I don't think this is true. It's not even true for growth. Every new bitcointwitter "person" who joins puts off 30 interesting people from joining.

It's a touch point. At some point it will no longer be the first time they heard that word and the next time they'll be intreagued to find out what it really is and why it keeps coming up. Its not about converting a skeptic, it's about intreaging a fence sitter, one at a time until it becomes common knowledge.