Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
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Notes -
It's been a while since I've done one of these- what's a small scale conspiracy theory you're willing to go to bat for?
Now, by 'small scale conspiracy theory' I do not mean grand unified theories of the jewlluminati or lizard people, or major government direction, or whatever. It's small-scale.
Some things I think are likely true-
The 'Marriage penalty' in US welfare law is- or was- an intentional experiment to prove that marriage was outmoded in late-industrial societies. It fits the zeitgeist of the time and we know there were other reckless experiments going on in first world countries(like German pedophiles). It was not based on the assumption that single mothers need the help more.
Coyote predation on small children is far more common in the USA than commonly acknowledged(note that a huge increase over a trivial base is still trivial), and those toddlers who just disappear and everyone assumes the parents killed them but they're never charged because nobody ever finds the body were mostly snatched by coyotes. Wildlife departments and law enforcement agencies prefer to cover this up to discourage reprisals by poisoning, which has substantial knock on effects. The only confirmed coyote kill of a child(there is also a case of a hippie musician who wandered near a den, but this probably wasn't a predatory attack) was interrupted during the attack rendering it undeniable.
Conventional health wisdom overstates effect sizes because it originated in attempts to explain the rise of chronic disease in the mid twentieth century. In reality, these diseases became common because people lived long enough to get them(largely due to reduced disease burden), with effects from rising waistlines, sedentary lifestyles, etc.
Another one:
I think CTE is kind of a fake or exaggerated concept. It might have some relevance to boxers or NFL players, and even that seems sketchy to me. But it's vastly exaggerated how much getting hit in the head in casual ways by ordinary people is going to hurt you long term. It just doesn't add up when you consider how common getting punched in the head in a fight, or falling off something, or playing some form of tackle football, or fighting in a war, or getting thrown by a horse was throughout history. While everyone has always understood that a sufficiently hard kick to the head by a donkey will make a man retarded, there's no enduring folk wisdom of head shots making men change over time.
I tend to think it's an easy medicalized explanation for how men who are selected for their utility at violence are increasingly out of step with the world.
That's funny. My low-key conspiracy on CTE (and brain damage more broadly) is that it's actually far more common than anybody really wants to admit.
Around me, nearly everyone has stories about the normal guy who got a little "funny" over time. A lot of them are veterans or guys who work jobs that officially require hard hats but they don't wear them. I can't rule out things like PTSD or late onset schizophrenia. However, when the arty guy who got out of the army and immediately started working as a framer eventually loses the ability to remember what he had for breakfast or pronounce "penance", I can't help but think something somatic is involved.
Not a conspiracy theory (well, sort of).
TBI is shockingly common (especially in the military) and not shockingly...it is very bad for you.
TBIs aren't CTE, but damage to personality, substrate, and function from injuries is a known issue in the military and elsewhere.
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