This is a very mean-spirited response to people who are on the lookout for the safety of themselves and those around them, distrustful of believing everything t

This is a very mean-spirited response to people who are on the lookout for the safety of themselves and those around them, distrustful of believing everything they're told because "so-and-so said and they know better so you should listen." Especially on HN, it's a particularly shrewd assessment where we ought to be critical of every single thing we are told, and told to believe - because we've been burnt before, we've learned our lessons, and we ought to know better. The part of the play is to assume that everyone who is labeled a "conspiracy theorist" automatically believes in far out things like the planet being flat. It's a very good disqualification mechanism, and people buy into it easily. Lets not bring that to HN.