Conspiracy theorists

Kermit.de.frog

So I have this friend who believes all the usual one world government, 9/11 was an inside job, man did not land on the moon stuff. Really annoys people with his ramblings.

But here is the thing. His mind is warped in to this. It does not matter what you say or how you try to talk sense to him - he does not listen. His mind is made up and that is that.

When asked for reason and evidence it always comes back to interweb videos.

I mean why not believe a young fella in his bed room who is an expert on every scientific and financial theory known to man?

I don't get how anyone can be so weak minded and gullible. Yet so many seem to be.

It comes to the point where you have run out of things to say. How does one deal with these people in preferably an adult way without resorting to violence out of rage?

biko

The same way they put up with you and your blindness to what's actually going on.

Lapin

People who begin a sentence with the word 'So' live an average of 12 years less than left handed people.

Fact.

It says so on the internet.

Kermit.de.frog

Lapin wrote: »

People who begin a sentence with the word 'So' live an average of 12 years less than left handed people.

I am left handed so should not be a problem:P

Kermit.de.frog

biko wrote: »

The same way they put up with you and your blindness to what's actually going on.

You mean how Boards is part of the illuminati infrastructure?

Cpt Sh!t Craic

As long as he's not hurting anybody or himself, I think you just have to accept that his opinions and beliefs are his own and that you have an oddball friend.

Weak minded and gullible people are literally everywhere. People believe in an omnipotent human who lived 6 thousand years ago without evidence.

P.S The Irish Water protests are organised by ISIS

porsche959

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

It comes to the point where you have run out of things to say. How does one deal with these people in preferably an adult way without resorting to violence out of rage?

So your friend has a different perspective to you and you have to be talked down from resorting to "violence out of rage"?

Calibos

Lapin wrote: »

People who begin a sentence with the word 'So' live an average of 12 years less than left handed people.

Fact.

It says so on the internet.

Millennial marketing speak wrecks my head. They've given up buzzwords like synergies and simply start every sentence/reply with 'So'

porsche959 wrote: »

So your friend has a different perspective to you and you have to be talked down from resorting to "violence out of rage"?

His friend is entitled to his own perspective....but not to his own 'facts'.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/11/conspiracy_theory_psychology_people_who_claim_to_know_the_truth_about_jfk.html

Tzardine

I have a cousin like this. She does my head in. Actually unfriended her last week on FB because of the cack coming out of her mouth. Some gems such as:

Government is controlling us by spraying chemicals from airplanes (Chemtrails)

Fluoride in the water is being used to poison and kill us as a form of population control.

She take pictures of various ESB stations and claims that they are HAARP installations.

But dangerously she wont vaccinate her kid because she believes it will cause down syndrome.

And every other post is anti water charges and how she wont pay. Bleeding clown still lives at home with her ma !

You cant pick your family and all that.

Putinovsky

In the majority of cases a lot of those who latch onto conspiracy theories do so because they live uninteresting lives and need to be apart of something that makes their world more interesting. Many of them tend to be unemployed and socially inept from what I can see. Conspiracy theories give their life meaning, they can pretend that they are part of a select few in the know who are fighting a battle against imaginary evil tyrants that will save the world.

Birneybau

Cpt Sh!t Craic wrote: »

As long as he's not hurting anybody or himself, I think you just have to accept that his opinions and beliefs are his own and that you have an oddball friend.

Weak minded and gullible people are literally everywhere. People believe in an omnipotent human who lived 6 thousand years ago without evidence.

P.S The Irish Water protests are organised by ISIS

Which one would that be?

Tasden

Tzardine wrote: »

But dangerously she wont vaccinate her kid because she believes it will cause down syndrome.

Autism? Or does she actually think vaccinating a baby without DS will cause DS in that baby?

Tzardine

Tasden wrote: »

Autism? Or does she actually think vaccinating a baby without DS will cause DS in that baby?

Sorry you are right. Its Autism she believes is caused by vaccinations.

We have another cousin with DS so I got them mixed up.

Joshua J

I've always found the weak minded and gullible like to belittle and insult sections of society that they disagree with or don't identify with. They usually look for people with similar ideals to back up their prejudices so they can feel "normal". Like kids in a playground.

smcgiff

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

You mean how Boards is part of the illuminati infrastructure?

HAH! Ha! very funny. :pac::D:p















The angelfish has breached the dam! Repeat. The angelfish has breached the dam!

Tasden

Tzardine wrote: »

Sorry you are right. Its Autism she believes is caused by vaccinations.

