How do you react to conspiracy theories?

[Mr F.]

*SNIP*
So I ask you, people of the Escapist, what do you do when you are presented with conspiracies?

How do you react to people who believe them?

Do you believe any yourself?

I start poking them. Most recently it was through Facebook. A friend commented on a video linked by another friend. The video PROVED that the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers were CGI!

It was almost comical. Apparently, the repainted military jets (Why even if you wanted to do a false flag you would repaint a military jet and not buy a decommissioned plane confuses me) which crashed into the twin towers (Which were demolished by controlled demolition) fired rockets into the towers before collision, but were CGI planes.

Just...

What?

Also, Apparently there were no credible eye witnesses for the atrocity. Every single one in the media was an "Obvious plant". Simultaneously it was stated that the towers were empty, that less than one thousand people died, that the planes were CGI, that the planes were military, that rockets were fired AND that the towers were demolished by controlled demolition.

Oh, did I mention "Sacred Geometry" yet? I thought it was a metaphor for Physics. But no, "Sacred Geometry" and "The Numerology of the Occult" are things, both apparently proven by quantum physics!

So not only are we under the thumb of an evil cabal of world bankers who want to reduce the population to 500,000 and are building concentration camps, who are also seeding clouds and making water "Wetter" so there are more floods, but we are fighting Quantum Physics and NUMBERS MAN! FUCKING NUMBERS!

All of those theories were in the same thread. People were agreeing with each other, despite conflicting theories, and the main point of agreement was that I have been "Brainwashed" by my school.

In other words, depending on the theory I will treat you with ridicule or amazement.

I find some conspiracy theories to be disgusting. Like the 9/11 truthers. Thousands died. An economy was destroyed. In the after affects, hundreds of thousands were killed in a war on a nebulous concept. I wish people would stop with the conspiracy theories and concentrate on concrete things, like holding the people who profited from the attacks to account.

Then again, I do not believe the government line just because it is the government line. Yet if there was a wiff of credibility around these theories, some investigative journalist would have picked up on it by now. Unless every single journalist is under the thumb of various evil shadowy world groups.

In which case we are all so fucked there is barely any point in trying to work anything out.

Hell, If the government is building all these camps and whatnot, disappearing people, why ain't they disappearing the conspiracy nutjobs? I mean, they are single handedly uncovering the TRUTH behind the FALSE FLAG that KILLED AMERICANS. If they are willing to slaughter thousands, why not start with the people that are trying to uncover it?

That is what repressive governments do.

 

[Something Amyss]

Ranges from rolling Eyes, to almost dying from hysterical laughter, ending in calling Mr. Conspiracy a giant retard. Seriously, i especially like the ones that use phrases like "Well, if you prefer to stay blind." "Do you elieve EVERYTHING the Goverment tells you?". Its double the fun since i live in Switzerland, and the stuff some people over here come up with are just beyond comparison. Appearantly we have Nuclear Weaponry in our Mountain Fortresses. And our Neutral-stance is just a distraction from the soon to be started world-conquering.

If you will excuse me, i will have to saddle a cow in preparation of our glorious charge into the first European Countries.

My favourite is being called a "sheeple." Because I thought that phrase was clever when I was 12.

The honest truth is I don't trust the government. I just want to know why they expect me to trust them instead.

 

[EMWISE94]

Most conspiracy theories are presented in the most piss poorly written manner you can just tell that they are rubbish.
However, sometime back I got hooked on reading SCP Foundation entries and I must say, that's where the real juicy conspiracies are, even thought its all fiction it'd be really cool if such an organization existed.

...but then again, most of the SPCs that are mentioned are just downright eerie/scary, makes you wonder what'd happen if they ever got out.

Sorry lost my train of though, back on topic: yeah I usually shrug off all conspiracy theories. all these talks of nanochips in your potato chips, amnesiacs in your coffee or birds that are spy cams, all are bull-frickin-horse shit. It never really makes sense though, why would the government spy on you? what are you doing that's so special? Sure they might be looking for "potential terror attacks" but so far I've seen no mad genius unleash his/her army of technology eating nanomachines, only mad men going on shooting rampages, tis a shame really.

 

[Olas]

That robot bug looks like a ginormous waste of money. If the US government wants some of my DNA they should just ask. And I don't really see why they would plant RFID chips on ordinary people. It's not like we go anywhere particularly interesting.

Basically I just think about it rationally for a few seconds to determine if it seems ridiculous or not.

People: 9/11 was staged by the US government, as an excuse to go to war.

