# SARS-CoV-2: conspiracy theories and politics

**URL:** <https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/sars-cov-2-conspiracy-theories-and-politics/13901>\
**Category:** Side Conversation\
**Created:** [June 25, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/sars-cov-2-conspiracy-theories-and-politics/13901 "2021-06-25T19:50:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 24

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**Author:** ![BrianLopez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BrianLopez](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/BrianLopez)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 2:39pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/sars-cov-2-conspiracy-theories-and-politics/13901/24 "2021-06-26T14:39:20Z")

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> [glipsnort](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/glipsnort)[Steve Schaffner](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/glipsnort)Computational Biologist
> 
> ![](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.peacefulscience.org/faizal_ali/25/3277_2.png "Faizal\_Ali")Faizal\_Ali
> 
> [5m](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/about-the-origin-of-sars-cov-2/13771/262)
> 
> > [@Faizal\_Ali](#):
> >
> > By those criteria the claim that the moon landings were faked is not a conspiracy theory.
> 
> No, that’s really not correct. Wikipedia has a decent article on the characteristics of conspiracy theories. It’s not a conspiracy theory to think that a president’s press spokesman is lying about something, or that a company representative isn’t being completely honest about the company’s liability for an accident.
> 
> What you’re doing is hindering discussion, not helping it.

I do not mean to directly disagree with any of you two, I would just like to add that a non-fringe conspiracy is sometimes misinterpreted and misrepresented by amateurs and cracks on the Internet and they come up with fringe conspiracy theories out of them. So, when there really is a non-fringe conspiracy, it is bound to be muddied by conspiracy theorists who will spin it into their delusionary analysis. But, of course, we also get conspiracy theories out of mundane issues: snowballs not melting, therefore it contains plastic and sent by Bill Gates, or that if you get vaccinated, you will get a magnetic arm [and people producing fake videos showing 3 tablespoons being stuck on a vaccinated arm]. There are some academic books on Conspiracy Theories, but I have yet to read them, I’ve only collected them thus far.

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