"However, the average person can spot lies, attempts to mislead and other hypocritical practices.
"However,when such hypocrisies are pointed out,...."
It isn't enough to point to a statement and allege it is untrue. The truthfulness or otherwise has to be substantiated. All too often we get statements like...
"That's a lie. I know it's a lie because I can spot lies and that's how I know it's a lie."
Any alternative view is likely to be counteracted with something like...
"I said it was a lie. How dare you contradict me. That's an ad hominem attack. You lot always resort to ad hominem attacks when your argument is weak. I told you it was a lie. You lot are all leftist greenies. Why don't you live in a tent."
This hypothetical denialist argument hangs on a single, unsubstantiated feeling. and feelings don't carry any weight of evidence. There is plenty of Science which goes counter to gut feelings. Newton's First Law comes to mind. Watch anything gliding or rolling along a level surface and not being pushed or pulled along at all. Invariably these moving things slow down and stop. It seems as if the natural order of things is to be a rest in their surroundings. Newton posited that the natural order could also be perpetual velocity unless an external force was operating. Counterintuitive but an advance in Science.
Now to carbon dioxide. Your intuitive idea is that the gas is natural part of the atmosphere, plants need it for photosynthesis, Therefore it must be good for the environment. All very well untill you make the next jump to....
"Therefore more carbon dioxide must be even better for the environment."
Atmospheric physics, Climate Science and over a century of increasingly sophisticated observation have shown that this jump is to a wrong conclusion. However the denialist view is to almost universally cling to the idea that because a little carbon dioxide is good, then more must be better.
This intuitive leap is wrong. Additional carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels has changed the balance and is producing a warming world. Changing land use patterns have exacerbated the problem. I use the phrase "filthy fossil fuel fires" to attract attention to the issue.
