a question on conspiracy theories and how to deal

[Margan]

Dear all,
I am a „sometimes reader“ on the forums and there is something on my mind which has been greatly triggered by the so-called "covid crisis" those last months.
And I see that some readers here are also familiar with conspiracy theories, so maybe you can relate and offer your thoughts on the situation.
I have been into conspiracy theories for at least 10 years now – it started out of curiosity and of course like many others, I saw that what politicians talk about and what they actually do does clash a lot of times. And conspiracy theories offer explanations which many times seem more logical than the „official stories“ (9/11 etc).
And of course when covid started I was immediately like "yeah sure, a biological weapon designed to instill fear and help them sell their drugs – vaccines – as usually big pharma will be profiting "
and if you know that big pharma is one of the greatest lobbyists out there, of course it makes perfect sense.
And so far my predictions were eerily accurate, I even predicted they would have the vaccine by the end of the year, or at the latest, start of 2021 – when I told my friends back in may they were like „no way this is going to happen“. And here we are and they have the vaccine.
Now the thing is – I realized more and more, all those things DO NOT HELP ME OR DO ME ANY GOOD at all.
And even if all the conspiracy theories are true – what good does it do? Most of the people believe the official stories and are increasingly fearful. There is no revolution out there and capitalism goes on, the rich getting richer, blablabla.....
I have noticed it here over the last days, some people are even afraid to walk by another on the street and cross the street in a hurry or they will immediately put up the mask if someone else walks by.
And I must admit, I sometimes even admire the people who still naively believe that politicians are doing all this to protect the populace and it is all for our ultimate good.
I would love to be able to view politicians with benevolence but usually I have to turn off the TV when they start talking bc I cannot stand it …..
So I am sort of torn – the one side of me believes the conspiracies and the deep state and ,well, just to watch the news seems to confirm that view.
And I get angry and desperate and helpless.
The other side wishes desperatly for salvation and spiritual enlightenment and when I tune into that more and more I realize that I should keep out of what is happening in the world right now and only focus on that – inner growth - spirituality.
But still I have to live in this world and seeing how fearful other people are sort of affects me too and makes me sad (I have to add, I am rather empathic and all too often soak up the energies around me too easily. Which is why I keep to myself as much as possible and have to avoid crowds – well social distancing makes that easier, haha)
So can anyone relate to what I wrote? What are your thoughts?
Thanks for reading all this and looking forward to hear from you

[BrotherInWaiting]

A very lovely post. I feel exactly the same as you in many ways. If I focus on nature, my own little world, my meditations and spiritual life -- nothing is wrong! If I read the papers and tune into the hive mind, I lose the ability to stay even tempered.

As I need to stay a little bit informed so as not to accidentally violate the changing legal situation -- I've found the best I can manage is avoiding the papers, just reading the government health announcements directly.

[Patrick]

I strongly believe that the best way to change things is for each of us to change from the inside first. By first cultivating a more loving attitude towards the external world, this external world will indeed become more lovable.

If we want peace outside we have to reach our own internal peace with the world first.

[Ashim]

Hi Margan.
I think many of us share the thoughts you expressed.
I found it helpful to be reminded that we are not responsible for others.
As Patrick suggested I believe that the transformation is of the self and that the world provides the mirror of experience.
Regarding the Covid believers, let them choose their own path.
It’s probably impossible to reason someone out of a belief if they have not employed reason in its acquisition.
It would appear that many individuals have been traumatised by the fear of death into patterns of self harming behaviour under the guise of “the common good”.

[Margan]

Thank you all so much for replying!
oh yeah, Brother, I also do that, haha... I usually switch to reading the teletext short announcements on my TV, since they are less fear-mongering and more to the point than the news due to limited space.
And yeah Patrick agree also on the inner work.
The thing is, when I posted that question I realized - I actually know what needs to be done. It is just that I keep flip-flopping in and out of states and would wish for more continuity in the spiritual sense .
And I also was curious whether someone would respond and what they would write.

