It is (almost) always a package deal from all sides, because humans feel better when they are parts of a tribe.

I agree that this is not a beneficial trait at this stage of our evolution, but it once was.

Censorship can only reinforce the alienation and thus the internal cohesion of any tribe.

Let them live and thrive and more importantly, let them counter each other.

How do you deal with how so much of our current values were once persecuted as misinformation?

Careful though: we don't have any way of knowing with remotely any accuracy what the conspiracy theory world is composed of, or what conspiracy theorists believe, we only can go on what others (often very persuasively) say about them.

Believe what you'd like, but at least have some realization of what's really going on.

Conspiracy theorists have entire ecosystems of boards and forums where they themselves discuss what they believe, and they often spread their beliefs openly. The premise that "the conspiracy theory world" is a black box is ridiculous.

> Conspiracy theorists have entire ecosystems of boards and forums where they themselves discuss what they believe, and they often spread their beliefs openly.

Some of them do.

> The premise that "the conspiracy theory world" is a black box is ridiculous.

It is indeed - did you notice that it wasn't me who said that?

You are bot criticizing conspiracy theorists, you are criticizing your internal representation of them, that's why you make unforced errors: what you see is not the thing itself.

It is painful having to explain this to people over and over, and having them laugh as if it's some sort of a pseudo-scientific conspiracy theory - it is literally a scientific fact.

> Believe what you'd like, but at least have some realization of what's really going on.

What's really going on, though?

Depends how technical you want to get with your terms, like "really" and "is". :)

I get the Bill Clinton reference, but to be fair, these were your terms.