Ah, Hanlon’s razor:
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
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That’s the approach that doctors I know in Australia took, “If not for yourself, do it for your family and friends”. The people who refused to wear a mask weren’t even as many as a rounding error on the statistics, and although the count of people rejecting the vaccine was higher it was still far lower than in the States. One in particular on Quora was very patient explaining things (“It’s mostly amino acids, which are good for you, right? and sea salt, plus a bit of alcohol like in beer, and some water to carry it along”) and convinced a lot of undecided folks to go for the vaccine. Of course they had the benefit of their highly-respected Queen telling people getting vaccinated was the thing to do and setting the example herself!
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I believe there should be a partner version: never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by cupidity.
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But it’s fertile soil for malice to grow in!
Deciding how to react to accusations is tough.
We’re all really prone to mistakes (which is ok), but the hallmark of conspiracy theory is that someone else has a selfish reason for believing what they do–and thus, we don’t have to deal with the questions. @St.Roymond , I appreciate the example of docs trying to reason things through. I need to work harder on that.
I have as much tendency to self-victimization and blaming others as anyone else. However, it’s assuming good intent in someone else that seems to break the cycle of suspicion and re orient us to talking about the truth, so they aren’t so afraid. By giving ourselves and others the benefit of the doubt, the victimization and paranoia seem to decrease. It’s not easy.
I’ve noticed that once my kids stop blaming each other, they are even easier on themselves. It’s an interesting phenomenon that we who see bad intent in others tend to be equally hard (or harder on) ourselves. It’s an interesting converse of Jesus’ discussion on forgiveness.
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That is a good point. When pointing to the splinter in someone’s eye we have to work overtime to cover the log in our own eye.
There are times that I am attracted towards ideas that run counter to the scientific consensus. However, I go into it assuming the idea is wrong and do honestly try to see if the idea stands up. I find that I learn a lot when I do this, even when the non-traditional idea ends up being wrong. Where conspiracy theories often go off the deep end is when people protect their ideas from self criticism. This is why the right approach is “This idea looks like it could be right. What am I getting wrong?”.
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Not finding another current COVID thread to put this in and not thinking we need a new one (or just not thinking ; - ) …
And we have this:
Collins resigned after emails surfaced that he and Anthony Fauci, among others, coordinated with other influential figures to silence doctors and scientists who opposed the covid hysteria narratives.
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Good grief. Where’s that from? Never mind – I don’t need to know.
Oh, maybe you were serious?
How funny! A perfect example of how you can state a technically partially true statement to say something totally contrary to what actually happened. Sort of like saying “Tom Brady retired as a loser and was divorced by his wife after the deflategate scandal.” Technically correct, but quite deceptive in implied meaning.
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Well, that part is true at least. What emails showed Collins coordinating the silencing of doctors and scientists?
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I knew it years before it ever got a name.
Well, in a sense , in that I think there were communications as to how best to get accurate information out and counteract the misinformation being distributed that was putting lives at risk.
Do you know when it got its name? (Without looking it up? 
)
I have my personal experience. On 10/21/21 I received my booster, the third shot. 7 months later, in May 2022, I had to isolate with Covid in Bogota, Colombia. That was a year ago.
A couple of weeks ago, we took a friend on a cruise: 6 hours in a car on the way to the port on a Sunday, She got sick Monday and tested positive Tuesday morning. She had to isolate in her cabin. Saturday we took her home, another 6 hours in a car. I tested negative after those long periods of exposure, before she had symptoms and after.
Just one data point (well, two if you count my wife’s identical experience).
P.S. I am grateful my doctor’s office finally dropped by mask requirement.
That would be fair if publishing your own opposing view were a form of silencing someone else. It’s not.
Of course you are right. Just giving it as an example as to how things can be twisted by linking unrelated things and misrepresenting facts as something they are not.
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Accumulation of immunity after multiple exposures may be important as well.
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Sometimes the conspiracy theories turn out to be true