[Margan]

Yeah Ashim, I find that I usually get angry (sort of automatically, first response) when I see someone approaching and in panic mode putting on their mask.
The anger has different reasons. Part of me feels egoically insulted ("dude, do I look like I transmit diseases?") , like I take it personally, and the other part is that I judge them for being so dumb and fearful....
I once even thought of talking to such person and saying "hey no fear, just by passing someon you will not catch virus" - and then I got that voice inside me saying "don't try to take away their fear". Bc some way or other they choose that fear and it is important for them to cling to it. Besides, if I talked to them they might get more panicky even - like talking and opening my mouth, who knows whatever monsters might jump out, haha!
on the other hand, I realized both sides are fearful. The part that believes the government and the official story is fearful of the virus. The conspiracy people (like me) are fearful of the government measures and our liberties taken away.

[Diana]

It is indeed a challenge to be aware of the corruption in this world, especially when one is empathic and can feel the fear, sadness, etc. of others. 

I am with BrotherInWaiting that connection to nature is a very good way to balance the pressures of this world. Just even walking outside and feeling the sun on my face, looking at the clouds and trees, the birds—changes my whole outlook and it is very noticeable when I have been up against the human drama in some way.

And as Patrick says, change happens within each of us. That is not to say there is no place for activism. But it sounds to me as though you are not interested in that sort of immersion in the human drama. This from Ra on being a Wanderer and the human drama:

12.28 ▶ Questioner: Are most of these from the fourth density? What density do they come from?

Ra: I am Ra. Few there are of fourth density. The largest number of Wanderers, as you call them, are of the sixth density. The desire to serve must be distorted towards a great deal of purity of mind and what you may call foolhardiness or bravery, depending upon your distortion complex judgment. The challenge/danger of the Wanderer is that it will forget its mission, become karmically involved, and thus be swept into the maelstrom from which it had incarnated to aid the destruction.

So, in my view, the idea is to stay focused on your own path, whatever that is. It might be something as general as wanting to continue to advance forward in any way. The evolution of consciousness is not a simple thing. There is always balancing. One may have made The Choice to be STO, but it's not that simple moving forward, as love and compassion ideally is balanced with wisdom, and these two sides of the same coin can seem paradoxical. 

Regarding conspiracies, I don't think there is any efficacy in ignoring what goes on this world. But acceptance—not necessarily agreement—is the key for STO as difficult as that can sometimes be; in other words, detachment from outcome. From Ra:

80.11 ▶ Questioner: Could I say, then, that implicit in the process of becoming adept is the possible partial polarization towards service to self because simply the adept becomes disassociated with many of his kind or like in the particular density which he inhabits?

Ra: I am Ra. This is likely to occur. The apparent happening is disassociation whether the truth is service to self and thus true disassociation from other-selves or service to others and thus true association with the heart of all other-selves and disassociation only from the illusory husks which prevent the adept from correctly perceiving the self and other-self as one.

80.12 ▶ Questioner: Then you say that this effect of disassociation on the service-to-others adept is a stumbling block or slowing process in reaching that goal which he aspires to? Is this correct?

Ra: I am Ra. This is incorrect. This disassociation from the miasma of illusion and misrepresentation of each and every distortion is a quite necessary portion of an adept’s path. It may be seen by others to be unfortunate.

[Minyatur]

I think it is definitely important to respect other people's anxieties. We literally all have some and the only way to reach a state of inner peace is by finding to be acceptant of the things we feel. So anxieties are not something to deny in oneself or others, but to instead appease and see that we can grow past them.

Regarding conspiracy theories, I had a similar realization as the one you've had, that they in fact do me no good. I think it is well to keep a skeptic mind and retain an ability to see beyond things as we are told them to consider different possibilities. But in the end, one of the issues I see prominent in the USA (as a Canadian) is that there such a strong disbelief in what the medias says that it gave rise to a conspiracy culture that is utterly lost in confusion. I think being honest with oneself oftentimes result in admitting that you can't really know what is going on. We live in a day and age where you can find anything you want to hear on the internet, go read information about why the Earth is flat and you might just get convinced people who think it isn't are utterly dumb and this applies to anything like diet or conspiracy theories. People write things in a way they attempt to make it convincing and conspiracy theories are a big rabbit hole of not actually knowing things but creating theories on expecting the worse and what this does is just create a deep culture of low energies where a whole lot of people are feeding one another. Then again, I realize this is actually rooted in deep anxieties and can come to understand why it happens. It is just not something I want to entertain within myself and instead have come to a point where I do consider the possibilities and release the need to know, follow my gut feeling when needed.

