Why so many conspiracy theorists and what to do about them

[kwilco]

1 hour ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

 

I used to have subscriptions to print versions of newspapers and magazines, but nowadays that same content is available on the internet much quicker and cheaper. Not only that, but the paper doesn't get soggy if the delivery man leaves it on top of the mailbox during the rainy season.

 

I don't have access to a public or university library and I don't think major public figures would take my calls if I rang them up to do research. I guess I really don't have the resources, time, or connections to do primary research. I suppose I'll just have to rely on professional journalists to do that bit.  I can sort out any bias on my own.

Guess you're stuffed then.

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Then, of course, there’s the utterly ridiculous stuff, like flat Earth theory. It doesn’t deserve serious attention, though I’ll admit, some of the outlandish comments can be unintentionally entertaining.

 

Please watch this video and give me your rebuttal of why you think it's bs.

And anyone else who wants to chime in.

 

 

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, worgeordie said:

" I want to believe " 

 

regards Worgeordie

watch out.

we will plant some ideas in your head. 

 

[kwilco]

1 hour ago, redwood1 said:

The Earth is Flat

 

This is not speculation it is a fact......

 

Why do you think they  call SeaLevel  Sea LEVEL ?   Because the sea is LEVEL as in flat.

 

[richard_smith237]

7 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Please watch this video and give me your rebuttal of why you think it's bs.

And anyone else who wants to chime in.

 

...  The guy in the video managed to maintain a straight face too... 

 

 

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

...  The guy in the video managed to maintain a straight face too... 

 

 

 

That's not a proper response ... so you got nothing.

And you refuse to admit how silly it appears when you take a model airplane and move it across the so-called globe. 

 

[rough diamond]

47 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

watch out.

we will plant some ideas in your head. 

 

But not if you wear a tin foil hat to stop that happening!

[Mike_Hunt]

Speaking of conspiracy theories. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, save the frogs said:

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

...  The guy in the video managed to maintain a straight face too... 

 

 

 

That's not a proper response ... so you got nothing.

And you refuse to admit how silly it appears when you take a model airplane and move it across the so-called globe. 

 

 

I watched the video and, for a fleeting moment, entertained the idea that it might be satire - because no one could possibly be this disastrously uninformed.

 

I’ll waste no more breath on such absurdities, not because I have no rebuttal, but because to stoop to that level would be entertain dialogue with a brand of stupidity so terminal, it insults the very concept of reason.

[Stiddle Mump]

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Those threads tend to spiral - gracefully, then grotesquely into absurdity. When one party decides to deny the very existence of viruses, meaningful dialogue becomes a challenge.

Pathogenic viruses do not exist IMO.

 

Viruses - any viruses - have never been isolated, and accordingly, never been shown to cause any transmission of sickness. from one to another.

 

No good burying yer head in the sand Richard bud. The truth don't need any embellishment.

[Evil Penevil]

45 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

Speaking of conspiracy theories. 

 

 

 

Ah, the Mossad!  The monster under the bed of every antisemite in the world!    

[kwilco]

25 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Pathogenic viruses do not exist IMO.

 

Viruses - any viruses - have never been isolated, and accordingly, never been shown to cause any transmission of sickness. from one to another.

 

No good burying yer head in the sand Richard bud. The truth don't need any embellishment.

“Viruses don’t exist” is a bold take from someone who’s clearly never opened a biology textbook. Belief doesn’t override decades of actual science.

[kwilco]

29 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Pathogenic viruses do not exist IMO.

 

Viruses - any viruses - have never been isolated, and accordingly, never been shown to cause any transmission of sickness. from one to another.

 

No good burying yer head in the sand Richard bud. The truth don't need any embellishment.

 

I think you nee to review you beliefs - 

 

Let's see how deeply flawed they are....

 

Claim: - “Pathogenic viruses do not exist IMO.”
Your opinion doesn’t override 150+ years of virology, medicine, and molecular biology. Pathogenic viruses have been observed, isolated, sequenced, and studied in extreme detail—by countless independent labs worldwide.

 

Claim: - “Viruses - any viruses - have never been isolated...”
Completely false. Viruses have been isolated countless times using well-established lab methods: filtration, centrifugation, electron microscopy, and genetic sequencing. SARS-CoV-2, for instance, has been isolated and sequenced repeatedly by labs across the globe—you can even view the genetic code online.

