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Should We Believe the Trump Assassination Attempt Was Staged?
At what point does “conspiratorial thinking” actually lose credibility?
The gold standard for truth claims are those that can be tested repeatedly, and by anyone.
For instance, Archimedes’ Principle states that, in order for an object to float, it must displace water (i.e. by raising the water level) equal to its own weight. And this claim meets the gold standard, because anyone can test it at any time — as long as they have access to some simple objects, like a tub that can be filled with water, a scale, and something that can float in the tub. And every time you test it, it will always work!
And because it meets the gold standard, there isn’t really anybody who ever tries to dispute Archimedes’ Principle.
But if a claim isn’t so easily testable, it may garner controversy — for example, the claim that the Earth is round.
Now to be clear, I am not a “flat Earther”, and I do believe the Earth is round.
But I think it’s useful to realize why some people fight this claim. And the reason is, because it’s not a very easy claim to test for an average person, in the course of a typical day.
