Beragons Bistro: Science Crackpots

Many science communicators must cope with push back from people who don’t know what they are talking about but who think they are experts. Additionally, this phenomenon is often seen with YouTube commenters and the like who claim they know why physics is all wrong and how they fixed the standard model. It is occasionally also seen with prominent scientists who go off the rails into crackpottery. What is a crackpot? We will look at some examples and try to identify what makes a person a crackpot, why they are a problem for science communications, and strategies for coping.

A discussion led by Matt Burr