I spent years doubting the science of climate change and spending time with people who didn’t believe in the science either.
When I realised I was wrong, I felt really embarrassed.
To move away from those people meant leaving behind an entire community at a time when I didn’t have many friends.
I went through a really difficult time. But the truth matters.
I’m the granddaughter of coal miners in Pennsylvania and my family moved to Florida when I was young.
We have a Polish Catholic background and we attended church regularly, but at the same time we were very connected to science because my mum was a nurse and my dad sold microscopes and other scientific equipment.
The story of every single fucking conservative is a series of not believing in reality until it hits so close to home they have no choice (and even then many refuse what’s right before their eyes). I confidently believe if we got rid of every conservative the world would immediately be 10x more intelligent on average in an instant, and we could start fixing things and making the world better. Lead paint creates conservatives.
Hey I’m pretty slow and I’m still not conservative. I think empathy might have something to do with it too, not just smarts