In today’s endless 24-hour news cycles, buzz about “disinformation” and “conspiracy theories” often dominate the headlines. So-called “fact checkers,” write blanket denials when new information comes to light. They are not so much checking facts as simply dismissing or ignoring the peer-reviewed science or expert testimony that contradicts the public health status quo.
The term “skeptics” is used to refer to people who questioned authority and made a point of being continually curious (“skepeo” in Greek means “I reserve final judgment”). Today, however, many of these self-appointed “skeptics” seem to be little more than mouthpieces for the corporate world, especially pharmaceutical companies.
For example, one former obstetrician who calls herself a “skeptical OB,” routinely writes about why breastfeeding is not good for babies, a claim that benefits the formula industry, even as it flies in the face of literally thousands of peer-reviewed scientific articles about the health benefits of breastfeeding.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a conspiracy theory as: “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.”
It’s easy to dismiss something that sounds too implausible to be true as a nonsense “conspiracy theory.”
But the truth is that powerful corporations and governments that profit off of other people’s misery often do conspire in secret when their profit margins are threatened.
In fact, there are many, many examples from recent history of so-called conspiracy theories that have actually turned out to be true.
