As I mentioned in the " WTF parenting moments" thread, my dad has some interesting theories. He and mom are “the moon-landing was a hoax” baby boomers, so it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to me that he mentioned yesterday that he’s not sure if Dinosaurs were real. (either people were more advanced at one point who created the evidence or there were aliens who made them. WTF?! Turn off Coast to Coast, Dad.)
Thinking about Conspiracy theories big and small, I wonder this: Which theories to you buy into in whole or in part?
Me? I’m not 100% convinced that Kurt Cobain killed himself. 90% maybe, but a little part of my brain insists that given his publicized history of depression, it’d be easy to make a murder look like a suicide.
I believe that certain shortages (gas, sugar, eggs etc) are vastly over-estimated as marketing strategy to raise prices for little good reason.
The only well known “conspiracy” I think is possible is the Shakespeare authorship issue. I’ve heard some persuasive arguments about Edward de Vere that traditionalists have not addressed. So I consider it an open question awaiting further evidence.
Well, I’m not entirely convinced that Lee Harvy Oswald acted alone.
I do believe (and I believe there is overwhelming evidence that) he was the only shooter that day. However, I think there may well have been a small conspiracy that he was only a part of.
I met my first true moon hoaxer last week (Well I met her a few months ago, I found out she was a moon hoaxer last week).
To her credit, she at least admits she has no real reason to beleive this, it just doesn’t fit in with her religious beleifs. (I guess I missed the 11th commandment Thou Shalt Not Go Into Outer Space)
Don’t really have much room for conspiracy theories myself. I know there are conspiracies out there, I know probably some of the cookoo theories might someday be found out as true, but I don’t put much worry into it.
Well, if you are a bible literalist, then you would have to beleive the sky is a firmament, as stated in Genesis, which would make flying into space a little difficult.
I kinda but into the Kurt Cobain conspiracy, in the sence that it was a massive act of neglegence (possibly willful) by Courtney Love.
Of course some call me paranoid. I would rather say I’m prepared, just in case they all really are out to get me.
There aren’t many conspiracy theories I’m not willing to read up on on the net. I don’t trust anybody, and I don’t trust theorists, but I don’t trust the establishment more. And I definitely don’t trust my own judgement to decide which is better anyway. And it’s not like if I had an opinion it would change anything. I’m not particularly interested in changing anything.
Of course the moon landing was a hoax! My sources? I saw it in a movie with OJ Simpson. And that guy from the AAMCO comercials…Brolin-something…the one who married Streisand. Its a well known fact that men who marry women with huge noses never lie…my Phrenologist told me so.
I’m kind of spooked by the peak oil problem we keep hearing about. Its probably been overblown like most big issues but there is a core of truth there that is scary.
I also have a tendency to believe some of the theories on why we went to war with Iraq, for oil rather than for democracy. I have little faith that the US government acts in the best interest of the people first and foremost. I think politicians are in it for themselves.
I can’t think of any conspiracy theories that I find terribly plausible, though I bought into quite a few when I was younger.
One of my coworkers, who seems quite rational and intelligent in all other respects, told me recently that she finds some of the arguments of the moon-hoaxers to be convincing. Arrrrrggghh!
I don’t know if Oswald was the only shooter or not, but there’s just too much evidence that a real conspiracy of some sort was at work for me to believe that he was acting alone.
As for Peak Oil, that scares the hell out of me sometimes. That doesn’t even seem like a conspiracy theory so much.
The big problem with conspiracy theories is that they require you to believe that the Government is both unbelievably sneaky and totally inept at the same time! The same people that couldn’t keep a White House blowjob secret are the ones who faked the moon landing. Just doesn’t add up.
That said, I’m sure that Oswald is the one who shot Elvis.
I like the theory that the Federal Reserve Board did Kennedy in because he was going to disband them. It really appeals to the “follow the money” idea. (Not that I really believe it of course, it was just a pet theory of a former roomate).
[QUOTE=Odinoneeye]
I met my first true moon hoaxer last week (Well I met her a few months ago, I found out she was a moon hoaxer last week).
To her credit, she at least admits she has no real reason to believe this, it just doesn’t fit in with her religious beliefs. (I guess I missed the 11th commandment Thou Shalt Not Go Into Outer Space)
I was strangely affected by the JFK assassination and was always a proponent of some kind of conspiracy. Then I read Case Closed a few years ago and felt very silly.
My ex-wife, a grief counsellor, can explain all this. When Elvis died she said to me, “If they don’t put his body on public display we’ll hear that he was murdered or is still alive for the next 40 years.”
Well, I’ve been keeping track of this topic and have debated whether I should post because there seem to be a lot of debunkers here. Generally, I don’t trust our government, human nature, or widely purported “facts”. So, I basically play along with the acceptable theories while I still harbor doubts and distrust. For example:
JFK’s assassination: I still think there was some conspiracy behind it but publically I accept the lone gunman explanation.
John Lennon’s death: Sure, it was a crazed fan. But does anyone find it curious that John was considered such a threat to the U.S. and he was gunned down?
9/11: Yes, it was a totally unforeseeable tragedy by crazy terrorists. With the Bush family’s close ties to the Saudi royal family, I think 9/11 was arranged to create a crisis so Dubya could run the U.S. without checks and balances.
Osama bin Laden: The U.S. totally knows where he is and will produce him in October 2004.
[quote=AmericanMaid*- Osama bin Laden: The U.S. totally knows where he is and will produce him in October 2004. While I won’t admit to a full-on belief of this, I’d be lying if I said I’d be shocked if ObL was captured/killed this fall.
