The conclusion of the PKD “New Zealand” experiment was that if someone really was highly motivated to believe that New Zealand did not exist, there was _no_ data, testimonials, or source of information that would convince them.
They would have a counter-argument to present about how people lie, and could even generate a conspiracy theory about why everybody was lying about this mythical place.
A visit to New Zealand was about the only thing that could convince them.
Nothing short of an actual visit to a NYC hospital (which of course would not be permitted to a casual observer) will convince some folks.
“Nothing short of an actual visit to a NYC hospital”
Even then there is subset that will insist it is all staged, just like the moon landing.
I have it on good authority that New Zealand actually exists...
I spoke with two people today.
The first one complained that Trump would be lifting the shelter-in-place order and have everyone go back to work, and then there would be an unmanageable public health crisis as EVERYONE would get sick.
The second one was convinced that the whole thing was a government conspiracy, there weren’t any sick people at all (or else all the videos the individual citizens have taken of empty hospitals were misleading), the news stories about sick people were fake, and he’d talked to plenty of people who didn’t know of any sick people personally.
Unfortunately the US press isn’t believable.
They showed a hosputal in Italy as a New York City hospital.
Now they have shown doctors practicing on a dummy as doctors treating a victim.
Could they screw up much worse?