One my lessons of this year was really about silence. That in silence I have a much keener perception to see through the illusion, while from the moment I have become convinced by something and am attempting to overly pass it on to someone in a way I am convinced I am right, then it is unlikely that what I hold in my mind has any great value. There are little or perhaps no absolutes in our reality, nothing fixed or unchanging. Everything is in constant evolution, so it serves little to retain finite thoughts and constructs within one's mind.

Otherwise, like others said, focusing on your inner being and connecting with nature is to me the best one can do for your own well being and growth. Human constructs are a whole mess of confused ideas and emotions, while nature is our greatest teacher. I especially am fond of the night, like nightly trips to a mountain, because I feel the night under a starry sky opens oneself to the cosmos and its mysteries.

[zedro]

I know it's not reassuring but it needs to be understood and eventually accepted, that the STS path consorts also get their kick at the can so to speak, and there is a devine history that got us to this point. Don't forget, there are 2 separate (yet intertwined) harvests going on, and certain things need to play out.

I agree with the above posters, and figuring out our path in all of this mess will be the ultimate challenge. And remember, you can only truly help/advise those that want to be helped....the Law of Confusion is applicable at any level, so discernment is key.

[Louisabell]

Yeah Ashim, I find that I usually get angry (sort of automatically, first response) when I see someone approaching and in panic mode putting on their mask.
The anger has different reasons. Part of me feels egoically insulted ("dude, do I look like I transmit diseases?") , like I take it personally, and the other part is that I judge them for being so dumb and fearful....
I once even thought of talking to such person and saying "hey no fear, just by passing someon you will not catch virus" - and then I got that voice inside me saying "don't try to take away their fear". Bc some way or other they choose that fear and it is important for them to cling to it. Besides, if I talked to them they might get more panicky even - like talking and opening my mouth, who knows whatever monsters might jump out, haha!
on the other hand, I realized both sides are fearful. The part that believes the government and the official story is fearful of the virus. The conspiracy people (like me) are fearful of the government measures and our liberties taken away.

Hi Margan. I think that during this time when there are such divergent narratives and thought tunnels, that we invoke that quality of grace when dealing with others. Perhaps this other person you cross on the street is quickly putting on a mask in order to be considerate of you, with the intention of protecting you incase they transmit the disease to you. Inwhich case, what you are perceiving as a selfish fear response is actually a show of communal responsibility. So, perhaps there are other sides to consider. You might prefer for the other-self to come up to you, big smiles and shaking hands, but it is not for us to dictate what another self should do.

The catalyst that is provided to us is not good or bad. It is through the development of faith that we may come to live as though everything that is put in our path is here to serve our highest good. The power of faith then makes it so, as we work with our catalyst until it becomes a positive learning experience that helps us progress on our path. So, when the recent turn of events are causing internal struggle, I would be asking myself what this is showing you about yourself? Perhaps consider what this pandemic is telling you about your relationship to liberty, freedom, respecting freewill, self-protection, and the list goes on. This is what Ra would call efficient use of catalyst.

Ra: ... Therefore, we offer the question back to you to state that indeed it is the only activity worth doing: to learn/teach or teach/learn. There is nothing else which is of aid in demonstrating the Original Thought except your very being ...

It might also help to consider how our incarnations are but short excursions from the infinity from which we came, and for which we will return to again. This may help alleviate some of the heaviness of confusion that we currently find ourselves in.

Ra: ... We can only ask each group to consider the relative effect of philosophy and your so-called specific information. It is not the specificity of the information which attracts negative influences. It is the importance placed upon it.

