3 ms·
Answering to the "look at history" part of your comment only (I agree on the bit about the problem of using "it's a conspiracy" about everything, but it's a sym
by cauch 3y ago
Answering to the "look at history" part of your comment only (I agree on the bit about the problem of using "it's a conspiracy" about everything, but it's a symmetric problem: there is at least as many people that accuse people to do that when people, correctly, point out that their theory is rubbish).
My understanding of "conspiracy theory" is "things that idiots believe despite the fact that they don't possess any proofs to justify their belief", not "things that are incorrect" (and wikipedia seems to say the same thing).
Real conspiracies exist. They are NEVER discovered by conspiracy theorists. Conspiracy theorists just invent theories that they want to believe, and the chance that they end up inventing something that is true is 1 over 10^30. Inversely, proper investigation, usually done by institutional organisms (the same one the conspiracy theorists are criticizing all the time) is what uncover the real historical conspiracies.
The problem with conspiracy theories is not that they are true or false. The problem is that people who believe in them are idiots: they don't have any element that allows them to conclude what they conclude with certainty, and yet they are convinced it's true. These people are dangerous: they are anti-scientific and driven by emotion and by what is more convenient for them to believe. These people are like the stereotypical mobs that burned the witches: they don't care about truth or justice, the world would be a better place without them.
So, I think we should be careful when explaining that real conspiracies have existed: even if, by chance, a conspiracy theorist turns out the be right, this person is still an idiot for being convinced by something without having any proofs.
- hindsightbias 3y agoRemember all those millions of people who said 9/11 was a plot to steal all the Afghan minerals and Arab Oil? Derp.
- illuminant 3y ago9/11 destroyed the records of Americas thought control program (tower 7). 250,000 Americans were on the payroll, as well as the locations of domestic tactical nuclear watch facilities. This one act literally cut the head off the accountability program so these black sites and operatives could thrive untraceable and undetected. These groups then extorted America (and still do.) Derpy indeed.
- jevoten 3y ago> Real conspiracies exist. They are NEVER discovered by conspiracy theorists. So what do you call the people investigating or shedding light on real conspiracies? And what would someone trying to discredit them call them?
- cauch 3y agoThe people who investigate or shedding light on real conspiracies are journalists, academics and members of the government. Exactly the kind of people that according to conspiracy theorists should not be trusted. In practice, people investigating and shedding light on real conspiracy are not called "conspiracy theorists" by the large public and the main media. Of course, people who want to cover up will say "they are conspiracy theorists", but it is very easy to check if they are or not: do they claim something based on only belief. So, in the large majority of the cases, it is very very clear when someone is accused of being a "conspiracy theorist" while they are not, and the rest of the large public and main media will not follow on the accusation. I think it's the point: people who fall for conspiracy theory don't see how easy it is to distinguish between real investigation and conspiracy theory, and therefore, they will say "but look at this real investigation that uncovered a real conspiracy, they look exactly like us". Except that they don't, the same way that a physicist working at CERN does not look like a teenager pretending having invented a perpetual motion machine. The teenager is convinced they are the same as the physicist, but people with a minimum of expertise see immediately the difference.