground zero is the proven benefits of CO2 versus the speculations of untestable, causality-deficient climate models. And the fact of positive warming during certain months of the year vs. the summer peak. And so on. Let the debate and messaging continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHumans aren\u2019t rational\u2026. How, then, can we combat misinformation when simply presenting the facts is no longer enough \u2013 and may even backfire?\u201d \u2013 Nate Hagens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":433887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691836889,691820528,691841996],"class_list":["post-433883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-climate-change","tag-climate-messaging","tag-misinformation","tag-science-communication","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1OS7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":246858,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246858","url_meta":{"origin":433883,"position":0},"title":"Official Censors Misinform on Covid, Climate","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"State-sponsored \u2018experts\u2019 on \u2018misinformation\u2019 are typically the worst offenders","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-184.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-184.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-184.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-184.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-184.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":407486,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=407486","url_meta":{"origin":433883,"position":1},"title":"A Submission to the Australian Senate Investigation into Climate Misinformation","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When the Australian government set up a \u201cSenate select committee to investigate misinformation and disinformation in climate science and energy\u201d, I didn\u2019t find out until a few hours before the deadline for submissions from the general public. 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