We have another cousin with DS so I got them mixed up.

Ok that's a little less ridiculous :pac:

I dunno, as much as I don't agree with people choosing not to vaccinate their kids I can see why they'd be apprehensive. I got my child all the usual vaccinations but not the swine flu one, i think it was-could have been a bird flu or something else, I decided not to cause I didn't think I knew enough about it and the risks associated with it, and in comparison to the actual outbreak I didn't feel it warranted that risk. Now in reality I actually don't know any more about the usual ones than I do about the swine flu one but there you go

But I can see why people feel uneasy about them, especially when it was "medically questioned" or whatever for a while, despite it being disproven, its like everything, mud sticks. That's not to say I agree with them though.

paulbok

smcgiff wrote: »

HAH! Ha! very funny. :pac::D:p




The angelfish has breached the dam! Repeat. The angelfish has breached the dam!

Your avatar, looks suspiciously like a close up of.........









*****, they're at the door

Duggy747

It's a checklist of the usual stuff from people I know:

• Fake moon-landings and subsequent space missions never happened. "Space missions" are primarily used to spy and control the world's population / distract from other things.
• 9/11 controlled explosions
• Illuminati
• The "eye" symbol in music videos to brainwash children
• Satanic messages in Disney music if played backwards like the Jonah Bros (This one coming from someone I know who listens to heavy metal bands who had been accused of this in the past, this point flies over his head.)
• The Occult
• Georgia Guidestones
• New World Order
• Chemtrails
• Fluoride
• Vaccines making people sick, autism, controlling the population to throw votes, etc.
• Bill Gates and his eugenics programme to control the population
• Ebola is made up by the Big Pharma to sell vaccines.
• Malaysian airlines shot down because scientists on it had the cure to AIDS / military people were about to expose US secrets.
• Big Pharma have the cure to cancer and AIDS.
• All major assassinations were faked.
• Sandy Hook school and the Colorado cinema shootings were faked, victims didn't exist and the "families" are actors.
• Boston bombing was a false flag to distract the public.
• ISIS / ISIL don't exist.

Pretty much anything that has ever happened, seen in a different way and then "reported" by Alex Jones / Natural News................which is funny in regards to the Big Pharma thing considering Jones is pushing this Super Male Vitality claptrap.

Laura Palmer

Don't forget the JFK Lincoln thing!

ceadaoin.

Laura Palmer wrote: »

Don't forget the JFK Lincoln thing!

What's this?

MayoSalmon

There is defintley more to 9/11 than were led to believe

smcgiff

MayoSalmon wrote: »

There is defintley more to 9/11 than were led to believe

First of all, what have you been led to believe?

KKkitty

ceadaoin. wrote: »

What's this?

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/lincoln-kennedy.asp

MayoSalmon

smcgiff wrote: »

First of all, what have you been led to believe?

Towers collapsed due to planes crashing into them.

World Trade 7 collapsed due to fire.

US had no warning of imminent attacks.

Above is generally taken as fact.

ceadaoin.

KKkitty wrote: »

http://www.snopes.com/history/american/lincoln-kennedy.asp

How do people make this into a conspiracy? It just a list of coincidences some of which aren't even true.

Packrat

Recently read a book called 'Conspiracies; The facts, The theories, The evidence' by a guy called Andy Thomas.
Interesting reading, it examines how and why these theories appear, and the role governments play in disproving or failing to disprove them.

It also looks at how we sometimes wrongly categorise people who question the official version of a story as 'conspiracy theorists' which is pretty much like tarring someone a child molester in today's world. It destroys careers and the people are future fore toxic.

It examines several common conspiracy theories and suggests that while most are just that, - unproven or disproven theories, that some have a reasonable level of plausibility.

Governments and organisations have form when it comes to deception and duplicity unfortunately.

Then there are the utterly crazy.

COYVB

Conspiracy theorists would do themselves a lot more good if they didn't believe EVERY conspiracy theory IMO

Mountainsandh

I don't mind conspiracy theorists. I do get enough of it after a little bit, but I like seeing things from a different perpective, a different scale, and after all, that's what they have to offer. They lose me as they go, but I always find little elements that I think have the potential to be explored, and who knows, may lead to credible information.

They do highlight interesting, less well known aspects of some situations.

Laura Palmer

Insisting their theories are facts and that those who don't subscribe to them are sheeple is when they can **** off.

wp_rathead

I can put up with the conspiracy nuts - its the anti-vaccine people I can't stand - although the two often over lap

Calibos

Calibos wrote: »

His friend is entitled to his own perspective....but not to his own 'facts'.

