Ask HN: What is going on?
Then, later today I went for a drink with a colleague, only to find he's a holocaust denier, Hitler was only trying to do the right thing etc. I found I couldn't mount any argument against his views - I had been indoctrinated etc, etc.
And then I come home and have a chat with my normally right-on room-mate, and somehow we get onto vaccinations, and she's considering not vaccinations her (future) kids on the basis her cousin hasn't vaccinated here and they're ok. And she is deeply suspicious of vaccinations in the face of decades of evidence supporting them. She left the room. I had tried to explain the basis of vaccinations, herd effect etc but just upset her (though calling her potentially negligent really did not help).
It's a day where no amount of attempts at explanations are sticking. On the professional front, oddly enough, I'm more accepting of that. But facts and history that I hold more dear are just getting eroded. Is there a way to convince and persuade without alienating people?