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What happens if the conspiracy theorist is someone you agree with? Do we still avoid mainstreaming them?

Barrin92 6y ago
I wanted to avoid starting a discussion about conspiracy theories which is why I qualified it as personal, but given that you're asking, I categorically reject conspiracy theories because conspiracy logic is by definition paranoid, and I don't believe any of them.
- lwhalen 6y ago
  So all it takes to shortcut your "rational examination of the evidence at hand" loop is to have someone label a subject as 'a conspiracy'? That's certainly an interesting way to move through life.
  - Barrin92 6y ago
    No. Where did I say that? What makes me disregard a subject is if the person advocating it uses conspirational logic to make their case.
    - dleslie 6y ago
      What is "conspiratorial logic?" Humans conspire _all the time_; the whole of human history is marked by innumerable conspiracies between humans to achieve shared goals. Believing that it's possible for humans to conspire isn't wrong, it's rational.
      - Barrin92 6y ago
        >What is "conspiratorial logic?" Making claims without having evidence for it, believing that shadowy cabals of people are somehow running the world or entire organisations (actually pretty much impossible in modern times), adopting scientific language but actually not understanding how science works (anti-vaxxers, 9/11 truthers, flat earthers etc..), making extraordinary claims or rationalisations without having an extraordinary good reason to make them, generally being paranoid and framing everything as some sort of power play, believing that everyone who disagrees with them is part of some establishment or has a hidden agenda, and so on. >Believing that it's possible for humans to conspire isn't wrong, it's rational Conspiracy theorists don't just believe that it's possible for humans to conspire, they believe that humans conspire all the time and use it as an explanation for claims that don't hold any water. Virtually 99.9% of conspiracy theories are wrong even if one or two happen to be right by accident, so it's useless as a way of approaching the world.
- grandridge 6y ago
  Wow such en enlighted individual. Ironically you don't realize it's your smug self righteousness that allows corrupt people to scream conspiracy theory anytime they are being exposed. I can guarantee some of the things you think are "conspiracy theories" are 100% true.
- dntbnmpls 6y ago
  So you believe the official account of everything? Authority is everything to you? What about all those conspiracies that turn out to be true? Libor rate fixing, US tapping merkel, certain groups in media conspiring with certain political party, etc? Every war we've been involved in the last few decades have been conspiracies. Or did you forget about yellowcake? Extreme paranoid thinking is detrimental but so is extreme naivety. Categorically rejecting conspiracy theories is as ridiculous as categorically accepting official narrative. So do you accept everything Trump says as gospel? Should we shut down CNN/MSNBC/etc since they peddled conspiracies about Putin owning Trump? For someone who rejects paranoia, you seem quite paranoid about conspiracies...

I wanted to avoid starting a discussion about conspiracy theories which is why I qualified it as personal, but given that you're asking, I categorically reject conspiracy theories because conspiracy logic is by definition paranoid, and I don't believe any of them.

lwhalen 6y ago
So all it takes to shortcut your "rational examination of the evidence at hand" loop is to have someone label a subject as 'a conspiracy'? That's certainly an interesting way to move through life.
- Barrin92 6y ago
  No. Where did I say that? What makes me disregard a subject is if the person advocating it uses conspirational logic to make their case.
  - dleslie 6y ago
    What is "conspiratorial logic?" Humans conspire _all the time_; the whole of human history is marked by innumerable conspiracies between humans to achieve shared goals. Believing that it's possible for humans to conspire isn't wrong, it's rational.
    - Barrin92 6y ago
      >What is "conspiratorial logic?" Making claims without having evidence for it, believing that shadowy cabals of people are somehow running the world or entire organisations (actually pretty much impossible in modern times), adopting scientific language but actually not understanding how science works (anti-vaxxers, 9/11 truthers, flat earthers etc..), making extraordinary claims or rationalisations without having an extraordinary good reason to make them, generally being paranoid and framing everything as some sort of power play, believing that everyone who disagrees with them is part of some establishment or has a hidden agenda, and so on. >Believing that it's possible for humans to conspire isn't wrong, it's rational Conspiracy theorists don't just believe that it's possible for humans to conspire, they believe that humans conspire all the time and use it as an explanation for claims that don't hold any water. Virtually 99.9% of conspiracy theories are wrong even if one or two happen to be right by accident, so it's useless as a way of approaching the world.
grandridge 6y ago
Wow such en enlighted individual. Ironically you don't realize it's your smug self righteousness that allows corrupt people to scream conspiracy theory anytime they are being exposed. I can guarantee some of the things you think are "conspiracy theories" are 100% true.
dntbnmpls 6y ago
So you believe the official account of everything? Authority is everything to you? What about all those conspiracies that turn out to be true? Libor rate fixing, US tapping merkel, certain groups in media conspiring with certain political party, etc? Every war we've been involved in the last few decades have been conspiracies. Or did you forget about yellowcake? Extreme paranoid thinking is detrimental but so is extreme naivety. Categorically rejecting conspiracy theories is as ridiculous as categorically accepting official narrative. So do you accept everything Trump says as gospel? Should we shut down CNN/MSNBC/etc since they peddled conspiracies about Putin owning Trump? For someone who rejects paranoia, you seem quite paranoid about conspiracies...