I finally realised the futility when I was informed that the Earth is an isolated system, the universe is an open system and that energy from the sun cannot reach the surface of Earth because of the atmosphere blocking it and that no planets with an atmosphere can ever receive any energy from the sun.
I believe laughter, rather frustration is the best response. Take comfort in the fact that the person you are talking to won't be able to convince most people that water is wet, let alone that the universe was created in 6 days.
I don't believe that a person who says this stuff is merely ignorant. Their ignorance is willful, and reflects a belief that any fact, no matter how obvious, can and will be rejected if that fact stands in the way of an inviolate belief.
If the person knew better, perhaps they would give a slightly more sophisticated excuse, but it should be perfectly clear that you cannot convince someone that the sun warms the earth, that you won't succeed in convincing them of anything else.
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and hasten the resurrection of the dead. William Lloyd Garrison
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