• Question: Are there ny conspiracy theories that you believe in e.g. The flat earth theory or the theory that the earth is flat?

    Asked by anon-186306 to Verity, Trystan, Raquel, Danny, Catherine, Andy on 11 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Danny Ward

      Danny Ward answered on 11 Nov 2018:

      I don’t believe in conspiracy theories. As a scientist, I need solid hard proof before I really believe anything. It can be interesting to see what conspiracy theories are out there and why people may believe them but I personally don’t.

    • Photo: Verity Hill

      Verity Hill answered on 11 Nov 2018: last edited 11 Nov 2018 10:27 pm

      Nah, it’s much more fun to look at conspiracy theories in fiction where there’s an answer. Although my favourite conspiracy theory is that Finland doesn’t exist just because it’s so bizarre.

      Does Finland Exist? Many Don’t Think So

    • Photo: Trystan Leng

      Trystan Leng answered on 12 Nov 2018:

      I don’t believe any conspiracy theories – but I think they are really interesting. I think by comparing conspiracy theories and scientific theories, we can actually learn a lot about the scientific method, and how science works. Conspiracy theories often work by compiling evidence for a certain position, like the earth is flat. Contradictory evidence is either not considered, or dismissed as being some sort of ‘cover up’.

      This is completely different to how we make theories in science. Actually in science, we are more in the business of trying to disprove things than prove things. We design experiments to disprove hypotheses, not prove them. Only when we can’t disprove them, we tentatively accept that position. But we are always open to new evidence that might disprove this at a later time.

      So one quick question you can ask which can tell if someone is making a scientific claim or not is this – how would I disprove what you have said? Conspiracy theories don’t have an answer to this.

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