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Comment by throwawaysea | Hacker News Reader

So much for the conspiracy theory about Robinhood changing policies to favor institutional traders over retail investors. Speculation is healthy but I am surprised to see so many educated people fall for social media fear mongering to the point that they decided to drive down Robinhood’s app reviews. Many of my friends who ate up all the outrage are the same people who laughed at QAnon conspiracy theorists, but here they are drinking the same koolaid.

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So you’re putting a theory about pedophiles that run the world so they can drink the blood of children is somehow on par with the theory that billionaire hedge funds would try to exert undue pressure to preserve their wealth... Get the fuck out of here with your false equivocation

It’s not on par in that one is more absurd and unrealistic than the other. So I acknowledge your critique. But my point was more that the psychological root causes of both are similar. It comes from a tendency to latch onto a self-serving or pleasing or favorable explanation. An unproven or unrealistic or outright false narrative will do if it makes us comfortable. Ultimately, I see this example with broker collusion theories as a sign that no one is holier than others or above these very human tendencies.

I think it’s fine to speculate, even wildly, while also seeking the truth. Especially if the truth isn’t out. It sounds like you are describing rejecting the truth, which isn’t what I think most people are doing here. Of course facts are always emerging and there will be lag time, so you and I may just be perceiving reactions differently

This is nowhere near the same koolaid.

Whenever we dislike or mistrust someone, people tend to overattribute that someone's failings or inconvenient actions to malice.

>Speculation is healthy

I've never seen somebody say speculation is healthy but rather the opposite. Care to elaborate?

What I meant was that speculation and challenging the existing narrative plays a role in seeking the truth. So it has value and can be healthy. But it has to be treated for what it is - speculation. In this case, the actions of brokers should be investigated, and regulatory requirements should be scrutinized. But taking speculation as a foregone conclusion and resorting to an extreme reaction as such, is not healthy.

It's not an extreme reaction to see a company like Robinhood bending to the will of its real customers, aka Citadel, and concluding that they were both running out of liquid money because they allow instant trading for new users AND that they protected their customers from getting wiped out by limiting the ability of retail investors to buy GME.

Billions of dollars were on the line.

Without speculation there wouldnt be new theories. But ofcause its more risky than argueing in proven ground. Sometimes the risk materializes. At othertimes the speculation is a win.

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