# Conservapedia….people actually USE it? for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457 "2008-12-23T23:02:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/1 "2008-12-23T23:02:50Z")
I don’t mean reading for fun, I mean people actually using Conservapedia for information. I had nothing to do at work today, so I went to the SDMB only to find it was down. I needed entertainment, so I decided to poke around Conservapedia to see what they’re up to these days figuring it had to be close to death. While doing this, a cow-orker walked up behind me, looked over my shoulder and announced how much he loved the site and used it to teach his kid. Intrigued, I asked if he meant the political and social issue aspects, but no, he meant he uses it to teach his kid history and science\*. I’ve never heard of anyone who uses it for anything but entertainment or, rarely, an echo chamber. So now I’m very interested, does anyone you know actually **use** Conservapedia to research a topic with the intent of finding useful information? Or do I work with an extreme form of ‘teh stupid’ never before seen in the wild? \*This is child abuse, IMHO of course ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/2 "2008-12-23T23:07:10Z")
Are you sure your coworker didn’t glance at your screen and mistake it for Wikipedia? 'Cause that is just mindboggling. ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/3 "2008-12-23T23:10:17Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Are you sure your coworker didn’t glance at your screen and mistake it for Wikipedia? 'Cause that is just mindboggling. Nope, he said conservapedia by name, and babbled a little about liberials that I tuned out. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/4 "2008-12-23T23:17:42Z")
> [@Alienhand](#): > > Nope, he said conservapedia by name, and babbled a little about liberials that I tuned out. Bwah ha ha. You might inform him that the evil libruls often sabotage Conservapedia for shits and giggles, and he therefore might not want to trust it too much as a source. At least that might make him think twice about exposing his kid too much. ---
**Author:** ![sundog66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/5 "2008-12-23T23:24:37Z")
Well I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and check out some of the articles. But the first sentence of the entry on “Creation science” seemed a little fishy to me: > [@Conservapedia](#): > > Creation science is science[…] They’ve already lost me here. It continues: > [@](#): > > […]which sets out to show that supernatural creation of the material universe by God is consistent and compatible with the available scientific evidence. I didn’t think science was supposed to “set out to show” anything. ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/6 "2008-12-23T23:56:35Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > You might inform him that the evil libruls often sabotage Conservapedia for shits and giggles, and he therefore might not want to trust it too much as a source. > [@sundog66](#): > > I didn’t think science was supposed to “set out to show” anything. Sadly, it is said that such reasoning skills were lost when he was promoted several years before I joined that company–an all to common problem. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/7 "2008-12-24T00:02:59Z")
Conservapedia is Wikipedia written by Stephen Colbert(the character, not the actor). How anyone can take either one seriously is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/8 "2008-12-24T08:35:01Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Are you sure your coworker didn’t glance at your screen and mistake it for Wikipedia? 'Cause that is just mindboggling. Oh I assure you, there are people out there that probably accept it as LAW. I’ve just recently jumped in the fray on a local site that gets into politics. One woman was astounded at the opposition to Intelligent Design > [@](#): > > Evolution is a myth. Intelligent Design is is the only theory supported by science. Seriously. It’s hard to fight ignorance when it so completely takes your breath away. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/9 "2008-12-24T09:07:54Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Oh I assure you, there are people out there that probably accept it as LAW. > > I’ve just recently jumped in the fray on a local site that gets into politics. One woman was astounded at the opposition to Intelligent Design > Seriously. It’s hard to fight ignorance when it so completely takes your breath away. Incidentally, this is my favorite argument to jump into from a Religious standpoint, as the Catholic Church opposes Intelligent Design _because_ it rejects science (IIRC, if I misunderstood what I read, someone please correct me). The Church allows for a stance of Theistic Evolution (Evolution happened as one of God’s many acts.) ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/10 "2008-12-24T10:50:21Z")
> [@sundog66](#): > > Well I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and check out some of the articles. Check out the one on Barack Obama for a good laugh. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/11 "2008-12-24T15:39:19Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Check out the one on Barack Obama for a good laugh. The one on atheism is also good for a giggle. And then cold slap in the face when you realize that people do take it as fact. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/12 "2008-12-24T16:22:28Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > The one on atheism is also good for a giggle. And then cold slap in the face when you realize that people do take it as fact. I always skip straight to the slap in the face. The fact that the world is full of people who are that implacably opposed to reality fills me with a sort of existential despair. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/13 "2008-12-24T18:07:55Z")
