Similarities Between Denialists
ConFusion's 2006 Science Guest Of Honor P.Z. Myers, in his blog Pharyngula, linked to "HIV Denial in the Internet Era". Here are the headings from the article, all of which are commonalities between HIV denial and evolution denial:
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Three Prominent Deniers and Denial Groups - This section mentions the disagreement by various camps within HIV denial, but a diversity of opinion is only to be expected and is not a sign of falsehood by itself. What is far more telling is that, like evolution deniers (and unlike proponents of science), HIV denial groups tend not to correct each other on contradictions so long as they help win more converts.
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Conspiracy Theories and Selective Distrust of Scientific Authority - Denigrating all scientific authority in general; or claiming the global brotherhood and sisterhood of scientists worked so hard to get into their low-paying insecure jobs with the motive of suppressing the truth instead of discovering it.
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Portraying Science as Faith and Consensus as Dogma - The inability to see evidence tends to get one discredited, which feels like social pressure to discredited persons of every stripe. Denialists cannot distinguish this from a consensus resulting from social pressure to begin with.
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Expert Opinion and the Promise of Forthcoming Scientific Acceptance - Supposedly, any minute now the global scientific community is going to agree with the few professional deniers on the fringe.
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Pushing Back the Goalpost - No matter how much evidence is accrued, the denialists just raise their level of demands for proof.
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What Are Their Alternatives? - Neither HIV deniers or evolution deniers propose a scientific alternative.
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