Those we place in the box of 'conspiracy theorist' usually have their bullshit sensor on sensitive, and rightfully so. They're kinda like the first line of defense and we need these critical thinking guards on duty.
Uncanny that my bullshit sensor is also extra sensitive when listening to what conspiracy theorists have to say.
Who you consider to be "critical thinking guards" I consider to be "armchair experts," those who taught themselves just enough broad principles of physics, chemistry, history, psychology, whatever else, to argue a point that can't be opposed by those who haven't. They have usually convinced themselves they have a deeper than superficial understanding of their subject, which is a critical flaw that is easily exposed by actual experts on whatever the subject may be.
You see this type of effect on display here on the forum quite often; most obviously is when a hack like anonymint or franky1 would make a novel but obtuse hypothesis about the inner-workings of bitcoin and then be quickly shut down by Carlton Banks or gmaxwell or somebody else who actually knows what they are talking about.
I'm not saying I'm particularly smarter than anybody, but I know enough to recognize and respect the diligence involved in mastering a discipline as opposed to reading a book or watching a YouTube documentary then resting on the laurels of having convinced oneself that they know things.
