Actually many AIDS denialist use it as a convenient excuse. After all, you don't die from AIDS itself (ie. from your weakened immune system). Instead, you die of whatever disease (or diseases) that you catch and your immune system is too weak to fight normally. Thus the denialists have a good excuse: "He didn't die of AIDS, he died of pneumonia."
(Well, duh. Why exactly do they think that AIDS is so dangerous? Because even diseases which normally are mostly harmless, such as pneumonia, which has less than 1% mortality rate among people with normal immune systems, can kill you because your immune system is devastated by AIDS.)
The fact that HIV-positive AIDS-denialists tend to die prematurely from diseases that do not normally kill people, while HIV-negative AIDS-denialists don't, doesn't seem to faze them.
Actually many AIDS denialist use it as a convenient excuse. After all, you don't die from AIDS itself (ie. from your weakened immune system). Instead, you die of whatever disease (or diseases) that you catch and your immune system is too weak to fight normally. Thus the denialists have a good excuse: "He didn't die of AIDS, he died of pneumonia."
(Well, duh. Why exactly do they think that AIDS is so dangerous? Because even diseases which normally are mostly harmless, such as pneumonia, which has less than 1% mortality rate among people with normal immune systems, can kill you because your immune system is devastated by AIDS.)
The fact that HIV-positive AIDS-denialists tend to die prematurely from diseases that do not normally kill people, while HIV-negative AIDS-denialists don't, doesn't seem to faze them.
Exactly why logic can be a dangerous tool... Misleading facts that aren't explicitly false seem to the be the weapon of choice in these situations. I feel that we should all have to take Critical Thinking courses in school. It seems to be the norm now to have this course as a requirement in a general college degree (at least around where I'm from), but frankly that's a bit too late in life to be schooled in this type of knowledge.
Reminds me a bit of the logic that some vaccine-opposers use, like: "Diphtheria vaccines are a scam. There haven't been but a few dipththeria cases reported each year in the US" (or whichever country.) "The drug industry is just selling vaccines for their own profit."
They don't seem to understand that there are so few cases because of the diphtheria vaccines, not regardless.
One thing I love about the "old-school" conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and the like (ie. those professing the "traditional" conspiracy theories about the Illuminati, the New World Order, black helicopters and such) is that they themselves are the literally living proof that there's nothing to those conspiracies.
You see, one of the most common claims that they make is that they are exposing the most well-guarded secrets of the shady organizations running the world's governments and economy, and that said organizations go to extremes to get rid of people who are a threat to them and expose their plans (via "accidents", outright assassinations and so on.) The amusing thing about all this is that the conspiracy theorists themselves don't see the contradiction and irony here.
You see, one of the most common claims that they make is that they are exposing the most well-guarded secrets of the shady organizations running the world's governments and economy, and that said organizations go to extremes to get rid of people who are a threat to them and expose their plans (via "accidents", outright assassinations and so on.) The amusing thing about all this is that the conspiracy theorists themselves don't see the contradiction and irony here.
But see, maybe it's in those organizations' best interest to keep these people alive and well so that skeptics like you would have no reason to believe them!
In any case, these days, when the Internet and global communication in general made it very easy to share information, there's little point in actually silencing anyone. It's much easier and safer to drown them in a sea of noise. Just think about it: if even a single one of these hundreds of theories is true—and there is a chance this is exactly the case—you wouldn't know which one, and end up dismissing all of them.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
kyoon = 11+25+15+15+14 = 80
banned = 2+1+14+14+5+4 = 40
banning kyoon is only half of what must happen
always = 1+12+23+1+25+19 = 81
the next step for kyoon is to be always banned
One form of conspiracy theory is the kind that tries to find signs of life and alien technology in the photos taken by the Mars rovers. They claim that NASA is censoring and altering photos to remove any such signs, but sometimes they miss something.
This kind of conspiracy theory is as hilarious as it is puzzling. So let me get this straight: NASA sends probes to Mars in order to study it, one of the main goals being to discover if life had been possible, if not even actually existed, in the past... and then they censor and cover up all signs of this very goal? Why? What for?
This kind of conspiracy theory is as hilarious as it is puzzling. So let me get this straight: NASA sends probes to Mars in order to study it, one of the main goals being to discover if life had been possible, if not even actually existed, in the past... and then they censor and cover up all signs of this very goal? Why? What for?
They obviously don't want people to know that there are ponies on Mars.
Ok, jokes aside, here's a conspiracy about MlP. It should seem familiar to those who visited the MlP thread here.
You realize that Landover Baptist Church doesn't actually exist, and it's actually a parody website?
