Yep, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and think: “I didn’t explain that right in my post; maybe I should delete it all!” lol. We assume people know our starting points too, and who can know that? I always appreciate grace. 🙂 Thanks for giving it.

Thank you for your reply, Lisa. It helps explain where you are coming from with your post. I think we can sometimes write with particular examples in mind, knowing in our head what we are referring to, but it doesn’t always come across clearly (one of the pitfalls of writing our thoughts, as opposed to talking to someone). Like you suggest, it probably has more to do with different definitions of and experiences with what constitutes a “conspiracy.” And that’s pretty much my point in my reply. Different views of “conspiracy” and the evidence for or against the different sides will cause us to come to different conclusions. And neither side is necessarily automatically right or wrong just because of a label or because some “professional” says to believe it. But like you referred to, this is more for those differing opinions where both sides are researched and have support, not about those far-fetched “conspiracy theories” that don’t have a leg to stand on and that persist in spite of all evidence. (And yet, even then, that can be hard to discern, depending on what information we encounter.) Sorry if I read into your post something you weren’t saying. God bless!

I’m glad you shared your thoughts here, Heather. This is a complicated issue. We can barely scratch the surface in a single post so my apologies for a seeming lack of depth. And I definitely make no claim to be an expert on it. 🙂

Even the definition of “conspiracy theory” needs more explanation. While I did state in the post that “a conspiracy theory isn’t wrong by default,” most of the theories lumped into the “conspiracy” category are there because of lack of agreed-upon evidence. Those may be different than the type you mentioned: theories that have indeed been researched. The latter may result in a difference of opinion but not need to be labeled a conspiracy theory per se.

There are no easy answers. We just keep seeking truth as best as we each can. As you said, “thinking for ourselves and using more critical thinking skills” is important. So is having conversations like this! Thanks for weighing in.

And some people believe conspiracy theories not because of a psychological need, but because they have done enough research to know to question “the powers that be,” to not blindly believe what some government group or scientist group tells them to believe. They’ve learned there are agendas behind much of what we are told, reasons to not trust it, that things aren’t always what they seem, and they seek to expose it.

When there are two opposing voices, both with “evidence” to back them up, then who gets to decide which is right and which is wrong? Why should the one labelled “conspiracy” automatically be thrown out, just because the other side called it a conspiracy? What if both sides called the other a “conspiracy”? Who wins then?

I’m not sharing this to support conspiracy theories but to promote more critical thinking and to balance out your idea that conspiracy theories are automatically dangerous and wrong and should be discredited from the beginning. While I agree that it’s dangerous to blindly believe conspiracy theories, I also believe it’s dangerous to blindly trust “the other side,” to let them manipulate us with words like “conspiracy theory,” convincing us to immediately discredit other ideas without giving them some real thought.

I agree with you that we need to seek facts from a variety of sources and countercheck stories and that we need to not spread things that are based on shaky evidence. But we should be doing this not to, as you say, discredit these theories (which is having a bias from the beginning about which is right and which is wrong, and it will taint your research and conclusions) but to find out what the truth really is (as far as we can know it, so that we can take an educated stand on one side or the other), even if it means the conspiracy theory is proven right. Just some ideas to encourage us to think for ourselves and to use more critical thinking skills. God bless!

I do enjoy the conspiracy theories a little more than the usual “facts” that were thrown to us. And often, you may see some countries adopting a certain theory/explanation over another. So maybe the theories are all correct to a certain extend, just what suits your situation more?

But no way am I going to turn down vaccination over them!

Just my 2 cents. :p