Conspiracies and conspiracy theories are two very different things. The reason people scoff at conspiracy theories is because they are often times wrong and/or vague. How many *verified conspiracies actually started as a ‘conspiracy theory’.

Edit: * added for clarification

As a gay man who passes as straight, you can get a lot of gal pals just by treating women as friends instead of potential partners. A lot of women don’t really need a relationship, they just want a friendship.

The more I learn about the Frank Herbert novels, the more I realize how prescient and relevant they are to this day.