Why would the government go through that much trouble (and cause that much damage) when there are a million easier simpler ways to justify going to war, like made up WMDs for instance?

People: The Moon Landing's were faked.

What about the launching of the Saturn 5 rockets off the ground? Are you telling me that footage is fake too? Or are you saying that they actually spent all the money to build the huge expensive rocket, but just didn't put anyone inside it for some reason?

People: The Holocoast never happened?

How exactly do you fake something like that?

An secret evil group of bankers is trying to control the world economy through the federal reserve system

No duh, that's kinda what they do.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

I sigh, smile and nod; then I go home. Except when I had an acquaintance tell me that the American government forcibly put cancer cells into Bob Marley to stop him from spreading his powerful musical message. I made the mistake of being openly skeptical. Never again Escapists, never again.

 

[Furbyz]

I can not stop hearing about the evils of money, banks, chem trails, advertising, and fluoride. Just...every fucking day. I don't know if all of those are technically conspiracy theories, but good lord I am sick of hearing about them.

Sometimes I wish I had the ability to burn bridges with old friends. I've known the guy since I was seven, and he is my bro, but he's completely indigent, reliant on me, and blames all of society for his problems rather than taking some personal accountability.

I really don't know what to do. Occasionally, I'll see something come up that I can quickly and immediately disprove, and I'll post that, but it never does any good. People will believe what they want to believe, no matter the argument you make or the evidence you provide. If it did any good, all those hours I've spent trying to convince people that Anarchy is not the way to some wonderful, idyllic utopian society would not have been a waste.

 

[Mangod]

Question why the "brave, conspiracy-revealing freedom fighter" hasn't been shipped to Alaska to spend the rest of his life in a gulag. Seriously, so many conspiracies claim that the government are damn near omnipotent, but they can't somehow track down your stupid ass? No, sorry dude, but you're most likely dead if you don't disappear; better get rid of all your electronics, sell anything to heavy to take with you at the pawnshop and then leg it out of the country.

 

[Namehere]

I once met a man who claimed the current Queen of England was a shape shifting reptile who ate a child a day in Buckingham Palace's basement. We don't speak anymore for some reason.

 

[saoirse13]

OOOOHHHHH NNNNOOOO!!! I may be burned at the stake but hey, I may as well live on the edge.

Honestly from my view... Some conspiracy theories, seem more plausable than what is claimed to be truth. I do have to admit I'm not really one to believe such conspiracy as Area 51 is conducting experiments on aliens and crap like that to be honest i really don't believe in the whole alien thing.

But there are other conspiracy theorys that grab my attention, and the more horrible and harder to believe the more likely my reaction is "yeah good point"

I do not necessarily believe them, but i do tend to do a little online research if one grabs my attention. Most are full of crap but there are some that hold a little more truth

What gets me is there have been things in the past major or minor that have been covered up one way or another, and have come out in recent years that what was actually put out as a conspiracy was actually the truth. Now im not talking major well known conspiracy theories. It has in the past made me question just how much of a conspiracy thoery could actually be closer to the truth than what is put out as the offical story. Maybe some of the "crazy conspiracy theroists" aren't all that crazy

 

[Varrdy]

These days my default reaction is to despair at just how stupid some people can be! I've heard many conspiracy theories and every single one has sounded like such a colossal pile of arse-seepage that even Fox News and religious fundementalists were rolling their eyes!

There's no need to fact-check most of this half-baked drivel as it's already identified as BS due to the stench wafting around.

Yes I know it's generalising to bracket all Conspiracy Theorists / Theories together but I have yet to meet one with any credibility. Ironically, like the religious and "conservative" right-wingers, it was Conspiracy Theorists themselves that drove me to my current position, thanks to their wide-eyed, spittle-spewing tirades.

9/11 "Truthers" are a particular pain in the arse. Not only is/was (I've stopped paying attention to them) their ranting hugely disrespectful and insensitive, only the biggest wingnut could watch several-hundred thousand pounds (in weight) of airliner, loaded with tens of thousands of gallons of highly flammable fuel and travelling at several hundred miles an hour slam into a building and then scoff "Well, if you think that is what caused it to collapse..."

Flouride? Well I am 31 yeas old and I haven't become a government drone yet and I have no fillings or gum diseases. Go figure...

Lizards in disguise gonna take over the world? All I can say to that is you need to get your medication refilled...and that you need to get away from me!

Holocaust deniers - If any group of people deserved to be crushed between the jaws of an industrial-sized, diesel-powered, hydraulic arsehole-crusher...