The previous link, godhatessinners, redirects to landoverbaptist, but to the wrong thread. Just posting the fixed link in case anyone wants to read it. :P
Joined: 8/6/2006
Posts: 784
Location: Connecticut, USA
"psychotic manchildren" hahah these guys are nuts
EDIT: About that other link, holy crap. I was mildly aware of what this guy Todd Akin said, but I didn't know people actually backed him up to this extent.
"Who could argue with that kind of rock solid, Godly logic?"
WHAAAAT
EDIT #2: "Look at how GODLY his hands are! Why, I bet he never once has self-molested and sent millions of his unborn baby souls to a fiery death. "
One form of conspiracy theory is the kind that tries to find signs of life and alien technology in the photos taken by the Mars rovers. They claim that NASA is censoring and altering photos to remove any such signs, but sometimes they miss something.
This kind of conspiracy theory is as hilarious as it is puzzling. So let me get this straight: NASA sends probes to Mars in order to study it, one of the main goals being to discover if life had been possible, if not even actually existed, in the past... and then they censor and cover up all signs of this very goal? Why? What for?
Well, that's rather simple, too.
NASA gets their results as intended in either case. They don't have to publicize everything they receive as-is. All results are subject to approval before they are publicized—there's no going around that, and especially not when you're dealing with one of the most important government agencies. Let's imagine some possible scenarios that start with "NASA sends a rover to Mars to see if there's any signs of alien life". The rover captures some photos.
1. There are no signs of life on the planet. In fact, literally nothing is out of the ordinary. NASA scientists sigh and publicize the photos. This is most likely what has happened.
2. There are signs of primitive life on the photos: chunks of frozen water, bacteria, whatever. NASA scientists rejoice and publicize the photos.
3. There are traces of intelligent life: constructions, images of supposedly living beings, unknown devices, certifiably unnatural landscape arrangements. NASA scientists gasp and alert the president because that's what they're supposed to do in such a situation before letting the cat out. Now imagine you are the president. You have solid evidence that humans are not alone in the Universe, and in fact they're very likely being watched. Since it can't be the case that aliens have actually lived and developed their civilization on Mars in recent times—the planet is a barren wasteland after all—it means the aliens have the technology to travel here from light-years away, meaning they can somehow avoid the fundamental physical limitations we have no idea how to overcome. It means they also possess all the military technology we do—and then some. You know people are generally smart enough to understand that. You don't know the aliens' motives. You don't know if it's possible to communicate. You know you can't afford taking the wrong step. Things become tricky, and the last thing you want is for your people to become afraid and unmanageable.
So would you instantly disclose this information, knowing that we're essentially at the aliens' mercy, and neither you nor ordinary people can't really do anything to ensure everyone's safety? Would you rather prefer a state of helpless panic to a state of blissful ignorance that gives you enough time to consider your options and perhaps gather more information first? Of course not. It is a well-established government practice to make sure people remain calm if something weird is going on, and to maintain the facade until it's proven as such. Oftentimes it is the wisest thing to do. One easy way to achieve that is to present an edited photo, as it raises less suspicions than presenting nothing.
One thing common among the three scenarios is that all of them publicize something and none publicize something alarming. This latter aspect is completely out of the question. The reason these conspiracy theories exist is that people who come up with them understand that no matter what the result would be, at best people would be told nothing. That becomes a breeding ground for all the what-ifs.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
The big stumbling block to finding life on Mars is the temperature. On Earth the average temperature is about 15°C, on the Moon its about -18°C and on Mars its roughly -55°C. However, I do suspect life is possible in the future. For few hundred thousand years when the Sun is on life support.
You realize that Landover Baptist Church doesn't actually exist, and it's actually a parody website?
There is a real church though, that is crazier than that parody site, called Westboro Baptist Church. By the way, I wonder if religions qualify as conspiracy theories? Some probably do, like the 6000 year old earth. Or are they just 'alternative explanations'?
The moon hoax linked to in the first post is probably a parody too, about the people who believe the moon landings were hoaxed. There are people like David Icke though, who believe the moon is built by reptilian aliens, kinda like the Death Star or a Dyson Sphere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4uVdetjt_w
By the way, I wonder if religions qualify as conspiracy theories?
Religions are belief systems, not conspiracy theories. However, many religious people believe in conspiracy theories about science and the scientific community. (For example, it's very typical for young earth creationists to believe that the entire scientific community is in a conspiracy to brainwash people into believing that the universe is billions of years old and that all living beings have evolved from ancestral species, and that the scientific community is hiding and destroying evidence of the contrary. These conspiracy theories can get pretty wild at times.)
lol, they already reached way over the required signatures, even though there's a month left.
I wonder what consequences it will have. Although they cause some harm to people, they also provide some entertainment, so if something limits them further, I might miss them, like I miss trolls and other infamous people.
