[sillysaurus3]

You're just as far in the opposite direction, though.

When people have strange beliefs, the best way to deal with the situation is usually to talk to them on the same level, as grownups with valid beliefs. Otherwise you change no one's mind.

If we dig through your brain, we'd probably turn up a few questionable beliefs of your own. Most people just aren't that transparent.

[wpietri]

Ardent creationists are not just people with strange beliefs. They are people who have built their lives around promoting and defending harmfully bad ideas.

If you have evidence that debating them helps, I look forward to seeing it. But from what I've seen, a credible person sharing a stage with a loon elevates the loon. Treating nonsense as sense devalues sense.

[mulmen]

I'm not saying we should refuse to debate in all cases. There are not always exactly two sides and just because someone comes up with a crazy idea does not mean we should spend energy arguing with them.

Yes, talking and educating people is an important endeavor and one that Bill Nye has proven to be well suited. However, education and debate are not the same thing and it is easy to legitimize dangerous ideas by putting them on an equal footing with proven concepts in the context of a debate.

I have all kinda of crazy beliefs, many that I probably can't even identify myself. That doesn't mean I should waste an expert's time with debate.