SO THIS PERSON I recently un-friended on FB and in IRL DM’ed me again, sending me a screenshot from an official WHO document that talks about simulations and exercises to increase preparedness in case of a pandemic (including preparing for a deliberate release of pathogens, i.e. bio terrorism or warfare). They insisted this was proof that „the virus was a planned thing!“ They also asked me how to put this screenshot up on Wikipedia (I’m not making this up).
I pointed out to the person that the document needn’t be put on Wikipedia, because it’s an official WHO document that’s freely available on the WHO website and provided them with the URL. I am not even certain that they knew where their own screenshot was pulled from, or whether they made any attempt at all to locate it themselves (it took me all of 90 seconds to find the document in question).
Since the person is Polish-German, I wondered whether their English might maybe a bit rusty, so I translated that part from the screenshot they sent me into German. They came back insisting that MY TRANSLATION is a proof that „the virus“ was planned and released purposefully (again, not kidding).
I explained as politely as I could that they cannot just lift a few words out of context and then construct a new meaning from them that fits their crude worldview. I also expressed my concern that they might have lost their ability for logical reasoning, to which they lengthily replied that they believe LOGICAL REASONING is the source of a lot of suffering, and that they therefore rather FEEL instead of reason. This person is an IT professional, btw. I am uncertain how an IT professional can function with this kind of belief system.
I told them that I unfriended them for a reason and that I do not wish to continue this line of discussion, because I’ve had enough tinfoil this year and can’t take any more of it in my private life. This probably won’t be the end of it, though.
When 2020 showed me one thing then it’s that there are so many more poor thinkers out there than I had ever imagined. This is a real problem and a real threat. Logical reasoning and being aware of one’s own biases needs to be made top priority in education going forward, but I’m afraid that’s not going to happen. It would require to officially acknowledge that a large portion of everyday people are mentally unprepared. Which would inevitably lead to the cancellation of the politician or public figure who said it first. And just for the record, I’m talking about both left- and right-leaning people, both sides of the aisle are affected.
I’m afraid democracy breaks down when a very large portion of the populace can’t think straight even if their life depended on it.