How to talk to a conspiracy theorist -- and still be kind

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 36% of US adults believe false conspiracy theories about COVID-19, such as the one claiming Bill Gates wants to inject people with vaccine medication that contains microchips that will be activated by 5G cell towers.

MIT Technology Review interviewed various experts and moderators of Reddit's r/ChangeMyView to find out how you can talk to conspiracy theory believers without wanting to throttle them. The article presents the experts' advice in the form of 10 tips. The tips include treating the conspiracy theorist you are talking to with respect otherwise you will immediately shut down the conversation. Also, if you insist on speaking with a conspiracy theorist do it through a direct message rather than posting on their Facebook wall or publicly on Twitter. It's also good to agree on the kernel of truth that many conspiracy theories contain so you can build trust with your conversation partner.

Another tip is to use the "truth sandwich":

Use the fact-fallacy-fact approach, amethodfirst proposed by linguist George Lakoff. State whats true, debunk the conspiracy theory, and state whats true again, Donovan says. For example, if youre talking to someone who believes the 5G conspiracy theory, you could structure your argument as Coronavirus is an airborne virus, which means it is passed by sneezing, coughing, or particles. Because viruses are not transmitted via radio waves, coronavirus, which is an airborne virus, cant be carried by 5G. Its repetitive, but it reinforces facts and points out where the conspiracy theory doesnt work.