This is why we iterate quite often, when asked for specific information, that it pales to insignificance, just as the grass withers and dies while the love and the light of the One Infinite Creator redounds to the very infinite realms of creation forever and ever, creating and creating itself in perpetuity.

Why then be concerned with the grass that blooms, withers and dies in its season only to grow once again due to the infinite love and light of the One Creator? This is the message we bring. Each entity is only superficially that which blooms and dies. In the deeper sense there is no end to beingness.

[flofrog]

Greetings Margan, and welcome here.

As you, around 2001 I started to delve a bit into conspiracy theories. After a few months I realized how it used to drain my energies so deeply. I had to deal with my fear as I used to do before which was nature and mediations and spiritual readings and my balance came back. I understand that it is attractive for many because outside events are so chaotic, but it's true that, ultimately, it's the inward path and inward work which builds us.

safe and happy journey Margan,

[Glow]

I would suggest you speak to people outside the United States where Covid has not been politicized.

I am fortunate to be in one of those countries, have a science background, and have actual epidemiologist clients so have had many enlightenment conversations with no conspiracy or political basis.

From here what is so hard about trusting science.
The countries that have, have done way better than the conspiracy anti mask countries.

Perhaps the actual conspiracy is the disinformation you all have been spoon fed.

It certainly has led to way more cases per capita.

Admittedly I’m getting pretty frustrated by science denial.

Masks for instance are worn to protect healthy people from asymptotic carriers of the virus. It is NOT fearful to wear a mask it is LOVE for others.
It contains each wearers exhaled microbes so OTHERSELVES are not exposed. The mask is love not fear.

If everyone had sucked it up. Done the bare minimum to protect others and worn masks for max 2-3 months this virus would have been kept to a small population, controlled, contained and life allowed to carry on within communities for the most part.

It’s really been selfishness and the anti science disinformation that are the negative influence here.

If we all had done the bare minimum greenray care for one another over our personal preferences this would all be over. Is that a conspiracy no it is just really kind of sad and frustrating truth of human nature. 3D life.

4D the zombies try not to bite others
3D the zombies care about their personal freedom to expose others

[flofrog]

I wear my mask because I don’t know if I am not without symptom, I wouldn’t want to infect anyone , I have seen the first strong symptoms on a friend four months ago and I don’t wish that on anyone.

Whoa Glow, passion..

[Glow]

I now know a 30 year old who’s first symptom was a stroke. It’s not fear to wear a mask it’s love,

Like we try to protect each other from our distortions that may harm others emotionally this is one way to protect others physically.

[flofrog]

If anyone follows what a nurse in ICU has lived through this last year, it’s heartbreaking.

[ada]

Hi Margan, I somewhat do relate, some time ago I was also exposed to a lot of conspiracy theories and everywhere I looked it only kept confirming every suspicion that I had and it felt like it was inescapable.
But then I also started listening to the opposite side of those conspiracies and it made just as much sense.
I think what I gained from this, is the ability to relate to someone if they also fall into these confusing things, and perhaps offer some light of peace.
Regardless, I agree with you that whether these things are true or not, it does us no good at all. For example, a friend of mine became exposed to a lot of conspiracy theories via YT that the earth is flat, we talked about this for days and days and they were quite convinced, and I understood why. But next convid-19 started, and to no surprise they again became exposed to all of these fearful and doubtful ideas. And now they are expecting a baby and they do not want to vaccinate them out of the same fear and doubt, that it may cause autism or even death. So you can see how this does no good.
Regarding pharma, I just don't see how different groups of people around the world who don't even get along, who are already rich, would collaborate something that would harm them and their close ones as well. Like I said, try and look into the counter part of all this, it would make as much sense. Those who work and develop the vaccine are young regular people who just want to do good with their skill and knowledge. And perhaps their CEO's do want to get rich, but who cares, let them have what material things that they want, it shouldn't affect your heart, you see.

[zedro]

Well this deviated from the OPs question into what ever peoples individual beliefs are fairly quick.