I was only dimly aware that Conservapedia even existed before this post. Ideally, I think the greatest service a parent can do for their child is to teach them to be an independent thinker and question all forms of authority (rather than just saying to trust, say, Wikipedia over Conservapedia)…but since that would by definition lead to questioning the parents, of course that ideal is seldom put into practice. Even though the source he is using is dubious, in a way I think it’s good that this guy is trying **in the best way that he knows how** to engage his child’s mind and get the kid to think about these issues…to have an opinion on these issues. I think apathetic people who don’t care about the issue at all are less likely to be persuaded to change their view than people who are interested in the issue but simply misinformed. Most of us eventually learn that our parents don’t know everything and teenagers’ opinions tend to be formed more by their peers than their parents, so the odds are good that as the kid becomes his own person he’ll reject most of this stuff that his dad is trying to teach him anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/14 "2008-12-24T18:13:41Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Even though the source he is using is dubious, in a way I think it’s good that this guy is trying **in the best way that he knows how** to engage his child’s mind and get the kid to think about these issues…to have an opinion on these issues. Unfortunately, this variety of attempted critical thinking generally leads to anti-intellectualism and other forms of stupidity. If you teach critical thinking, you have to start by teaching an unbiased evaluation of ideas. Teaching your kid with Conservapedia because you can’t trust what the liberals tell you is the exact opposite of that. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/15 "2008-12-24T18:16:27Z")
RE: the Obama Conservapedia page “He will use his Muslim middle name at the inauguration” Like, what is he supposed to do? Get a new middle name first? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/16 "2008-12-24T18:18:01Z")
He’s supposed to be ashmed of his ethnic heritage, like any good American. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/17 "2008-12-24T18:40:00Z")
> [@hawksgirl](#): > > RE: the Obama Conservapedia page > > “He will use his Muslim middle name at the inauguration” > > Like, what is he supposed to do? Get a new middle name first? He’s supposed to be hauled off in handcuffs–right there on Inauguration Day, maybe even–by…whoever’s in charge of hauling off _eee_-vil Muslim sleeper agent socialistic terroristic subversives who weren’t even born in the United States but were actually born in Kenya to a radical Muslim Kenyan non-American father and a no-doubt far left socialist radical mother who’s renounced her American citizenship at some point, and are thus not themselves remotely American citizens; who have, in spite of all the preceding, illegally and unconstitutionally gotten themselves elected President–And then John McCain (we’ll slide right by Joe Biden for the moment; presumably anyone who gets himself elected Vice President on the same ticket as an _eee_-vil Muslim sleeper, etc., etc. is prohibted by _something_ or other in the Constitution from being President himself. And we won’t even mention Nancy Pelosi)–Anyway, John McCain is then sworn in as our _rightful_ President. Although to be truthful, John’s always been just a tad pink. But Sarah Palin will be Veep! And McCain is old and she’ll probably wind up President soon. And then we nuke Iran. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/18 "2008-12-24T19:19:08Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s supposed to be ashmed of his ethnic heritage, like any good American. Well, not ANY good American. Americans with good old-fashioned normal middle names are just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/19 "2008-12-24T19:26:49Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > in a way I think it’s good that this guy is trying **in the best way that he knows how** to engage his child’s mind and get the kid to think about these issues…to have an opinion on these issues. This is generally along the lines of my thinking “at least he’s doing **something** ”, hence asking him if he meant just politics and social issues. I am also of the opinion, from other conversations, that this coworker is trying to head off his kid at the pass(he’s nine). This is particually bad to me because I am of the school of thought that you should read everything with a grain of salt and investigate sources when needed. He could be doing the same thing with similarly farcical left wing tripe, I’ve just never seen anyone actually using Conservapedia like this IRL. It’s like seeing bigfoot or aliens. You know its not real, but there it is, right in front of you. On preview: [QUOTE=jenaroph] Well, not ANY good American. Americans with good old-fashioned normal middle names are just fine. [/QUOTE] Mines ‘Benedict’, I’m automatically a traitor. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457/20 "2008-12-24T19:46:07Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > (rather than just saying to trust, say, Wikipedia over Conservapedia) Nah, I’d say that’s a pretty good place to start. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservapedia-people-actually-use-it-for-real/478457.md?page=2)