A couple of people over on LinkedIn tried to persuade me that Covid 19 is a big conspiracy. After assuming good intent and trying to reason about illness, science, and just plain decency when people are suffering, I concluded I was wasting my time and moved on.
My lingering thought is about conspiracy theories:
Fact: People really struggle to keep secrets.
How plausible is it that a conspiracy of the magnitude of Covid 19 wouldn’t have a single whistleblower or indiscreet participant? Not one leaked document or dataset in a whole year, across the entire globe, not one iota of fact/evidence to support the idea of a conspiracy?!
Fact: it’s hard to a group of people to agree on political matters.
How plausible is it that all of these people across national, political, and religious divides would find sufficient unity of purpose to act as one?
Fact: People make mistakes.
How plausible is it that all the world’s scientists are wrong, and I, (insert random person’s non-healthcare or science occupation), am right? And I’m so sure I’m right that I will neither wear a mask nor physically distance, even though those experts tell me others may die because of what I do.
Susanne Kromberg's Musings 
I like your challenging and eye-opening questions! Thank you – they are very helpful, dear Susanne
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