[brailsafe]

There are a tremendous amount of people who have just been fed the same compounding stuff on YouTube or wherever based on their previous clicks. There's a difference between considering the nature of X with a way to validate or think about it, and simply having watched a netflix documentary while high on acid. The latter of which become conspiracy nuts, and they're really draining to listen to, probably as much as big L liberals droning on about whatever pet topic they have

[version_five]

I think I agree with what you're saying. The more recent challenge though is that calling someone a conspiracy theorist got a lot of traction for shutting down discussions, so it gets applied very liberally to any point of view that the mainstream disagrees with as a lazy way of avoiding debate.

[brailsafe]

That's true, and I don't necessarily think it's a good thing to shut down debate, but I don't think it's also perfectly valid to take whatever action you want to avoid argumentation if you choose. I don't want to go do something I enjoy, but feel less inclined to do so on the basis I might get into an argument with some jackass. Not everything requires me to debate in my daily life, and ignoring people I don't care to engage with changes nothing about the outcomes of the subject matter, most of the time.

[prohobo]

That's the nature of the internet and decentralized information sources.

The vast majority of people are consuming propaganda or crazy shit (MSM and conspiracy theories) but don't know how to filter the info to find a narrative that most accurately represents reality.

Because of this, the mainstream media will ALWAYS be able to dismiss strawman arguments and label dissidents as conspiracy theorists. Conspiracy theorists will also ALWAYS be able to poke holes in the propaganda and spin convincing alternate narratives.

In any valid disagreement with the popular narrative, you WILL find conspiracy theorists.

One caveat to this situation is that IF the mainstream institutions were able to rebuild trust (by telling the truth), then you would have far less people poking holes in their narratives and therefore fewer conspiracy theories. So, I don't get angry at conspiracy theorists because I understand that they're created by a lying state and media - they're canaries not a cancer.