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Ex-conspiracists, what made you stop believing conspiracy theorie(s) you believed? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Let's be clear: i'm not saying conspiracies doesn't exist. By conspiracy theories, i mean the plots whose existence is at best highly unlikely, at worst totally senseless, notably if:

-They are breaking the laws of physics.

-They are too costly (logistically and/or financially) to be profitable.

-They are defended by untrustworthy sources (populist or cult leaders, random people, celebrities without expertise in the concerned domain, parodies taken seriously,...).

-They are often involving far-right's scapegoats.

-They are involving a large amount of people.

-They reject science by principle.

-The interests of the supposed conspirators are unclear or incoherent.

-Their so-called proofs are incoherent, manipulated or are proving nothing at all.

-They would be funny if they were published as parodies in The Onion.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago

Not me, but a friend believed Obama was not American. Conversations over time (couple of months) changed them.

Not a proper conspiracy theory, but I used to be a dualist, thinking that souls exist and they’re separate from bodies. All of this changed with a long conversation with a materialist. He helped me see how my beliefs were historically determined, socially programmed, and not based on atemporal scientific principles. Overnight change to materialism.