Possibly the most intelligent thing I have ever read on the internet.

Kermit.de.frog

Laura Palmer wrote: »

Insisting their theories are facts and that those who don't subscribe to them are sheeple is when they can **** off.

This seems to be the automatic defence mechanism when they are challenged with reasonable, well rounded argument.

I will listen to them though - I don't have a closed mind but eventually as some have said I just get tired listening because they tend not to listen to you.

Karpackie

Most conspiracy theories are lunacy. The only one I really believe in is the one involving a referee from Wexford who officiated over a very controversial hurling match between Galway and Cork in the 1989 All-Ireland hurling semi-final. Galway were going for a very famous 3-in-a-row. They had it all. Classy hurlers, lads with white boots and long hair, Sylvie Linnane. Bonfires had already been set. A golden era.

The ref (John Deasy) made decisions that day that set back Galway hurling by a quarter of a century. The man was paid off. A car load of men from Gort were driving to down to Waterford to beat the ****e out of him. Intercepted outside Thurles. The Loughrea lads got as far as Carlow. The Athenry contingent made it to a new fangled roundabout outside Roscrea.

We haven't recovered. Pure GAA conspiracy.

Yogosan

Putinovsky wrote: »

In the majority of cases a lot of those who latch onto conspiracy theories do so because they live uninteresting lives and need to be apart of something that makes their world more interesting. Many of them tend to be unemployed and socially inept from what I can see. Conspiracy theories give their life meaning, they can pretend that they are part of a select few in the know who are fighting a battle against imaginary evil tyrants that will save the world.

That's my brother down too a tee. Really disappointing, because he used to be massive history buff in his 20's. Incredibly knowledgable. Now I can't have a conversation with him without him trying to convince me 9/11 was an inside job for the umpteenth time. I don't bombard him with my 'Conspiracy' (in his eyes) that 9/11 was orchestrated by Osama Bin Laden.

It has consumed him.

KKkitty

ceadaoin. wrote: »

How do people make this into a conspiracy? It just a list of coincidences some of which aren't even true.

Some people are like that though. If anyone is a conspiracy theorist it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Each to their own.

ceadaoin.

KKkitty wrote: »

Some people are like that though. If anyone is a conspiracy theorist it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Each to their own.

I actually think some conspiracy theories are probably true. There is decent evidence for some of them. Some people though try to find a conspiracy in everything and end up twisting the facts to suit their preferred theory. It doesn't bother me though, they can think what they want.

Detached Retina

Tzardine wrote: »

I have a cousin like this. She does my head in. Actually unfriended her last week on FB because of the cack coming out of her mouth. Some gems such as:

Government is controlling us by spraying chemicals from airplanes (Chemtrails)

Fluoride in the water is being used to poison and kill us as a form of population control.

She take pictures of various ESB stations and claims that they are HAARP installations.

But dangerously she wont vaccinate her kid because she believes it will cause down syndrome.

And every other post is anti water charges and how she wont pay. Bleeding clown still lives at home with her ma !

You cant pick your family and all that.

Sweet Jeesus, ditto to the word, among a a few the worst are 2 cousins, and an aunt ..and also my neighbour. We must be related based on your comments about them above! I think conspiracy theories are a conspiracy!. Got unfriended by one the the cousins for uploading a scientific rebuke to the conspiracists claims about vaccines. Not directed at her, but just must have been to sensible.

KomradeBishop

My favourite conspiracy theory, is that the CIA coined the term 'conspiracy theory', as a conspiracy to discredit ideas that challenge those in power - so that the term 'conspiracy theory' is itself, is a kind of meta-conspiracy-theory :pac:

Yogosan

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

This seems to be the automatic defence mechanism when they are challenged with reasonable, well rounded argument.

I will listen to them though - I don't have a closed mind but eventually as some have said I just get tired listening because they tend not to listen to you.

I find this very frustrating. When you listen to every detail, and put together a detailed cogent answer as to why the thing they just said can't be true, only for them to turn around and say, but what about building 7, what about the sound of explosions, what about this, what about that, without even listening or referencing what you said. It's an unending list of things to disprove. And once you do, another 'theory' has replaced it. Well, what about all the times I just disproved your argument... What about that?

There are people in my family that trust Alex Jones more than they trust me!

Does reason and logic have no bearing in the never ending game of 'conspiracy top trumps', where one player always loses, but never runs out of cards.

