Random thought: What if we (educated, academically minded people) are modeling this, and the conspiracy theorists are just copying us? Think about it: We write

Random thought: What if we (educated, academically minded people) are modeling this, and the conspiracy theorists are just copying us? Think about it: We write and say things using obscure language, about topics that are totally foreign to most people, and when they don't understand, we laugh at them and call them stupid for not having the language background knowledge to parse what we are talking about. That's exactly what these conspiracy groups are doing. Of course the "facts" they are cataloging are just made up, as opposed to being peer reviewed in journals, but the mode of discourse is exactly the same as scientists and academics use: Ignore people who don't understand you, distribute ideas amongst your immediate peers, and judge your validity based on your ability to be understood by only them. I've tried to stop making fun of political adversaries for saying stupid things because of this.