I would keep snacks and beverages on the ready. "C'mon in! The iced tea is cold and the muffins are just about done. Now, what were you saying about cumulonimbus formations and their impact on dairy production?"

Boys I'd love to hear about phosphene

In this house we do not recognize phosphine as a biomarker! Get the fuck out of my face!

To be fair, I don't like anyone to knock on my door and talk about random stuff.

O my, I would never get anything done but I'd have so many interesting conversations, where can I sign up?

The world would be a better place if anybody knocked on a door for non-exploitative reasons (without an appointment).

Back in my day this is how we'd tweet. Door-to-door, telling a lame joke about cornflakes.

Excuse me, but do you have a moment to talk about ZFS and tall socks? Maybe the benefits of a tiling window manager?

I'd be dead. A serial killer would use it as an excuse to come inside and I'd immediately be an idiot and say "absolutely come on in. I love Venus."

As I was writing the above sentence, I suddenly had an idea for a story about a Vampire who tries to use religion as a way of being invited over the threshold of strangers homes, and get increasingly frustrated when people tell him to fuck off.

I don't really want anyone to knock on my door (the doormat says "GO AWAY!" for a reason). However, I'm likely to be much more polite to someone talking about science than religion.

I'd probably say "no, thank you" before slamming the door in their face.

I had a class in college taught by a Catholic priest.

He loved to have people come to his door to talk religion. He'd invite them in, give them tea, and then talk to them about Catholicism until they asked to leave.

You son of a bitch, I’m in!

Everyone in this thread is approaching the question from the perspective of the passive resident role, and not the traveling science minstrel role.

Given that I am definitely more inclined toward the latter - which apparently makes me a tiny minority, even in this thread - I feel confident saying that I would have far more to fear from all of you than the reverse.

You may all point and laugh now.

They'd get invited in a lot more if they did.

Given the number of people that think the Sun orbits the Earth and that the Moon is never out in the day time, this would be a good idea. It doesn't even need to be deep. Just random science facts.

As an aside, I want to buy a billboard in town and post science facts.

Eh. It would create a whole new set of problems.

Especially when it comes to theorists vs experimentalists. Both agree that experiment is necessary to prove the theory. Both agree that unexpected observation in experiments needs new theory.

Theorists are usually the type to mentally explore possibilities based on prior knowledge before physically testing possibilites. Some may never actually experiment they get so wrapped up in the exploration.

Experimentalists are usually the type to physically test possibilities before mentally exploring "why" the outcomes happened. Some may never actually mentally explore possibilities because they died in an experiment.

This seems to be intrinsic to these scientists. So much so the interactions would be similar to anyone actually willing to talk to missionaries.

If it were possible to convert people to theorists, we'd have a lot less proven, and if it were possible to convert people to experimentalists, we'd all be dead.