I'm alarmed by how our club's debate on climate fiction quickly shifted from plot analysis to outright science denial. | Book Club Debates - Topic Shares
Ugh that reminds me of the time our local library put up a "fact check" display next to the geology section because someone kept slipping climate denial pamphlets into books about glaciers. It took them three months to notice the pamphlets were funded by a fossil fuel lobby group.
Think about it, maybe a little science denial keeps book clubs from becoming echo chambers. @the_tessa's library incident shows people are still passionate about the topic, even if their methods are shady.
13 years I spent in a reading group that required at least one "controversial" pick per season. We read a book claiming vaccines cause autism, and @the_tessa spent the whole meeting with her laptop open trying to fact check it in real time. The irony is the science deniers in book clubs aren't keeping things lively, they're just making sure nobody actually finishes the book because they're too busy arguing about whether the author has a PhD in anything real.