To maybe put this into perspective, do people here realize that the LOO material is just a giant conspiracy theory that involves a metaphysical battle for the fate of the planet's "polarity" of biblical proportions between the STO 'good guys' 'Confederation of saviours' vs the STS 'bad guys' Orion Federation of 'slave drivers', with Light warriors swooping into the "3rd density" plane to save the planet against the "higher density demonic" entities who seek to influence the current earth institutional controllers and anyone who is susceptible to their dark agenda? And not only that, but this reaches epic proportions every few thousand years too boot?

Think about how people may judge your 'beliefs' lol...

[ada]

Well, OP's question was "Can anyone relate to what I wrote? What are your thoughts?"

They asked for our relation and our thoughts, we all relate differently and our thoughts are based on beliefs. It just is what it is, it's how we as limited humans communicate.

I did not feel any resentment or personal negative judgment toward OP from any of the posters, at least from my point of view.

Regarding the LOO being a conspiracy theory, I guess it's not entirely wrong. But then again what or who does it conspire against, what does the material point to? I think it points to overall positive and good thoughts and views regarding existence, that all is well. It's true that there were some questions regarding more darker aspects, but it was stated again and again that it is transient and non important. It's really up to you.

[zedro]

Ada, I did not suggest any resentment towards anyone, I was not particularly responding to anyone, and I think you completely missed my point. It's more about the diverging of the main point of the thread, the overall irony exemplified thru that divergence, and the presumptions people make, and I'll just leave it at that.

[ada]

I understand, I don't know why I used those specific words. Apologies.

[flofrog]

L

Well this deviated from the OPs question into what ever peoples individual beliefs are fairly quick.

To maybe put this into perspective, do people here realize that the LOO material is just a giant conspiracy theory that involves a metaphysical battle for the fate of the planet's "polarity" of biblical proportions between the STO 'good guys' 'Federation of saviours' vs the STS 'bad guys' Orion Confederation of 'slave drivers', with Light warriors swooping into the "3rd density" plane to save the planet against the "higher density demonic" entities who seek to influence the current earth institutional controllers and anyone who is susceptible to their dark agenda? And not only that, but this reaches epic proportions every few thousand years too boot?

Think about how people may judge your 'beliefs' lol...

I think that’s a very good point Zedro, and I remember when I read the first mention of Orion Group and the quarantine, I was like opening my eyes in some disbelief. So, to me, superficially it looked something like that too. But then as I continued, and re-read often the Ra material, I was struck with how much the material was about metaphysics, respect of the metaphysical choice, and how love, to me was pervading the whole read. I also could see how Orion was not at the center of that many sessions and the material was way more over things that were of interest to me.

Again this is my personal view, and how it helps my quest, so I guess I just took from the Ra material what I needed and was less interested in some other points.

I would just add for myself, getting back to the OP, that having read for a few months conspiracy theories, back in 2001, when my daughter was in a dorm a few blocks from the NY destroyed twin towers, I have no regrets because I think it’s healthy to check all kind of subjects when you search for something. But I did get from that time how much the conspiracy material, for me, activated not just excitement but fear, how addictive it was, so how my mind was slowly becoming obsessed with it, and how it described things in groups which were somehow, at least to me, very ‘abstracted’. Everything started to look as an extremely fearful explanation of the world, with always prediction of a positive outcome happening in the next few weeks, which wouldn’t materialize. Mostly when I look back, I remember feeling there was a lot of hate against abstract ‘dark ‘ groups. So to me there was nothing constructive there, nothing specific I could do to be useful. Again this is my own personal journey, I see the power it can have, and to everyone their quest.

To me, and again I am only expressing my own view, and don’t wish to encourage anyone to partake of it,
I feel that if there are dark designs, they are more scattered, fewer of them, certainly very hidden and not talked about, and the balance is way more towards I would say peace, even though we live through catalysts all the time. But again that is only me.

[Ohr Ein Sof]

Orion "Federation" or Group
The "Confederation" of Planets of The One Infinite Creator
Just to be sure the verbiage is correct so that if anyone should read they understand the difference.

[confusedseeker]

It's great to be spiritual................until you get a knock on the door, or you see 50% of your paycheck being taken away, or your family member has to go off to a pointless war. Just saying......

