"it's worth respecting that fact, rather than dismissing it as 'obviously ridiculous'"
That's not how the world works. If someone says "I think the government did 9/11", then it doesn't matter how many people agree with him. His opinion is still idiotic.
Similarly I do not have to respect anti-vaxers or Scientologists, just because there are many of them.
So you're saying no matter who says it in whatever demographic, you've made up your mind about this issue and that's that? If so, I pity your closed-mindedness, and I think we can't have a productive conversation.
(to be clear, I'm highly skeptical of overt conspiracies in general. But if a significant portion of my peers (HN readers) believe a thing, at the very least I try to seriously consider their point of view. Because I'm not infallible. Apparently you are?)
Comments
"it's worth respecting that fact, rather than dismissing it as 'obviously ridiculous'"
That's not how the world works. If someone says "I think the government did 9/11", then it doesn't matter how many people agree with him. His opinion is still idiotic.
Similarly I do not have to respect anti-vaxers or Scientologists, just because there are many of them.
So you're saying no matter who says it in whatever demographic, you've made up your mind about this issue and that's that? If so, I pity your closed-mindedness, and I think we can't have a productive conversation.
(to be clear, I'm highly skeptical of overt conspiracies in general. But if a significant portion of my peers (HN readers) believe a thing, at the very least I try to seriously consider their point of view. Because I'm not infallible. Apparently you are?)
"I pity your closed-mindedness"
This is the main fallacy of the conspiracy theorist, that those who reject the absurd conspiracy have closed minds.
For more on this, see here: http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/answering-consp...