• scarabic@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It’s a little funny how someone believing an actual literal conspiracy theory would call others gullible idiots.

    • Noughmad@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      Many conspiracies are true. Probably not the ones about aliens or lizard people, but certainly the ones about oil companies (and oil countries) lying and spreading propaganda.

      • scarabic@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There are plenty of examples of dumb environmental protests too, though. I’m not saying it’s impossible for these to be false flag impostors but to go all the way to the extreme of calling people gullible idiots for not seeing that they are hired impostors… that’s just extreme. It smacks of many conservative fantasies: gun violence victims are just hired actors, blah blah blah. Thinking that people who ruin your narrative are all hired fakes is a sign of delusion.

      • scarabic@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        No, saying that dumbass environmental protestors who are against bicycles must be hired by oil companies to give environmentalism a bad name. That’s a straight up theory that there is a conspiracy by oil companies to hire actors and ruin environmentalism.

        • glue_snorter@lemmy.sdfeu.org
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          1 year ago

          Yes it is a theory about a conspiracy. However, it’s not a “conspiracy theory”.

          A “conspiracy theory” is, by definition, lunatic - e.g. chemtrails, fake moon landing, vaccine microchips

          A plausible theory about a conspiracy is not a “conspiracy theory” - e.g. Epstein didn’t kill himself, environmentalists protesting a cycling event are a false flag op. These may be wrong; they may be ardently believed without sufficient evidence; but they are reasonable explanations for the given facts.

          • scarabic@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I consider suspect any theory that says “the people who disagree with my narrative must be hired actors planted to make me look bad.”

            I realize false flag operations have occurred but it is just too easy to go around thinking that inconvenient people must be actors. Let alone to call anyone who DOESNT believe this a gullible idiot.

            “Never ascribe to malfeasance what can be ascribed to stupidity” seems to apply here. Have you ever been on a college campus? There are plenty of really dumb protestors in this world. Far more than there are false flag actors.