[Asolsutsesvyl]

My personal perspective is that the conspiracy part of human life on this planet is smaller than the mess as a whole.

What's the whole like? From the times of anicent Greece, and before that, people have - in large part - been unable to understand the difference between good-sounding words and something real and substantial. That's why people chooose the leaders they do. It's a multi-millennial pattern, and it probably won't change unless/until human nature fundamentally changes.

At one point, in ancient Greeece, philosophers (there was no distinction between philosophy and science back then) had to make the distinction between themselves, on the one hand, and the sophists who were all about slick rhetoric, on the other hand. The ancient PR-people called sophists superficially sounded like philosophers concerned with truth, but were only interested in winning debates for power and status.

Most people were unable to tell the difference between the two types of speakers. It has remained that way to the present. It's a basic problem with the human brain, compared to what humans think about how humans are. It won't change unless DNA and brain-wiring greatly changes, i.e. there's no practical hope for it.

So, to borrow the title of a track from "Jim Kent +"'s music, We're All Bozos On This Bus. Well, some are much more careful with their thinking than most, slow and plodding and doubting themselves, but that's not how the decisions of big societies are made. On the grand scale, it all unfolds like monkey-business, in a short-sighted way. Because that's simply how humanity is.

People who care a lot and can think more carefully can be a little like a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. "Wonko the Sane" came to understand how insane the world is, and then built an inside-out house to be like an asylum for the world. It was only symbolic, of course, and individuals can likewise in most cases mainly provide something for the world inwardly, but it's well, a manifestation of caring in a way which matters existentially for those who are more deeply alive in that way.

[unity100]

I have been into conspiracy theories for at least 10 years now – it started out of curiosity and of course like many others, I saw that what politicians talk about and what they actually do does clash a lot of times. And conspiracy theories offer explanations which many times seem more logical than the „official stories“ (9/11 etc).

That is a phenomenon mainly in Angloamerican countries (namely US and UK), especially in US, where lying has no legal consequences. You can lie your way to hell, and when challenged in court, you can enter the court and bluntly say that you lied, and deny any claim you made, and you can again start lying the moment you exit the courtroom. There is no legal repercussion.

That is why not only lying in politics, but also lying in everything else is a very lucrative option for a career or money:

https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechcons...7476096429

One single operator - just one example - is making $30,000/month by selling ads from his website where he dispenses conspiracy theories. And that is saying something because making money via selling ads is very difficult since a decade or more because ads are very inefficient. They pay dimes. To be able to make $30k/month from such ads, the person must be getting an insane amount of traffic to his site. Which he already explains in the interview.

And these people must come up with fresh content every other month or readers will get bored. Hence the seemingly endless array of conspiracies which just seem to be popping up.

The reality is that, no human, organization, nor entire states on this planet can conspire that much. Its just not humanely possible. Neither possible from an organization standpoint. Things just dont move that fast.

So overwhelming majority of what conspiracionists sell is just bullsh*t.

And the actual conspiracies are pretty boring and obvious:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/s...et-allende

Nixon giving CIA $10 million in 1973 to create an economic crisis in Chile to delegitimize its socialist government and stage a coup because the socialist government had the audacity to try rising the minimum wage a few dollars and this upset Pepsi-Cola company's fruit picking operation in Chile.

Old and boring. Doesnt sell.

But 'imminent mass arrests', 'conservative hero X fighting the deep state without anyone knowing', 'pending alien invasion' (though not as popular as it used to), 'chips in X' (head, body, vaccine, shoe, whatever) are much less boring.

So you end up with the cesspit that is the conspiracy theory-sphere.

...

Therefore your conclusion is correct:

Much better to tune out of such nonsense and concentrate on bettering oneself, the society, moving forward. It actually produces results. Even if through little steps. It just works.

Listening to profiteers getting rich over gullibility of people and waiting things to happen - doesnt work.

And there is little need for following such sources for truth anyways, for there is little need for the negatively polarized to mount such conspiracies because negative acts can be committed in the open and with praise:

CEO which fires half of company employees and makes the rest work twice as much gets applauded for cutting costs in half and gets interviews printed in financial magazines.

