Holy shŃt, this is still going?
I mean, Iâm not surprised that rational discussion isnât changing the minds of those who like conspiracy theories, Iâm surprised that talking to them is apparently engaging enough for both sides to keep this thread alive for a full week 
Well, letâs contribute then.
And the âother sideâ, in this case, is being obtuse. The question isnât whether itâs plausible, the question is whether itâs real. If you come to me and tell me that I should be worried because of X, Iâll ask you to give me evidence of X. If you have no evidence or your evidence does not hold up, then all Iâm left with is the idea that I should be worried because X âmight be plausibleâ.
There are multiple reasons the burden of proof is on those who make the claim. One of those reasons is that I could accuse you of pedophilia, for example, and you canât really prove you arenât a pedophile. Hell, no one can tell if someone else is a pedophile just by looking at them. You could be hiding it extremely well.
Yes, thatâs how it works. A conspiracy theory is a conspiracy theory until there is evidence, and then itâs not a conspiracy theory anymore. The evidence might uncover an actual conspiracy, or it might uncover something else, but the key concept here remains the same: itâs the evidence that matters, and itâs the people looking for that evidence who are doing something useful.
Everyone else who is simply parroting a conspiracy theory because they heard it elsewhere and it might be plausible is not actually doing anything useful, even though they love to think they are.
Is it? I just tried closing my eyes and concentrating very hard on teleporting myself to my momâs place, but it didnât work. I guess Iâll have to wait to have enough vacation time and money and then spend more than 12 hours on a plane or two.
It seems some crazy ideas can be dismissed after all.