Two of my coworkers frequently mention shows like “Encounters” or “Ancient apocalypse” or whatever. I’m not the best at debating or forming arguments against these though I do feel strongly that bold claims require better evidence than a blurry photo and an eyewitness account. How do you all go about this?
Today I clumsily stumbled through conversation and said “I’ll need some evidence” and was hit with “there’s plenty of evidence in the episode ‘Lights over Fukushima’”. I didn’t have an answer because I haven’t watched it. I’m 99% sure that if I watch it it’s gonna be dramatized, designed to scare/freak you out a little and consist of eyewitness accounts and blurry photos set to eerie music. But I’m afraid I just sound like a haughty know-it-all if I do assert this before watching.
These are good people and I want to remain on good terms and not come across as a cynical asshole.
(Sorry if language is too formal or stilted. Not my native tongue)
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.
Yeah even showing incredulity will keep the other person engaged, just be as boring a conversation partner as possible during the subject, try at every opportunity to change the subject, and eventually they’ll either get the hint, or just start bugging someone whose more fun to talk about it with
“How to deal with Ancient aliens in the workplace?”
Man, for a second I thought you are talking about older, immigrant co-workers.
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