There has to be a better way to counter 50 yrs of someone's lived eperience, than "I know a dentist..' And 'listen to xx'.
I am not sure the answer is a pissing contest to see whose rhetoric is more convincing. Obviously people whose business is the generation of perusasive rhetoric are likely to piss further. That's Trump 101. It doesn't mean they are wrong or they are right.
It usually means there is some truth on both sides. Surely this means 50 years of someone's lived experience, is worth listening to and taking point-by-point?