Independent testimonies agreeing closely can convert a skeptic into a believer

Evidence

Baron von Herberstein, a sixteenth-century ambassador to Russia from the Holy Roman Empire, reported that the Vegetable Lamb initially struck him as fabulous. But as he looked into the matter, he gradually became a believer, particularly after so many “people of credence” described their direct experiences with the delicious flesh and downy snow-white wool of these lamb-pods. The various stories he heard “differed so little” that he came to believe “that there was more truthfulness in this matter than he had supposed.” — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age, 11

Categorization

• QUESTION: Pursue how converging independent testimony functions as a trust signal even when the claim itself is impossible — the epistemic engine behind conspiracy believability.
• SEED: The epistemological irony: consistent independent stories, the traditional hallmark of reliable testimony, is exactly what makes fabricated or delusional claims persuasive.
• XREF: connects to: Even scientists hold nearly all scientific beliefs on testimony alone — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 31; Genuine belief change is possible and rare, centered on an initial crack of doubt — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 214; Belief change begins inside the believer before outside conversations matter — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 201

Broader Connections

• Belief change begins inside the believer before outside conversations matter #corroborates (0.80) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 201
• Genuine belief change is possible and rare, centered on an initial crack of doubt #corroborates (0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 214