Detached Retina

Duggy747 wrote: »

It's a checklist of the usual stuff from people I know:

• Fake moon-landings and subsequent space missions never happened. "Space missions" are primarily used to spy and control the world's population / distract from other things.
• 9/11 controlled explosions
• Illuminati
• The "eye" symbol in music videos to brainwash children
• Satanic messages in Disney music if played backwards like the Jonah Bros (This one coming from someone I know who listens to heavy metal bands who had been accused of this in the past, this point flies over his head.)
• The Occult
• Georgia Guidestones
• New World Order
• Chemtrails
• Fluoride
• Vaccines making people sick, autism, controlling the population to throw votes, etc.
• Bill Gates and his eugenics programme to control the population
• Ebola is made up by the Big Pharma to sell vaccines.
• Malaysian airlines shot down because scientists on it had the cure to AIDS / military people were about to expose US secrets.
• Big Pharma have the cure to cancer and AIDS.
• All major assassinations were faked.
• Sandy Hook school and the Colorado cinema shootings were faked, victims didn't exist and the "families" are actors.
• Boston bombing was a false flag to distract the public.
• ISIS / ISIL don't exist.

Pretty much anything that has ever happened, seen in a different way and then "reported" by Alex Jones / Natural News................which is funny in regards to the Big Pharma thing considering Jones is pushing this

Yeah, this is like tea chat/regular status update with some people I know..you're a sheep(sheeple-thanks David Icke!) if you don't agree apparently. Though I do kinda believe the moon landing one

Yogosan

Detached Retina wrote: »

Duggy747 wrote: »

It's a checklist of the usual stuff from people I know:

• Fake moon-landings and subsequent space missions never happened. "Space missions" are primarily used to spy and control the world's population / distract from other things.
• 9/11 controlled explosions
• Illuminati
• The "eye" symbol in music videos to brainwash children
• Satanic messages in Disney music if played backwards like the Jonah Bros (This one coming from someone I know who listens to heavy metal bands who had been accused of this in the past, this point flies over his head.)
• The Occult
• Georgia Guidestones
• New World Order
• Chemtrails
• Fluoride
• Vaccines making people sick, autism, controlling the population to throw votes, etc.
• Bill Gates and his eugenics programme to control the population
• Ebola is made up by the Big Pharma to sell vaccines.
• Malaysian airlines shot down because scientists on it had the cure to AIDS / military people were about to expose US secrets.
• Big Pharma have the cure to cancer and AIDS.
• All major assassinations were faked.
• Sandy Hook school and the Colorado cinema shootings were faked, victims didn't exist and the "families" are actors.
• Boston bombing was a false flag to distract the public.
• ISIS / ISIL don't exist.

Pretty much anything that has ever happened, seen in a different way and then "reported" by Alex Jones / Natural News................which is funny in regards to the Big Pharma thing considering Jones is pushing this

Yeah, this is like tea chat/regular status update with some people I know..you're a sheep(sheeple-thanks David Icke!) if you don't agree apparently. Though I do kinda believe the moon landing one

Chomsky had something very wise to say about conspiracies, and it applies to most of them. Considering the amount of people involved in the moon landings, if it didn't happen, how could you keep it a secret?

For example, there were a only a handful of people involved in the Watergate Scandal and they couldn't keep it secret. There were hundreds of thousands involved in the moon landings. Surely they couldn't all keep that secret. It would be more difficult to fake the moon landings than to actually complete them.

Tigger

Yogosan wrote: »

Detached Retina wrote: »

It would be more difficult to fake the moon landings than to actually complete them.

i'm not sure that's true

blinding

Could one conspiracy theory actually be correct and all the rest just false flag conspiracy theories.

Oh dear I may have just fallen in ! ! !

Kermit.de.frog

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

How does one deal with these people in preferably an adult way without resorting to violence out of rage?

First I would suggest anger management and an exploration of why people with different opinions to you move you to violent rages.

Second I would suggest you use simple mature and adult conversation to inform this person that your friendship with them is not working - your differences are too stark - and then move on with other friends who do not irritate you so much.

I have no time for conspiracy theorists. In a world where the President of the United States himself could not even engage in a cover up of a semen stain on a dress - I am not buying the sheer level of competence and investment that some people are alleged to be engaging in in the majority of conspiracy theories that have passed by me.

Not to mention the fact that all conspiracy theories I have been offered at any stage all rely on extrapolating conclusions from evidence the speaker does not have - never had - and is merely assuming.

