Applied Skepticism: When have you gotten through to someone?

[Eilonnwy]

A recent article posted on Boston.com talks about how facts don't have the power to change people's minds. Which, granted, many of us experience on a daily here and in our lives, especially if we're not only atheist, but skeptics.

However, despite the fact that what we do can feel useless, we do get through to people, as rare it may be. So I thought it would be fun to describe a time when you convinced someone to let go of a deeply held, but ultimately wrong, belief. Doesn't have to be religious in nature, hence it's in the general forum. Just something to lighten discussion and think of a time when all that arguing and frustration paid off. I'll give an example.

I was watching Jeopardy with my mom one day, it's an American TV game show where clues are given and you answer in the form of a question. One clue had to do with a skunk and part of the clue said, (and I'm paraphrasing) "despite what many people think, tomato juice does not remove the smell". My mother answered skunk, but then added, "That's not true, tomato juice works, I've used it."

I remember thinking about the Mythbuster's episode where they showed that it kinda sort of worked, but not really. Plus, her anecdata is not really convincing, since I know she then washes them with soap after, so maybe the soap really removes the smell? I was tempted to argue the point but I let it go. I was, however, a little shocked that she just assumed Jeopardy was wrong. My reaction would be, not to assume it was right, but look it up and confirm for myself.

Anyway, fast forward. You know where this is going, right? My dog got sprayed by a skunk. It was late at night, my mom was really upset, she had a bad day, and now the dog had gotten sprayed. She was also upset because she only had one can of tomato juice and was debating waiting until the morning, seeing if she had enough and do it tonight, or going out to a store now to buy more. In any case, she was pissed she had to give the dog a bath. It was like 11pm at night. I tried to suggest that soap will probably be okay, but she insisted, "No, I need tomato juice".

I decided to look up skunk removal remedies, some sites said tomato juice worked, but I dug deeper and found that the best method is a homemade mixture of baking soda, peroxide, and dish soap diluted in water. I also found that the reason people think tomato juice works is because of olfactory fatigue, basically they get tired of the skunk smell and with the introduction of the strong tomato smell, it basically covers up the odor but doesn't really get rid of it. However, the homemade mixture breaks down the skunk smell chemically, and if you use the tomato juice remedy and meet someone else not suffering from olfactory fatigue, they will still smell the skunk.

I took a chance and pulled my mom aside and said, "I looked it up online, I found that tomato juice just covers up the smell, but the best method is to chemically break it down with baking soda, peroxide and detergent, which I know we have in the house." Interested, she looked at the site that explained the measurements and proceeded to give the dog a bath.

I went to bed (because, late) and when I saw her the next day I asked her how it worked. She said it worked really well. I talked to her about olfactory fatigue and tomato juice, and she seemed to accept that explanation. Ultimately, she was happy to know about the new remedy because she always has those three things in the house anyway for potential future skunk mishaps.

So basically, I was able to take advantage of a situation where the usual mistaken remedy wasn't readily available, provide her with a better one, and now she knows the best way to remove skunk smell and understands more about what the old remedy does. After so many times when I try to explain things skeptically to my family, they often ignore, but for once I got through and it was a satisfying experience.