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your written English is great
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conversation does not need to be debate. What these people really want is to talk. Ask questions, like "what evidence did you find most convincing?" Odds are they won't even notice you didn't agree with them, they just want to be heard.
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there doesn't need to be a conversation at all. Drift out of these sorts of conversations or change the topic. I can't imagine a scenario in which debating the existence of aliens with a coworker would be worth my energy.
this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
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Asklemmy
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@SpaceAce this is firmly in the "I could teach you, but I'd have to charge" category. You're not their mother or their teacher so if they want to believe nonsense then let them.
There are some documentaries debunking Ancient Aliens though.
I'm a skeptic at heart, but it's fun and ultimately harmless to pretend or even vehemently believe that aliens exist and have visited earth. In my opinion there's no reason to shut them down or try to prove them wrong. Of course unless they're taking it to a degree in which it's likely to harm others.
If nobody challenges them on the harmless stupidity it will fester into greater ignorance they feel entitled to perpetuate.
Wow. Three hours π . Not before bed lmao
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Off topic, but
(Sorry if language is too formal or stilted. Not my native tongue)
is unnecessary. You sound great! Completely natural. I would have assumed you were a native English speaker.
Anyway, as others have said, donβt waste your time arguing. Just have fun with it. They may be entertaining to listen to, and might turn into good friends. Youβll go crazy trying to debate them, though.
Thank you :)
I'm just so used to my English falling apart completely when forced to speak it in real time, instead of writing it. I feel like I am not great at making it sound casual either when writing.
Yeah, the common thread here seems to be not to argue and that's likely good advice.
Jason Colavito does the hard work so you don't have to. There's such a firehose of claims that it is almost possible to keep up with it all unless you are a fan. Colavito does a good job of keeping on the various series and pointing out the problems.
If you wanted to engage with people who are promoting this kind of thing you could try and engage on a more meta level rather than slog through each claim. They often rely on the argument from disbelief: I can't believe the ancients were capable of this, therefore it was aliens. Or you could point out that not believing ancient people were capable of building some monument and had to rely on aliens of Atlanteans is a bit racist. However, be warned, you'll soon be considered the Fun Police and you are better off letting it slide unless someone won't stop banging on about it.
The thing is that other than the odd true believer, most people who watch these things are not interested in engaging in an intellectual debate about them. It's essentially a diversion and light entertainment.
Set phasers to full power!
You might be taking some friendly debate as more sinister than it is. It's okay to tell them you straight up don't believe and need some better evidence than a show on Netflix. When they tell you to watch it, ask them to sum it up for you, and go from there.
You can laugh at the absurdity without being mean-spirited. Most people who get hooked into that stuff don't really believe, they like the "but what if?" Aspect of it.
Why do you feel the need to "deal with it"?
You can express your opinion without pushing it on others or trying to convince them. Is this a mystery to the social media generation?