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I think I have a better understanding of conspiracy and conspiracy theory thanks to covid. A conspiracy theory starts with a group of people who has more knowle

by slim 5y ago

I think I have a better understanding of conspiracy and conspiracy theory thanks to covid. A conspiracy theory starts with a group of people who has more knowledge than everybody else. This makes the actions of the group look strange and suspicious to another group of people who have reasons to believe that this group is hiding information on purpose and start building theories about the strange behavior they observe. Notice that nobody need to be malicious or anything, and hiding information on purpose is very common. For example if you use a PR firm to get journalists to write about your startup, you are effectively conspiring with the PR firm and the journalists.

encryptluks2 5y ago
Reminds me of my doctor that told me that if you take a human tooth and leave it in soda overnight that it dissolves. I'm thinking to myself that sounds like BS. Went home, looked it up and sure enough it is a myth. According to your theory the doctor has more knowledge than me and I shouldn't question what they tell me. I've had several similar experiences from multiple doctors that told me things that were flat out wrong. According to you, people that have been misled by doctors including medical malpractice, and the government performing illegal experiments should all be disregarded that and we should just immediately trust a power structure of people just repeating whatever they were led to believe. Don't get me wrong, there are actual scientists doing the work but that doesn't mean that people don't have an agenda.
- ahartmetz 5y ago
  The thing about the tooth isn't completely wrong, though. There is acid in most soda and it does destroy teeth if you leave them in it, just more slowly (source: highly scientific experiments on YouTube).
  - encryptluks2 5y ago
    A lot of conspiracy theories aren't completely wrong either.
- andi999 5y ago
  A doctor who is not a dentist knows probably the same about teeth as you.
  - encryptluks2 5y ago
    That is my point though, is people claim others question the origins of COVID-19 or the dangers are conspiracy theorist, but most of the time their doctors just repeat whatever they are told or led to believe without any significant reliance on any studies of their own. The entire medical system is built for lower-tiered physicians to just repeat whatever their superiors tell them, and many times those superiors could be connected to pharmaceutical companies with an agenda that doesn't disclose all the facts.
- krisoft 5y ago
  > According to your theory the doctor has more knowledge than me and I shouldn't question what they tell me. The comment you are responding to doesn’t prescribe what you should or shouldn’t question. Their theory describes how they think conspiracy theories start. You are attacking a complete strawman of your own imagination here I’m afraid. Furthermore the example you bring up is not even a conspiracy theory. Some doctor believes that a teeth will disolve in soda overnight. They are wrong. Who are the conspiring parties here?
- slim 5y ago
  I'm telling you that if you build a theory about why your doctor lied to you, it would probably be a fantasy. Because you have no means to know what motivates him.
- j4yav 5y ago
  Conspiracy theories aren’t your doctor being wrong. It’s going home, testing a tooth, then mentioning it to your doctor and he says “that’s just what they’d like you to believe” and then comes up with an even more bizarre explanation for why your tooth dissolved, or just dismisses you as a shill for big cola. I suspect your dentist in this case would just say “oh, I guess I heard that at some point and never thought to actually check it.”
mrjangles 5y ago
Actually, it seemed more like it started with a group of self proclaimed 'elites' who had more knowledge than everybody else. This group thought everyone else was stupid, so they started lying to everyone to get them to try and get them to do what they thought was best (because they thought if they told them the truth no one would care enough). This included things like "masks don't work", and "the vaccine will ensure you don't get or spread the virus". Then when they got caught lying, they doubled down on the lies. Then when people started getting angry, the 'elites' called them murderers (without a shred of evidence) and organized angry mobs to abuse them in the media. Then when people still wouldn't comply they forcibly imprisoned people in their homes for years. Then when people fought back they got the police to violently attack them in the streets. All this instead of just apologizing for lying and having an honest dialogue about what was and wasn't know.

by slim 5y ago

encryptluks2 5y ago

Reminds me of my doctor that told me that if you take a human tooth and leave it in soda overnight that it dissolves. I'm thinking to myself that sounds like BS. Went home, looked it up and sure enough it is a myth. According to your theory the doctor has more knowledge than me and I shouldn't question what they tell me. I've had several similar experiences from multiple doctors that told me things that were flat out wrong. According to you, people that have been misled by doctors including medical malpractice, and the government performing illegal experiments should all be disregarded that and we should just immediately trust a power structure of people just repeating whatever they were led to believe. Don't get me wrong, there are actual scientists doing the work but that doesn't mean that people don't have an agenda.

ahartmetz 5y ago
The thing about the tooth isn't completely wrong, though. There is acid in most soda and it does destroy teeth if you leave them in it, just more slowly (source: highly scientific experiments on YouTube).
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  A lot of conspiracy theories aren't completely wrong either.
andi999 5y ago
A doctor who is not a dentist knows probably the same about teeth as you.
- encryptluks2 5y ago
  That is my point though, is people claim others question the origins of COVID-19 or the dangers are conspiracy theorist, but most of the time their doctors just repeat whatever they are told or led to believe without any significant reliance on any studies of their own. The entire medical system is built for lower-tiered physicians to just repeat whatever their superiors tell them, and many times those superiors could be connected to pharmaceutical companies with an agenda that doesn't disclose all the facts.
krisoft 5y ago
> According to your theory the doctor has more knowledge than me and I shouldn't question what they tell me. The comment you are responding to doesn’t prescribe what you should or shouldn’t question. Their theory describes how they think conspiracy theories start. You are attacking a complete strawman of your own imagination here I’m afraid. Furthermore the example you bring up is not even a conspiracy theory. Some doctor believes that a teeth will disolve in soda overnight. They are wrong. Who are the conspiring parties here?
slim 5y ago
I'm telling you that if you build a theory about why your doctor lied to you, it would probably be a fantasy. Because you have no means to know what motivates him.
j4yav 5y ago
Conspiracy theories aren’t your doctor being wrong. It’s going home, testing a tooth, then mentioning it to your doctor and he says “that’s just what they’d like you to believe” and then comes up with an even more bizarre explanation for why your tooth dissolved, or just dismisses you as a shill for big cola. I suspect your dentist in this case would just say “oh, I guess I heard that at some point and never thought to actually check it.”

mrjangles 5y ago

Actually, it seemed more like it started with a group of self proclaimed 'elites' who had more knowledge than everybody else. This group thought everyone else was stupid, so they started lying to everyone to get them to try and get them to do what they thought was best (because they thought if they told them the truth no one would care enough). This included things like "masks don't work", and "the vaccine will ensure you don't get or spread the virus". Then when they got caught lying, they doubled down on the lies. Then when people started getting angry, the 'elites' called them murderers (without a shred of evidence) and organized angry mobs to abuse them in the media. Then when people still wouldn't comply they forcibly imprisoned people in their homes for years. Then when people fought back they got the police to violently attack them in the streets. All this instead of just apologizing for lying and having an honest dialogue about what was and wasn't know.