Stellafane
Village Idiot.
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 8,368
Yes and no
I agree with your sentiments to a certain extent. Debate is good, so long as it is honest. The problem is, I do not believe most CT'ers are in fact honest in their debate. They repeat the same unverified, totally debunked claims over and over, and either shout down, condemn, or ignore the responses that prove them wrong. In fact, they do all in their power to stifle true debate, banning people for no other reason than they disagree with the CT orthodoxy (such as it is). It's impossible to respect anyone who does this.
Finally, I must frankly question how much serious attention CT'ers actually merit. For example, imagine that I started a baseless rumor that you are a dog-kicking drunk who cheats on his taxes and sleeps with sheep. And no matter how much evidence you provided to the contrary, my cronies and I kept spreading these rumors across the internet. Would you still feel that both sides of the "debate" deserved widespread public airing and attention? Some theories are too stupid to deserve consideration, and for me, the 9/11 "Bush did it" theory is very much one of them.
By the way, regardless of which side is right in this debate, I think only a positive result can come from it becoming widly known and widely debated. If it is a governmental conspiracy, the reasons are obvious why that should be known. If it is just a bunch of conspiracy theorists who got all freaked out because they think they have evidence of a cover up, it's also good that the debate becomes more public so that those who get caught up in the conspiracy will be confronted with the truth.
I agree with your sentiments to a certain extent. Debate is good, so long as it is honest. The problem is, I do not believe most CT'ers are in fact honest in their debate. They repeat the same unverified, totally debunked claims over and over, and either shout down, condemn, or ignore the responses that prove them wrong. In fact, they do all in their power to stifle true debate, banning people for no other reason than they disagree with the CT orthodoxy (such as it is). It's impossible to respect anyone who does this.
Finally, I must frankly question how much serious attention CT'ers actually merit. For example, imagine that I started a baseless rumor that you are a dog-kicking drunk who cheats on his taxes and sleeps with sheep. And no matter how much evidence you provided to the contrary, my cronies and I kept spreading these rumors across the internet. Would you still feel that both sides of the "debate" deserved widespread public airing and attention? Some theories are too stupid to deserve consideration, and for me, the 9/11 "Bush did it" theory is very much one of them.