 

Claim: - “...and accordingly, never been shown to cause any transmission of sickness from one to another.”
This is demonstrably wrong. Viral transmission has been shown in controlled laboratory studies, clinical data, and real-world epidemiology. That’s how vaccines and antivirals are even possible—they target the actual causative agent.

 

Claim: - “No good burying yer head in the sand. The truth don't need any embellishment.”
Agreed—the truth doesn’t need embellishment. That’s why we rely on replicable experiments, peer-reviewed research, and observable evidence. Your argument, meanwhile, needs denial, cherry-picking, and a total misunderstanding of basic science.

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Viruses - any viruses - have never been isolated, and accordingly, never been shown to cause any transmission of sickness. from one to another.

Never shown to cause transmission of sickness?

Influenza is a virus, isn't it?

And we've all experienced getting it mysteriously after being around someone who has it.

 

[kwilco]

I think some pople need to watch this video on the Dunning Kruger effect - unfortunately, for may it is a self defeating task

 

 

[redwood1]

3 hours ago, kwilco said:

 

 

The Flat Earth is in a enclosed dome.....There is no such thing as space.....The other planets are just lights....They are not physical...

 

No one has been to space because it does not exist.....And the moon is not physical it is only a light...

 

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSBX8nK0PIpHign3On-SKVQfEqZXFrDaVBkATgHCrLgoA&s&ec=72940542

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, redwood1 said:

The other planets are just lights....They are not physical...

So Musk wanting to colonize Mars is a hoax? 

 

[redwood1]

Just now, save the frogs said:

So Musk wanting to colonize Mars is a hoax? 

 

yes

[impulse]

1 hour ago, Mike_Hunt said:

Speaking of conspiracy theories. 

 

 

 

If you want another one that's gone from wingnut conspiracy theory to bona fide spoiler alert, Google ActBlue and Okeefe. 

 

It's still percolating, but those of us who have been following it have been forecasting that it will be yuge. (unless, of course, the Dems got back in)

 

Edit: Lefties may have to hold their noses and click on some objectionable sites if you want the true story.  I'm sure the MSM and OMB team are carrying Dem water on this one.

 

OMB: Orange Man Bad.

 

[Stiddle Mump]

48 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Influenza is a virus, isn't it?

No!!

 

The flu is not caused by a virus.

[Stiddle Mump]

1 hour ago, kwilco said:

Your opinion doesn’t override 150+ years of virology, medicine, and molecular biology. Pathogenic viruses have been observed, isolated, sequenced, and studied in extreme detail—by countless independent labs worldwide.

Not so Sir. 150+ years of compromised quackery more like.

 

I'm not saying there have not been some medical advances. But lobotomy, blood-letting, injecting mercury and aluminum into the body, are not advances of any description in my book.

 

A virus - any virus - has never been isolated.

 

[faraday]

31 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

No!!

 

The flu is not caused by a virus.

It most certainly is a virus.

[faraday]

25 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Not so Sir. 150+ years of compromised quackery more like.

 

I'm not saying there have not been some medical advances. But lobotomy, blood-letting, injecting mercury and aluminum into the body, are not advances of any description in my book.

 

A virus - any virus - has never been isolated.

 

They have, but I suspect you believe in Germ theory, too.

[kwilco]

37 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

No!!

 

The flu is not caused by a virus.

So what do you think causes flu?

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, Stiddle Mump said:

7 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Those threads tend to spiral - gracefully, then grotesquely into absurdity. When one party decides to deny the very existence of viruses, meaningful dialogue becomes a challenge.

Pathogenic viruses do not exist IMO.

 

Viruses - any viruses - have never been isolated, and accordingly, never been shown to cause any transmission of sickness. from one to another.

 

No good burying yer head in the sand Richard bud. The truth don't need any embellishment.

 

You've made my point better than I did... 

 

 

[kwilco]

4 hours ago, save the frogs said:

 

Please watch this video and give me your rebuttal of why you think it's bs.

And anyone else who wants to chime in.

 

 

This video presents typical flat Earth arguments, but they're based on misunderstandings of physics and observation. Earth's curvature can be measured (e.g., via high-altitude footage and ship visibility), and apparent anomalies like distant visibility are explained by atmospheric refraction. Flight paths follow great circles on a globe, and satellite data from multiple countries shows Earth is round. Gravity naturally forms large bodies into spheres, and circumnavigation/time zones only make sense on a globe. These claims have been debunked many times by science and direct observation.

