How would you debunk a conspiracy theorist who claims that the world population is not nearly 8 billion people, but rather something closer to 100 million?
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How would you debunk a conspiracy theorist who claims that the world population is not nearly 8 billion people, but rather something closer to 100 million?
Obversly, what evidence might make the hairs stand up on your neck and you think maybe this crank is right?
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How would you debunk a conspiracy theorist who claims that the world population is not nearly 8 billion people, but rather something closer to 100 million?
Obversly, what evidence might make the hairs stand up on your neck and you think maybe this crank is right?
@futurebird do they think it's an across-the-board overstated number, or do they specifically not believe anyone lives in China/India/Nigeria etc? Because I'm entertained both by the idea that 5% of the world lives in NZ, or that less than 100k do (I'd say the former was more likely, if I had to pick)
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@futurebird do they think it's an across-the-board overstated number, or do they specifically not believe anyone lives in China/India/Nigeria etc? Because I'm entertained both by the idea that 5% of the world lives in NZ, or that less than 100k do (I'd say the former was more likely, if I had to pick)
Mostly it’s underestimation. But there would need to be places that don’t exist on the same scale. But the lies about additional cities are localized: so people in China think the US has more cities with 1 million than we really do, and people in the US think the same of China.
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How would you debunk a conspiracy theorist who claims that the world population is not nearly 8 billion people, but rather something closer to 100 million?
Obversly, what evidence might make the hairs stand up on your neck and you think maybe this crank is right?
@futurebird actually I'm afraid that disinformation claim will turn out to be connected to eugenics.
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Mostly it’s underestimation. But there would need to be places that don’t exist on the same scale. But the lies about additional cities are localized: so people in China think the US has more cities with 1 million than we really do, and people in the US think the same of China.
@futurebird that's such a strange one - I can sort of see why someone would think that kind of thing, but also I don't know what the purpose of the conspiracy would be
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@futurebird that's such a strange one - I can sort of see why someone would think that kind of thing, but also I don't know what the purpose of the conspiracy would be
As soon as it’s obvious a conspiracy has a purpose it’s no longer interesting because it’s not an uncovered hidden truth (a rare thing that can exist) but rather a constructed rationalization for whatever hobby horse really gets the “theorist” going-
