Do you think the Texas shooting was a psyop? Or do you think that’s a nutty conspiracy theory?

To be fair, it's because of the HN front page that I have read about the possibility and credibility of a lab leak. A very well argued science based article with a reasonable timeline and explanation that allowed to me to know about a position made unhearable elsewhere.

Broad statements on the "HN crowd" don't make much sense to me. It's the internet and there's much more diversity than most other subgroups, get used to it.

That’s not my recollection. Back in 2020, there were many intelligent and measured discussions about the lab-leak theory on Hacker News. I came away with the conclusion that a lab leak was certainly possible – but that there just wasn’t any strong evidence to indicate that it was a more likely source of SARS‑CoV‑2 than naturally-occurring zoonosis.

Discussions on Hacker News also convinced me to start wearing a face covering in late March 2020 – even though the mainstream orthodoxy was focussed solely on hand-washing and surface transmission. At the time,health officials and other public figures were advising that wearing a face-mask at best provided no benefit and at worse increased the chance of infection (by touching one’s face while donning or adjusting the mask).

Disclaimer: I don’t live in America or read anything on “social media” (other than the odd niche old-school forum).