The establishment bails out the stock market as tens of millions are unemployed, without healthcare and food.

Conservative military-industry figure who advocated for Iraq war advocates more military spending and he is considered 'protecting the nation'.

Invasive spying and anti-freedom laws are for 'security'.

Healthcare lobbies sell people dying out if they cant pay for healthcare as 'choice', and it is considered 'freedom'.

Actual neonazis wearing actual nazi symbols saying how killing 6 million people was not enough, talk and organize openly.

People willingly carry a device which can listen in on their every conversation, track their location, altitude, even the humidity in their location along with them everywhere.

Where is the need for any conspiracy in such an environment?

You even know the routine drill of "There are *repressed* democracy-loving *freedom fighters* in *country X*, we must liberate them". After which comes the invasion, bombing or at least, ample amounts of taxpayer money going to extremists abroad. Even that's not a conspiracy anymore and those who propagate it feel absolutely no need to do anything hidden. They just say those stuff to justify what they are going to do, which they are going to do anyway. So...

...

Therefore there is absolutely no need to waste any time, and even less, spiritual energy on such conspiracy-theory hobbies. Leave aside put one's hopes in them.

Even taking little steps to do good for the society, oneself, loved ones, is much, much better use of someone's time.

If you want a pastime in a similar direction, just read history articles at Wikipedia. They are extremely well fleshed out, details are pretty solid, there is enough actual conspiracy and gore (the medieval feudal history was pretty treacherous), a lot of protagonists, a lot of events, a lot of incredible stuff happening, extremely good reads. And you end up with a lot of knowledge, which over time leads to a pretty sharp understanding of history and society and how things work.

Wikipedia is pretty solid as a source in contrast to what those who are against it for contradicting their narrative says: an average article at Wikipedia has more references than an average master's thesis, and that is a major reason why using Wikipedia is banned in many universities because students just cheat by copy/pasting articles and changing a few paragraphs and references, instead of doing their own research for their own thesis.

[Margan]

Thanks all for your input!
I may not agree with everything being posted, but I do appreciate people taking the time and adding their thoughts on the subject.
I think no one has the full picture but everyone provides a piece of the puzzle to this mystery we call life.
And as you all know "the truth is out there" (spooky music)
or is it "in here"

[confusedseeker]

The first thing you should do is research the term "conspiracy theory" and learn why it was created. There is a reason so much stuff simply gets dismissed as "conspiracy." They don't want us thinking for ourselves.

[Diana]

I'm curious what opinions are regarding censorship of "conspiracy theorists" such as David Icke on the Internet/social media. I'm not asking if you believe anything he says. I'm asking what you think of censoring alternative news/views (mostly cropped up now because of COVID).

I'm not looking for conflict here, and we don't have to agree. I'm just curious as to others' thoughts on the issue. 

[zedro]

I'm curious what opinions are regarding censorship of "conspiracy theorists" such as David Icke on the Internet/social media. I'm not asking if you believe anything he says. I'm asking what you think of censoring alternative news/views (mostly cropped up now because of COVID).

I'm not looking for conflict here, and we don't have to agree. I'm just curious as to others' thoughts on the issue. 

Control of narrative through force is a type of infringement on free will. The notion that ideas are dangerous and should be controlled by an apparent authority has a very poor historical record (to put it mildly). That being said, purposely creating false information also falls under the same principals of infringement, so in both cases it's the consequential nature that creates the 'degree' of karma and polarization..

[confusedseeker]

I'm curious what opinions are regarding censorship of "conspiracy theorists" such as David Icke on the Internet/social media. I'm not asking if you believe anything he says. I'm asking what you think of censoring alternative news/views (mostly cropped up now because of COVID).

I'm not looking for conflict here, and we don't have to agree. I'm just curious as to others' thoughts on the issue. 

To me, free speech is absolutely paramount. Without freedom of expression and ideas, what do we have? Yikes. Tech censorship is scary, and we should all be against it imo.