#refutation — Public Fediverse posts

Yuval Harari, #author of big science history books 'Sapiens' & 'Homo Deus', has just posted this on his Instagram (pic w/ alt txt below).

I don't usually get annoyed by generalisations, but...

I wrote a short #refutation of this #claim that #science is "far more imaginative" than #mythology & "didn't predict black holes or atoms" here:

https://www.kittythinks.com/yuval-is-wrong/

Tl:dr: Many scientific theories can be traced back to mythology & creation myths are there to ask questions science is answering.

Busting myths? You might be doing it wrong.

#Prebunking and #Debunking can backfire—unless you follow evidence-informed strategies.

New article / preprint (soon in Skeptical Inquirer):
🔗 https://doi.org/10.58079/13lyr
🛠️ Mythbusting = science + craft + art.

#Misinformation #Mythbusting #ScienceCommunication #CriticalThinking #Education #SustainabilityEducation #SkepticalInquirer #evsused #refutation #prebunking #debunking #myth #fact

A #rhetorical #technique you should know about: THE TRUTH TRAP.

This happens when a claim is made that contains untruthful elements in the payload.

Instead of refuting the claim, you take the bait and argue the untruthful elements inside the claim, giving implied legitimacy to the outer claim.

Dialectics are setup to continue the #argument inside the bullshit claim, giving the claim repetitive power over time, without refutation. In time, #refutation of the original claim appear outlandish.