[kwilco]

40 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Not so Sir. 150+ years of compromised quackery more like.

 

I'm not saying there have not been some medical advances. But lobotomy, blood-letting, injecting mercury and aluminum into the body, are not advances of any description in my book.

 

A virus - any virus - has never been isolated.
 

Calling 150+ years of virology and medicine "compromised quackery" while simultaneously referencing practices that were abandoned over a century ago doesn’t make you look like a truth-seeker—it makes you look like you’re desperately trying to find reasons to reject everything modern science has accomplished.
Yes, medicine used to include things like lobotomies and blood-letting—but guess what? We learned from those mistakes. That’s called progress, and it’s why we have actual treatments and cures today.
As for your claim that viruses have "never been isolated"—that’s pure ignorance. Viruses have been isolated, studied, and sequenced in precise detail. The very reason we have vaccines and antiviral drugs is because of the foundational work done in virology.
You’re not uncovering a hidden truth, you’re just cherry-picking outdated or irrelevant examples to dismiss real science. It’s not critical thinking; it’s a refusal to understand basic biology and the scientific method
A key difference between science and pseudoscience is that scientific understanding evolves and adapts as new evidence emerges, while pseudoscientific claims often remain unchanged despite contradictory evidence.
 Science embraces the idea that theories can be revised or replaced as knowledge advances, while pseudoscience tends to resist such changes and may cling to outdated or falsified ideas. 
 

[Patong2021]

8 hours ago, rumak said:

The smartest critical thinkers on this forum are the ones who did not take the experimental shots and who researched why the whole world suddenly went into lockdown mode.    The mass hysteria created by some globalists ( takes a lot of reading to get a true picture of what is going on) .  It would be great if what Bunnydrops hopes for could enlighten the world..... but most of us who have tried to lead others to check out other sources and real scientists did not have much success, if any !

But..... little by little things are changing a bit .  Before we were just attacked endlessly as "conspiracy theorists" .  Shamefully so .   Hey, but now we are allowed to post some links and ideas for some people who want to examine other sources of information.

( though ..... still considered "off the beaten track " .   A Badge of Honor !

 

 I am educated and make my living from critical thinking. I owe much of my personal wealth to it too. It was the weak and the ignorant who fell prey to the  nonsensical claims of world conspiracies.

I gladly accepted my vaccine. I even took a booster last December along with a flu vaccine. Know what?  Despite the incidence of  the two diseases being severe this year, I managed to avoid any serious illness.

I was ill with Covid 2X. The first case was mild. The second  case was the one that was the killer version 2-3 years ago. I literally had crackling in my lungs when I was breathing for 2 weeks. Other than the general malaise, I did ok. I know that without the vaccine, I probably would have been hospitalized or worse, dead and I am grateful that I was able to access the vaccine. 

 

[kwilco]

9 hours ago, rumak said:

The smartest critical thinkers on this forum are the ones

 

This combination of "smart" and critical thinker would indicate tht you don't undrstand what ritical thinkng is and use of "smart" as a concept suggests the opposite.

[rumak]

11 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

 I am educated and make my living from critical thinking. I owe much of my personal wealth to it too. It was the weak and the ignorant who fell prey to the  nonsensical claims of world conspiracies.

I gladly accepted my vaccine. I even took a booster last December along with a flu vaccine. Know what?  Despite the incidence of  the two diseases being severe this year, I managed to avoid any serious illness.

I was ill with Covid 2X. The first case was mild. The second  case was the one that was the killer version 2-3 years ago. I literally had crackling in my lungs when I was breathing for 2 weeks. Other than the general malaise, I did ok.I  I am grateful that I was able to access the vaccine. 

 

 

I hear your story , and I believe that you are mistaken in your evaluation of the hows and why's that you use to form your "critical opinion"  .   But , thank you for expressing it in a mature way .   Here is a very recent post seeing things in a different light.

If you are interested give it a chance .  https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/breaking-news-here-it-comes

btw:   your quote " know that without the vaccine, I probably would have been hospitalized or worse, dead "   seems to me to lack any basis .  Maybe, like the unvaxxed i know,  you would never have been sick at all .    Just saying you know something does not make it true.