I think in order to convince people of things you need to meet them on their terms. My personal hueristic is that you are as likely to change their mind as they

I think in order to convince people of things you need to meet them on their terms. My personal hueristic is that you are as likely to change their mind as they are to change yours. Careless rhetoric can lock people into their beliefs. If you make it so this person's only choices are admitting she was a dunce or continuing in her belief then she will likely continue in her beliefs if only to avoid looking and feeling stupid. People tend to change their minds over time rather than in the heat of an argument. Don't try to defeat her in a debate and convince her to admit she was wrong. Do try to listen and raise meaningful issues and then let the matter lie. If you're successful you will raise doubts and thoughts that will let her reach the right conclusions on her own in her own time as she thinks through what you said. Ask questions, listen to her perspective, raise points to make her think. Wait, be patient, and repeat. I would also suggest you consider whether it's really worth it. It may take lots of time and effort to bring her around and even then you'll probably fail. I'd ask what it costs to let her believe the wrong thing. Probably an increase in her risk of death and for those of her kids if any are under her car, but the increase won't be that substantial. If you learned she wanted to become a skydiving instructor or climb Mount Everest I assume she'd face an even larger increase in mortality risk.