@hdm @npcomp Yeah, although I wonder if we're rationalizing it to some extent.I don't think it was all fun and games back then; as you note, there were people with mental health issues chasing these conspiracies, there was bullying, there was crime. Even when we knew it's not serious, it was pretty messed up. Take the Time Cube guy - a mentally ill, raging antisemite invited to lecture at MIT for the lulz? I mean, yeah, it's a part of my culture - but objectively, pretty messed up? Today, every person involved in something like that would be canceled from orbit.And while it did not have the same scale or the same impact, we kinda created the blueprint for others to follow. From UFO BBSes, to AboveTopSecret, to Infowars.A cynical take is that we haven't gotten wiser - we've just gone from anti-establishment to being the establishment.