Moon landing fakery - I've had to deal with this first hand and it made me want to force feed him broken glass! So, America spent squillions of dollars to design, build, test, blow up, re-design, re-test and re-launch a huge number of rockets and capsules; they undertook a huge selection and training process, making it as public as can be without actually installing TV cameras in the Mercury Seven's toilets; they contracted many engineering firms to build the Saturn V, the Lunar Module and all the support infrastructure to go with it and then, before the world's press, launched several of these massive buggers into space...just so they could film someone on a sound-stage in Nevada? Yeah, no...

I have to admit that I have always loved the Mercury / Gemini / Apollo programs and lap up the books and documentaries so perhaps I am a little biased but when the "angle of the shadows" cast by the Lunar Module and Neil Armstrong, the CT's biggest "proof" they were staged, was debunked and scientifically explained by everyone including the Mythbusters (who are CLEARLY on a Government payroll!!!! They have hats and everything!!!!!!!), I had to laugh. A lot. The best part is that he accused me of not having my own opinions and being too easily swayed by the opinions of others! Shame really as he was a nice chap in many ways...

 

[piinyouri]

Outwardly dismissive but inwardly believing. (Well, some of them)

 

[Kyrian007]

I shouldn't, but I react with open scorn and heavy sarcasam. I suppose I should be nicer to stupid and/or crazy paranoid people, but my job frequently puts me into contact with such nutters. I cover news overnight at a talk radio station. A station that airs right-wing punditry during the day and conspiracy-ist entertainment overnight. And as the only one in the building at the time, I am the only one who can answer the phone. I don't usually bother, there's no use talking to people who listen to stuff like we air. Unless it is our local news or sports coverage, which we cover without bias. Also OK are the people who listen to Coast to Coast overnight for the right reason (because it's funny to listen to the crazy, basket-case callers.)

But sometimes I answer the phone. I really don't know why. And it's always flouride this and chemtrail that and the government is behind it all. Even when I point out that "the government" (US) is so inept it can't balance a checkbook (a skill I learned to successfully do when I was 11) but somehow it can carry out cover-ups that would have to rely on the silence of hundreds or thousands of people and teams of experts working to coverup and carryout goals and aims that usually don't really have sound reasoning for doing in the first place... they'll never change their minds.

Usually because we're a part of the "media conspiracy." I love how right-wingers say the media conspiracy exists to promote a liberal agenda while at the exact same time liberals claim media conspiracy exists to benefit the mega-corps that are buying up media outlets.

Liberals and conservatives... equally blind and stupid.

So I react with scorn. Callers hate me, but 1: callers represent at most 1% of the audience and 2: their usual crybaby whine of "I'll never listen again" or "you just lost a listener" is a very empty threat. A: I don't care, and B: people who listen and take seriously shows like these are so addicted they'd rather cut off their own arms than stop listening. Most don't even make it a day before tuning back in.

 

[Piorn]

I'm fascinated by them and are very eager to believe them, just like magic, aliens and anythiong between, but at the same time, I also don't believe anything without reasonable proof.
And since 95% of people who insist on these theories are nuts, and if they were really true you wouldn't hear it in public anyways, I don't believe in any, yet.
Except Prism, but that's not a theory anymore.

 

[MeisterKleister]

Whether something is a conspiracy theory or not has no bearing on whether it's actually true.
There have been actual conspiracies in the past. However usually we can only ever tell that it was a conspiracy in hindsight after all the evidence is out.

As far as I can tell, most of the circulated, ongoing conspiracy theories usually contradict the the available evidence (ie. they're demonstrably false) or they at least do not have enough credible evidence behind them to reasonably tell that they're true (they're "not true" in that sense).

Someone implied to me that 9/11 might not have been a terrorist attack and not by Al-Quaeda. I found that insinuation absurd, so I looked it up and indeed there is not a single piece of credible evidence in its favor, but there's a mountain of evidence against that idea.

A senior student actually held a speech in front of some of the freshmen students (he was in charge of welcoming us) and he talked about the dangers of vaccines and outright told everyone to not get vaccinated, if possible. I was very skeptical about his claims, but I didn't know enough about the subject at the time to neither agree nor disagree. When I looked vaccinations up later, it turned out that he was full of bullshit. I think it's outrageous that they let him spread such misinformation.

Someone else once put to me that the Bilderberg Group [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilderberg_Group] conference, an annual meeting of world leaders, was a very suspicious, because it's secret, implying that they plan nefarious stuff there. Of course there was no evidence again. And without evidence you cannot make any honest claims.
I looked it up and the secrecy has the purpose of ensuring that the people speaking there will give their honest opinions.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
-Hanlon's razor

By the way, another thing to be aware of is that there are two definitions of the word "theory [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_(disambiguation)]" that are often conflated:
1) The colloquial meaning; a speculative guess.
2) The scientific meaning; a principle or body of principles for explaining observed facts or phenomena, such as cell theory and the theory of gravity.

