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A thread 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread"> on talking to conspiracy theorists.
Step 1: Identify your boundaries. It& #39;s very important that you don& #39;t get upset. It& #39;s very hard not to get upset. The only way to know when it& #39;s too far for you to keep your cool is to find out when you lose it.
1/19
Step 1: Identify your boundaries. It& #39;s very important that you don& #39;t get upset. It& #39;s very hard not to get upset. The only way to know when it& #39;s too far for you to keep your cool is to find out when you lose it.
1/19
You can practice with a friend with each of you being the conspiracy theorist. Start off civil, try to push until you& #39;re just being obnoxious, then switch sides. Talk after about what specifically upset you. A lot of times it& #39;s something specific.
2/19
2/19
Once you figure out your boiling point, figure out how to get out of a conversation that is heading there.
My favorite thing is to change the subject. "Hey I don& #39;t mean to be random but I really like your shoes."
(I definitely mean to be random, shhh) 3/19
My favorite thing is to change the subject. "Hey I don& #39;t mean to be random but I really like your shoes."
(I definitely mean to be random, shhh) 3/19
Once you know where the line is, start working on yourself re: tone. I& #39;m not going to suggest nobody should ever get angry. I do often, it& #39;s healthy to have negative feelings about negative things. We know how to regulate ourselves (don& #39;t curse out Grandma) 4/19
Second step is to be a https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦆" title="Ente" aria-label="Emoji: Ente"> duck. Let their nonsense roll off your back. The facts are the facts and you can be confident that no matter what they say, it& #39;s not about facts. It& #39;s about their feelings and that& #39;s not something you can change, you can only try to deescalate. 5/19
It& #39;s important to keep everyone calm for your safety and their mental well being. People who feel attacked will retreat or lash out. Nether is good for either of you.
We want positive, civil conversations and you& #39;re going to have to be the one installing guardrails. 6/19
We want positive, civil conversations and you& #39;re going to have to be the one installing guardrails. 6/19
Learn and live these:
"Hey I didn& #39;t interrupt you, please don& #39;t interrupt me." Keep things as equal as possible.
"Can we back up for a minute? I want to ask about something earlier."
Backtrack if they are getting to your boiling point.
7/19
"Hey I didn& #39;t interrupt you, please don& #39;t interrupt me." Keep things as equal as possible.
"Can we back up for a minute? I want to ask about something earlier."
Backtrack if they are getting to your boiling point.
7/19
Don& #39;t allow weasels! While we aren& #39;t going to try to debunk things, we also aren& #39;t letting nonsense take over the conversation.
"People are saying"
Who is saying?
If they don& #39;t know say "Until I can verify this I don& #39;t want to speak on it." and move them along. 8/19
"People are saying"
Who is saying?
If they don& #39;t know say "Until I can verify this I don& #39;t want to speak on it." and move them along. 8/19
A big one is "studies say"(astronomy, Transgender rights etc.) or "doctors say" (vaccines, masks, etc).
You can and should refuse to discuss these without seeing them. You can ask them to send you a link and then redirect away from the claim until you look at it. 9/19
You can and should refuse to discuss these without seeing them. You can ask them to send you a link and then redirect away from the claim until you look at it. 9/19
I have found the study never says what they think it does and the doctors are never reputable. There& #39;s no need to explain things that you haven& #39;t even read/seen. You aren& #39;t there to debunk anything anyway. 10/19
It can take a while to get any victories, so don& #39;t think you need to see progress on the first try.
Think of every conversation as a step even if it didn& #39;t seem super productive. If you leave each other on a good note that& #39;s a success. 11/19
Think of every conversation as a step even if it didn& #39;t seem super productive. If you leave each other on a good note that& #39;s a success. 11/19
A major playbook of the conspiracy culture is to repeat wild claims until they stick in these people& #39;s brains, send them out into the world, watch them get wrecked, then love bomb them when they get back. This is abusive, these people are being abused. 12/19
You never want to reinforce the abuse, so you don& #39;t want to give them the negative experience that leads them looking for support from their abuser.
You want to be a safe person to talk to, even when you disagree.
13/19
You want to be a safe person to talk to, even when you disagree.
13/19
A lot of these people were just looking for friends, and found people who bully them, gaslight them, and put them into vulnerable mental states.
You can show them that friends can disagree while still being respectful and kind. Be the friend they need. 14/19
You can show them that friends can disagree while still being respectful and kind. Be the friend they need. 14/19
End every conversation with a reason to talk again. Do they need to send you some links? Are you both going to read a book? Use any tactic to keep them engaged, the more you can show them that you aren& #39;t going to make them feel unsafe or angry the more they will open up. 15/19
Find common ground. Do you both think there shouldn& #39;t be dark money in politics? Do you both think the latest Justice League movie was trash? Keep reinforcing where you find unity. People have a hard time painting a black and white picture when you include grey areas. 16/19
Remember that you are not enemies and this isn& #39;t a war. Nobody is going to win. Don& #39;t get caught up trying to. If someone& #39;s winning, someone else is losing. That& #39;s not the dynamic you want.
17/19
17/19
Afterwards you need to decompress. Find a like-minded friend and hash out how it went. Did you get too close to your boiling point? Did you get too close to theirs? We seek to improve every time. 18/19
