Two interesting articles to read:
1) Climate Denialism -Massimo Pigliucci
A discussion of people who deny global warming.
2) Encounters with Aliens (the local kind) - Martin Bridgstock
An article on dealing with dissenters (otherswise known as nut-cases, wierdos,etc) and how to best answer and reply to irrational people.
Both Articles can be found in March/April 2010 Skeptical Inquirer. These do not appear yet on the web. so no link at this time.
- Climate Denialism -Massimo Pigliucci
I liked this article as an easy read essay on climate change denialism. His main point is a conspiracy exists on the side of the oil/gas/energy industry to deny the global warming. Much like the ciggerate industry denied smoking caused lung cancer (in fact they may have the same people working the issue)
- Encounters with Aliens (the local kind) - Martin Bridgstock
this is a good read on reply to, well, trolls. One point is that it is a waste of a lot time time to reply to people who are irrational. He suggests some simple, respectful methods on how to reply. Ones that I could use.