I'm not saying all conspiracy theories are wrong nor should they be dismissed. But a huge problem I have with this kind of thinking is its mostly anti-scientific. Instead of looking at the facts and drawing conclusions, typically people with this kind of thinking have drawn conclusions and then find evidence to support it. Example: the whole COVID-19 plandemic theory that governments around the world conspired to make a pandemic and then use the opportunity to implement authoritarian rule over people. Typically, these people already held the view that governments are waiting for the opportunity to tighten their grips, power hungry monsters, etc. Then when the pandemic happened and governments *did* employ authoritarian measures, it fit their narrative and so it must be true. But now in 2024, we can see they were wrong. The world didn't slip into full on authoritarianism as they said they would with vaccine passports still in effect, police check points, bread lines, etc. Should governments have this kind of power? Were the authoritarian measures justified or worth it? Those are different questions. But the point stands, I find in Bitcoin/Nostr communities this kind of thinking pervasive. If holding this opinion makes me an NPC then so be it.