My friend is a conspiracy nut

[HappyMumsie]

AIBU not to agree with any just to keep the peace? She is always going on about one conspiracy or another. Vaccines, covid19, the Government etc etc. Did man land on the moon? Did the men in grey kill Diana?

Does anybody else have a conspiracy theory we can put to bed??

"Nah, it's always nice in April, has been for years"
I can back this up. Ds is an April baby (birthday tomorrow in fact) and I remember vests and sleepsuits on the line. More often than not we have his birthday in the garden.

@Navelwort

Please be reassured That I’m NOT asking anyone to believe anything. That is your choice and I’m not trying to convince you; make up your own mind.

Of course, I don’t know what I believe/know/trust myself. But what I do know is that my intuition is telling me that there is something more to this. Even my Mum, in her late 70’s said that something doesn’t ring true with all the panic created in the media. (Hence the DM comment.) (I live in Asia, so see it from both sides)
Just type stuff in ..or go the full hog and look at London Real etc,
Pubmed (which is not an 18/30’s holiday!), Dr Erickson, Dr. Kaufman,
Dismiss what You don’t like, laugh at the rest. But the fact that you are no buying into it all speaks (whispers?) to you.
Look at the bigger (very big) picture. As my Dad always said .. follow the money. This isn’t necessarily about ‘the virus’ per se.. but 5, 10 years down the line.
But, be warned, you will waste many an hour looking at nonsense when you should be doing something more productive. (a bit like on here!) Haha! And it’s just as interesting as watching Come Dine With Me and Judge Judy all afternoon. ;-)
Do you really believe Dr. David Kelly committed suicide?

piglet you are entitled to your opinion but this one, like all conspiracy theories are dangerous. Believing the Chinese released it adds to racism and suspicion which can lead to conflict. Why believe this when other viruses have been proven to jump species? Spanish flu, Swine flu, Bird flu etc etc

@Tdaadfb100, when I teach first year undergraduates who are approaching their first university essay, the first thing I teach them is about credible and non-credible sources, eg that there is a difference between research published in a peer-reviewed journal and a Wikipedia entry, or a random person's blog. PubMed is links to peer-reviewed biomedical research, so no issues there but also no conspiracy theories? but why would you think that London Real, which features David Icke heavily, is any more credible than any other media source?

But why would you think that London Real, which features David Icke heavily, is any more credible than any other media source?

Because it packages up exactly what the conspiracy theorists want to hear into a slick, easily-consumed format, that removes the requirement to actually think while making them feel like they’re really thinking.

Why are so many sources of conspiracy theories presented as videos? My opinion is that it’s easier to consume without thinking too deeply, and much more difficult to appraise critically than something written in black and white. It also does away with the need to cite sources etc.

The other trick conspiracy theorists love is to stick a question mark on the end of their assertions. They can then pretend that they’re not actually peddling untruths - just questioning things.

Do you really believe Dr. David Kelly committed suicide?

YES!!!

He was the world expert on WMD, and he was convinced the Iraq had WMD, and were hiding them. He was wrong. He was ashamed about it and became very depressed. His incorrect advice had been used to start a conflict.

All I’m saying is keep an open mind and take a look.

People that bang on about keeping an open mind have a totally closed mind when it comes to the considering the possibility that they have been duped and have swallowed a load of old bollocks, hook line and sinker.

Their minds are so far open, their brains have fallen out.

Agreed @ItsGoingTibiaK.

i dont get the posters references to the daily mail and watching afternoon tv shows.
is that the only alternative they think we have to david ickes lizard theories?

Dr Kelly probably didn't commit suicide. There were many aspects of that case pointing towards someone else involved there. Robin Cook is also a strange case.

There's a hell of a lot goes on that we know nothing about. Sometimes we are treated like idiots though - like when that Russian guy was found dead in a suitcase and some group concluded that he killed himself.

i dont get the posters references to the daily mail and watching afternoon tv shows. is that the only alternative they think we have to david ickes lizard theories?

Yes, I think that the people who promote conspiracy theories are visibly those who simply don't read actual newspapers daily or watch TV news/programming with contemporary content, and legitimate that with the excuse that it's all 'establishment cover-up' stuff, when the truth is that they simply can't recognise the difference between actual journalism from journalists/news organisations with a track record/biases etc they can research, and some random obsessive's blog/subReddit/Youtube channel.

Dr Kelly probably didn't commit suicide. There were many aspects of that case pointing towards someone else involved there.

You could read that into many suicides if you chose to. Man with depression, who has staked his personal reputation on a position that turned out to be wrong, when he was supposed to be the world expert, kills himself. It's hardly shocking.

I have one of those. A very very close friend who hasn't spoken to me for a month now because I have a different opinion. Apparently our lives are currently too different to even be able to talk to each other. It makes me so sad that she's chosen to be like this. I didn't even argue with her. I just listened.

@fessmess I really, really hate it when people say that something which might well be true “leads to racism”. It’s so, so lazy and such grave accusations tend to stifle real challenge. If I do think worse of the Chinese authorities because of my suspicions, it’s because I believe they’re untruthful (don’t think that’s in debate at all); not because they’re Chinese.

@Piglet89 You're right there. Plenty of Chinese people would agree with that.

We criticise governments in the west too, there's been far more criticism of Trump than of the Chinese government; why is it valid to criticise the US Government and not the Chinese Government?

Exactly, @Mittens030869