# A moderately interesting article and quiz on conspiracy theories **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 24, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056 "2023-06-24T17:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/1 "2023-06-24T17:05:25Z")
\*\*Whoops, didn’t realize this was old - it’s from Oct 2021. Still pretty relevant though, I think [WaPo piece, with quiz and somewhat horrifying statistics](https://wapo.st/44f5WJT) (Gift link, I hope) I got them all right, (thank dawg), but it’s pretty depressing to see the wacko percentage. Having read this board for umpteen years you’d think I’d have been educated a bit on that … but it’s still discouraging. I will say there were a couple choices where I immediately knew the factual one, but one of the others I considered not fact or fiction, but more like highly-possible-but-unproven. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/2 "2023-06-24T17:18:41Z")
I got them right too, thankfully. But it’s sad how common these beliefs are. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/3 "2023-06-24T17:22:14Z")
Seriously, who on this board _isn’t_ going to get a perfect score? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/4 "2023-06-24T17:29:58Z")
I knew which one they were going for in each case, but a couple of the ones they labeled “false” are closer to true than false. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/5 "2023-06-24T17:37:40Z")
In any voluntary public survey with any publicity behind it you have to assume many (half?, most?) of the respondents are trolls trying to screw with the survey results. I have no idea what sort of statistical adjustment would be required to filter out the troll vote. Making _WaPo_ look bad and making the Establishment biddies swoon in horror is high sport for those folks. And that’s just the ordinary self-motivated 4chan-style anarchist-a\*\*hole trolls. The latest modern state-sponsored or AI-driven trolls are a whole 'nuther kettle of fish on top of the good old familiar 4chan sort. [aside] When 4chan trolls are considered part of “the good old days”, you know we’re in deep kimchee. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/6 "2023-06-24T17:47:31Z")
So true ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/7 "2023-06-24T18:43:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I knew which one they were going for in each case, but a couple of the ones they labeled “false” are closer to true than false. Agreed. For example, I don’t think Republicans “stole” the 2000 election, but I don’t think they won it “fairly” either. It was handed to them by a Supreme Court that never should have gotten involved. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/8 "2023-06-24T20:49:13Z")
I might not. Let me go take the test and see. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/9 "2023-06-24T20:51:05Z")
And I’m not 100% agreeing with the Epstein one. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/10 "2023-06-24T20:52:34Z")
It didnt score me but I dont trust the goverment enough to believe its always good. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/11 "2023-06-24T20:57:59Z")
I knew them all, but failed fingered two wrong answers scrolling on my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/12 "2023-06-24T20:58:38Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > It didnt score me but I dont trust the goverment enough to believe its always good. That wasn’t one of the questions. > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > And I’m not 100% agreeing with the Epstein one. Yeah, for that one, I’m pretty sure it was really a suicide, but I also don’t think it’s exactly crazy to think it might not have been. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/13 "2023-06-24T21:03:23Z")
In my employer’s online training quizzes, usually the right answer is the longest one (or maybe “all/none of the above”). Unsurprisingly, the longest answer in this quiz was correct in 4/6 of the questions and one answer was “none of the above”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/14 "2023-06-25T09:19:59Z")
I got them all right but reading through the correct answers afterwards hardly paints the picture of a healthy society. Other than “None of the above,” of course. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/15 "2023-06-25T13:13:27Z")
Critical thinkers would issues with those questions. Just like the child asked “Who discovered America?” in school might know the answer was supposed to be “Christopher Columbus” while knowing better. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/16 "2023-06-25T13:22:23Z")
I’m tired of seeing the Tuskeegee experiment on lists of conspiracies. It wasn’t widely known, but it wasn’t hidden as part of a conspiracy. Results were published. > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > It didnt score me but I dont trust the goverment enough to believe its always good. So, skepticism about government means we _must_ take any conspiracy theory seriously, no matter how wacko? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/17 "2023-06-25T13:35:02Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > For example, I don’t think Republicans “stole” the 2000 election, but I don’t think they won it “fairly” either. It was handed to them by a Supreme Court that never should have gotten involved. Agreed. I feel the Republicans won those elections legally. But they did so by creating a biased system that favored them. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/18 "2023-06-25T16:09:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I’m tired of seeing the Tuskeegee experiment on lists of conspiracies. It wasn’t widely known, but it wasn’t hidden as part of a conspiracy. Results were published. I think that was the point. It sounds like something people might think would have been a conspiracy, but it wasn’t. If you’re ignorant of history it might sound implausible. But as you said, it was published, not hidden, and there was a time when the government and a significant number of people in this country thought such a thing was acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/19 "2023-06-25T17:09:28Z")
> [@saje](#): > > I will say there were a couple choices where I immediately knew the factual one, but one of the others I considered not fact or fiction, but more like highly-possible-but-unproven. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056/20 "2023-06-25T17:15:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I think that was the point. It sounds like something people might think would have been a conspiracy, but it wasn’t. If you’re ignorant of history it might sound implausible. It is an article of faith in much of the black community that the C.I.A. was running crack cocaine into Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s. At the time I heard these stories I was dismissive. Now? I dunno, Not a whole lot surprises me these days. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moderately-interesting-article-and-quiz-on-conspiracy-theories/986056.md?page=2)