 

[IronMit]

'how do you react to conspiracy theories?'

That's a loaded question. How do you differentiate if what you are hearing is a crackpot conspiracy theory (what you are implying) or actual corruption (unless it's not painfully obvious like your robot mosquitos taking DNA samples&planting RFID chips on the mass public?)

To disregard every accusation against the government as a 'conspiracy theory' makes you just as gullible as those that believe the earth is run by lizard people.

When someone shows you Dick Cheny made so much money from his ties with defence contractors, which is mighty convenient and a conflict of interest, are we going to liken that to '9/11 was an inside job' alex jones nutters and completely ignore it?

Flouride? Well I am 31 yeas old and I haven't become a government drone yet and I have no fillings or gum diseases. Go figure...

This is an example of possible corruption being disregarded because some idiots come up with extreme 'conspiracy theories'. Or there's another conspiracy theory that these crazier conspiracy theories are pushed into the spotlight to smear the more reasonable questioning of the status quo.

Anyway, I'm not a fluoride expert (my intention is not to change your mind-as I am unsure myself but to stop you from taking an absolute stance on everything you hear) but the theory is that aluminium companies were flooding the water supply with Aluminium fluoride, a by product of aluminium production, there was also sodium/calcium fluoride that may of been from fertilizers or something. They didn't want to get sued for contaminating everything and there was some beneficial research about fluoride. So lobbyists pushed for the 'fluoridated water' and the public was sold on how amazing it was, and we suddenly need it.


Even if fluoride or anything else is awesome for your teeth it doesn't mean it's safe to drink litres of it daily. When drugs are made don't they have to go through FDA approval and stuff- that takes years. When I take creatine I'm told not to take it for longer then a 3 month period. when I use toothpaste or if I were to use teeth whitening solution I'm told not to swallow it even once, and we are talking about fluoride levels during our entire lifetime. If you were to eat 12 oranges a day for a week you would end up in hospital with an overdose, if you at a polar bear liver you would also be in hospital with a Vit A overdose. So I wouldn't be so quick to disregard studies concerned with other health problems fluoridated water may have.

I just googled an article;
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/fluoride_b_2479833.html

You are looking smuggly down at 'conspiracy nutjobs' and they are looking smuggly down at you
My point is, don't be the polar opposite of the extreme conspiracy nut jobs it makes you as bad as them.

 

[K12]

I think it is generally a mistake to try and disprove a conspiracy theory because in the time it takes you to find the evidence showing that it is complete bollocks 5 more could have cropped up.

If you're wanting to change someone's mind then either go the route of explaining the overall reasons that conspiracy theories are rubbish (i.e. How do you know? How could they have possibly planned that? If they have this much power why didn't they use a more straight forward plan without leaving cryptic clues? Why are the "truthers" still spreading the truth without being killed or detained? Unusual things do happen, they aren't always evidence of behind the scenes tinkering)

Hopefully instilling a good standard of evidence in them. Conspiracy theorists will be the first to tell you "you shouldn't believe everything that "they" tell you" but somehow don't extend this thinking to anonymous internet loonies.

The other way is to just to laugh, ridicule isn't a argument technique but sometimes its what people need to see that their ideas are ridiculous. I remember being told about Area 51 stuff and I was listening intently (interested in what others believe) and when he started describing this epic laser gun battle in 50's I just couldn't stop myself for cracking up.

I think a lot of conspiracy enthusiasts don't really care if any of this stuff, they just enjoy it as some kind of big game and I'm fine with that... up until the point they refuse to vaccinate their kids.

 

[SuperUberBob]

I went to a white nationalist forum and posted there for a little while proving everything they believe wrong. Man you should see what they think of Jews. I didn't know this but apparently Jews are trying to destroy the white race through multiculturalism and interracial mating.

 

[Pink Gregory]

If you wanted me to 'open my eyes' and 'believe', then don't call me 'blind' or 'sheeple'. Simple as that. If they'd be more concerned about converting people to their cause than 'calling out' people who rationally disagree, then perhaps they'd have a point.

But they don't.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Usually, I ignore them. I try not to pay attention to crazy people...

 

[Mr.Squishy]

I usually respond to them like I respond to EternalNothingness' threads: Either I sigh and ignore them, or make it clear how little sense I think they're making.