Q&A: Conspiracy
Conspiracy
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I wanted to ask what tools, in your opinion, we have for answering conspiratorial questions, since they can always be so overfitted that it’s impossible to show any incoherence in them from any angle. And does the fact that we aren’t able to really address them not bother you? From the more far-fetched ones like cloud seeding to the more common ones like Rabin, etc.
Answer
The question isn’t clear. Conspiracy theories are theories like any other theory. You can raise arguments against them, but it’s certainly possible that they won’t listen to you. Does that bother me? Yes. So what? People not listening bothers me in ordinary arguments too.
Discussion
Discussion on Answer
I meant more from the perspective of someone who holds the conventional view:
what thinking tools does he have for responding to conspiratorial claims?
Unlike a scientific theory, most of them can’t really be falsified by the average person. And you can always keep adding more and more hidden variables.
On the other hand, they’re usually based on anomalies people notice, and the conventional explanation doesn’t manage to explain them. So even Occam’s razor won’t help.
I don’t know how to answer a question like that: what do you answer to a question that has no answer? You can respond to such questions philosophically and logically. But there’s no guarantee you’ll persuade anyone. Beyond that, each question has to be addressed on its own merits. If you want to discuss a specific question, that could be more useful.