List you favorite conspiracy theory

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Kizmet, Aug 16, 2013.

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  1. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  3. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    A grand case of life imitating art

    My first book, self-published in the early 60s, was called "Whom to Hate: a guide for the conscientious bigot. I assembled this after the John Birch Society declared that Dwight D. Eisenhower was a conscious agent of the Communist party. One of the items in said book was the "fact" (also from the Birchers) that Thalidomide was actually a cancer cure, and it was being suppressed by the drug companies who created a fake "deformed baby" scare in order to take it off the market.

    Fast forward half a century . . . and Thalidomide, under the trade name Revlimid, has in fact been found to have dramatic effect as a chemo drug for a variety of cancers. List price: $11,000 for a 3-week supply.
     
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

  5. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    [​IMG]
     
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  7. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    The Illuminati has a hand in everything.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    Subway is looking for a new spokes person. . .:yikes:
     
  10. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  11. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I see the "secret cancer cure" one on Facebook all the time, even from people I know should know better. It's a little depressing.
     
  12. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  13. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  14. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

  15. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Vincent Foster left the secret witness program to put that pillow on Antonin Scalia's face.
     
  16. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  17. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  18. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    I was SO TORN trying to decide where to post this- here or over on the what are you watching thread. This one won.

    For starters, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. Why? Because I've been to grade school. Here's a test- tell 3 people a secret. Wait an hour. Guess what? Your secret got out. Yeah, it never works. So, the notion that anyone or anything can induct hundreds or thousands of people who refuse to whistle blow is just ridiculous.

    And yet, last night I watched Conspiracy Theory: Did we Land on the Moon? on Netflix (also on Youtube, link follows). The gist- they brought forward a handful of people who raised their case and argued the inconsistencies in the evidence. (like any good documentary, they didn't present the opposing view lol)

    Here's the kicker- I've never taken an astronomy class. I'm not even all that interested in space things, so to my pea brain, these arguments seemed plausible. Of course, I also have internet access, so in about 12 seconds I found a site that systematically used science to explore each point the movie made. I thought I'd share that link- if you haven't had the pleasure, the film is pretty entertaining. (Just follow up with a good dose of truth before going to bed.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIy8ZqqK5G8 - Movie on youtube

    Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy: Bad TV - Point by point counter of the film
     
  19. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    The problem with conspiracy theories is that they do just that: examine inconsistencies. But there are ALWAYS inconsistencies in the telling or retelling of events. Always. That doesn't make them false. Alternately, these do not make the conspiracy true.

    In fact, conspiracy theorists fail horribly because they don't do what they're called: they don't present theories. At best, they present unsupported conjecture. (A theory is an explanation of the observed facts about a phenomenon, not a baseless guess.) Attempting to disprove one thing doesn't prove something else.

    Also, a lack of evidence is not evidence. For example, just because we're missing pieces in the theory of evolution doesn't make it baseless or not true. It is true. There is overwhelming evidence for the theory; it is functionally a "fact." Gravity, for example, is a theory that explains what we see. A good theory, so good that it worked for hundreds of years. But Newtonian gravity has great difficulty with small and large things. Einstein helped us (with relativity) with large things. Quantum mechanics helps with the very small.

    If NASA didn't send men to the moon, fine. Prove that. You can't settle for poking a few holes in the story, hoping that'll do. And if you think the fix was in regarding Clinton and her e-mails, fine. Prove that. You can't just look at the outcome, wonder how it could be, and then make such a baseless claim. Prove it.
     
  20. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

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