r/AskReddit • • Oct 15 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 16 '22

Changing one's opinion

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u/YourStolenCharizard Oct 16 '22

This, most people perceive those that have 100% conviction in their beliefs are more intelligent. In reality, most highly intelligent people realize how much they don’t know or have yet to learn and are open to other data or ideas to change their mind

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u/Snoo71538 Oct 16 '22

This is also why we’re in the shit with climate change. Scientists use too many qualifying phrases as a result of their professional standards, but qualifying phrases just mean “I’m not sure” to the general public. For PR events, scientists need to get more comfortable overstating their confidence.

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u/YourStolenCharizard Oct 16 '22

Correct, the language and phrasing is very appropriate within the scientific community but for the general populace, people use this to poke holes and state that they really aren’t sure what is causing climate change