There is always a document that was destroyed - a testimony that was covered up - a witness that was silenced - a location that was deleted.

And a claim based not just on no evidence - but on the mere assumption of the erasing of the conveniently assumed perfect evidence - is not something I am likely to buy any time soon.

wexie

Deleted User wrote: »

Not to mention the fact that all conspiracy theories I have been offered at any stage all rely on extrapolating conclusions from evidence the speaker does not have - never had - and is merely assuming.

There is always a document that was destroyed - a testimony that was covered up - a witness that was silenced - a location that was deleted.

And a claim based not just on no evidence - but on the mere assumption of the erasing of the conveniently assumed perfect evidence - is not something I am likely to buy any time soon.

You should try explaining Occam's razor to a conspiracy theorist sometimes, hours and hours of fun

DamagedTrax

Deleted User wrote: »

There is always a document that was destroyed - a testimony that was covered up - a witness that was silenced - a location that was deleted.

the thing is, there usually is a document misplaced. look at the current uk paedo ring investigation. thats clearly a conspiracy to cover up.

blinding

DamagedTrax wrote: »

the thing is, there usually is a document misplaced. look at the current uk paedo ring investigation. thats clearly a conspiracy to cover up.

There is definitely something going on there.
Its probably more of a case of everybody knowing their place and realising that taking on the establishment in Britain will kill their career.

Its just how things are in Britain. You don't need a conspiracy.

Particularly in the past. Royalty/Sirs/Top politicians were/are untouchable.

People know their place and their place is not to question their betters !

The Catholic Church/Top Politicians/Judiciary/High Ranking Gardai had/have the same system in the Irish "Republic"

Its not really a conspiracy, its just people knowing their place.

DamagedTrax

blinding wrote: »

There is definitely something going on there.
Its probably more of a case of everybody knowing their place and realising that taking on the establishment in Britain will kill their career.

Its just how things are in Britain. You don't need a conspiracy.

Particularly in the past. Royalty/Sirs/Top politicians were/are untouchable.

People know their place and their place is not to question their betters !

The Catholic Church/Top Politicians/Judiciary/High Ranking Gardai had/have the same system in the Irish "Republic"

Its not really a conspiracy, its just people knowing their place.

thats what a conspiracy is. whether its brought about for reasons of 'knowing one's place' or not.

conspiracy



1. the act of conspiring.

2. an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot.

3. a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose: He joined the conspiracy to overthrow the government.

4. Law. an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act.

blinding

DamagedTrax wrote: »

thats what a conspiracy is. whether its brought about for reasons of 'knowing one's place' or not.

You may be right.

But in Britain and Ireland these people do not have to conspire .

They were/are untouchable.

DamagedTrax

DamagedTrax wrote: »

the thing is, there usually is a document misplaced. look at the current uk paedo ring investigation. thats clearly a conspiracy to cover up.

That is indeed a characteristic of such conversations that I have observed often. Their conspiracy theory will rely on a buried document - and their supporting argument for the existence of such documents - is that they can point to entirely unrelated cases where documents _have_ been buried.

In other words the existence of missing or buried documents is - to them at least - justification that the document they want to declare buried exists.

This - to me - is a bit like trying to establish the guilt of an accused in a murder trial - by pointing out that other convicted murderers exist in the world. It simply does not wash.

A similar line of "reasoning" shows up in supernatural discussions. The believer in supernatural explanations will respond - when you point out their lack of ANY evidence for their claims - that there are many things we do not understand - or that there were things now held to be true that once we had no evidence for.

It is exactly the same thing. They are trying to explain away their lack of evidence - by pointing out that entirely unrelated scenarios where there was also a lack of evidence.

Are documents lost or buried? I am sure they are, a lot. Does that mean the document needed to support a given conspiracy theory was therefore misplaced or buried? No. Not even a little bit.

I am not educated on the full list of fallacies like "Appeal to Authority" and "Appeal to the majority" so perhaps it exists already - but if it does not already contain it then the list should also have the fallacy of "Appeal to Similarity" on there for this type of "thinking".

And as I said I also have a credibility problem with it. In a world where an american president could not even cover up a blow job, the level of competence and complexity required for the kind of cover ups Conspiracy People get off on relative to this is simply absurd to expect.

Hoop66

I read a piece, a few years ago, that suggested that the underlying psychological reason for the emergence of conspiracy theories was down to people needing to feel that their governments were powerful entities who were able to orchestrate these type of conspiracies.

Rather than the incompetent arses they actually are.