# Conspiracy theories harmless fun or not?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [April 15, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438 "2018-04-15T01:53:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Jim\_Peebles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Peebles)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/41 "2018-04-16T15:35:47Z")
> [@Ashtura](#):
>
> So, you believe in the history in the world, everything is completely as it seems based on official stories, there have never been coverups? I won’t call you stupid, but that is awful naive. It’s also dead wrong, and I can cite several instances if you like.
>
> I also wouldn’t consider UFO’s, flat earth, and Bigfoot to be “conspiracy theories,” I’d consider propagating urban legends. And I think that’s fairly harmless.
Good point. There is \<=1 Bigfoot, and it takes \>1 for a conspiracy.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/42 "2018-04-16T15:49:25Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#):
>
> First, and most important to the discussion, the uncomfortable and inconvenient point: conspiracy theory believers are stupid people. Not “most of the time”, not “in general”, but specifically and thoroughly each and every one of them.
> .
It depends. If you believe that Oswald was not the assassin, then you are possibly stupid. If you believe there are still some mysteries about _why_ Oswald shot JFK, you are simply curious.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/43 "2018-04-16T15:49:28Z")
> [@Jim\_Peebles](#):
>
> Good point. There is \<=1 Bigfoot, and it takes \>1 for a conspiracy.
But whoever said Bigfoot was urban?
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/44 "2018-04-16T15:53:53Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#):
>
> The real problem with CTs is that sometimes they turn out to be true. The American Govt and American industry have a long and ignominious history of covering up and lying.
>
> The tobacco industry, the automotive industry, the banking industry, the pharmacy industry, The Catholic church, the insurance industry, social media. . . have all not only covered up but outright lied to the American people.
Altho indeed there have been many\* cover-ups\*, none of those were subjects of widespread Conspiracy Theories. We have had several threads on whether or not any widespread CT turned out to be true, and the general consensus is **NO.**
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### Author:  [@Jim\_Peebles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Peebles)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/45 "2018-04-16T15:53:53Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> But whoever said Bigfoot was urban?
I spotted him in Times Square. Is that urban enough?
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/46 "2018-04-16T15:58:06Z")
> [@Ashtura](#):
>
> I also wouldn’t consider UFO’s, flat earth, and Bigfoot to be “conspiracy theories,” I’d consider propagating urban legends. And I think that’s fairly harmless.
UFOs certainly can be, like the Royal Family being Interstellar Reptile people, and so forth.
Bigfoot is just a hoax, and sure it can be fun. There are certainly cryptids out there (they find several large new species every decade) , so Cryptozoologists are certainly not always nuts…
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### Author:  [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/47 "2018-04-16T17:03:24Z")
> [@Ashtura](#):
>
> So, you believe in the history in the world, everything is completely as it seems based on official stories, there have never been coverups?
Coverups? Sure. Plenty. Especially when people screw up and try to cover their asses. Usually it is pretty minor stuff.
When you start spouting stuff like the Twin Towers being wired for demolition in secret you go well across a line.
> [@](#):
>
> I won’t call you stupid, but that is awful naive. It’s also dead wrong, and I can cite several instances if you like.
Are they as big as the things Art Bell blabbed about? Are they as big as vaccine side-effects being covered up? That Hale-Bopp had a companion and every amateur astronomer in the world was in on the cover-up?
That bad Hollywood script thinking.
And in the long run, a lot of coverups get revealed, not all, of course. Trouble is, by the time it gets revealed no-one really cares.
> [@](#):
>
> I also wouldn’t consider UFO’s, flat earth, and Bigfoot to be “conspiracy theories,” I’d consider propagating urban legends. And I think that’s fairly harmless.
UFOs get well into big conspiracy theory territory when you have things like aliens at Area 51, Men-in-Black, and such. Flat Earth is definitely in CT territory as it involves pretty much all the engineers, international pilots, and physical scientists to be involved in a massive coverup.
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/48 "2018-04-16T18:39:16Z")
IMHO they are harmful in the long run.
Sure, it can be fun at the beginning, but eventually you will get fanatics/hard believers of those conspiracies into positions of power that follow those “fun” conspiracies. Then we are all in trouble.
> **[Donald Trump Loves Conspiracy Theories](https://time.com/5050621/donald-trump-conspiracy-theories/)**
>
> From Obama's birth certificate to his own 'Access Hollywood' video.
> [@](#):
>
> Donald Trump built his political career on a conspiracy theory: The false claim that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States.
>
> But it’s not the only conspiracy theory he’s indulged.
>
> Over the years, Trump has called everything from climate change to Russian meddling in the 2016 election a hoax. According to a recent report in the New York Times, he’s told associates that the Access Hollywood video of him bragging about touching women without their consent is also a hoax — even though he admitted making the remarks when it came out.
> [@](#):
>
> His claim that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death was suspicious also led nowhere, although that may be in part because the seat was kept open until after the election.
>
> Other times, the conspiracy theories have had political consequences. Trump’s belief that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election led directly to the creation of a voter fraud commission.
>
> He’s stopped arguing climate change is a hoax in public, but he pulled the U.S. out of a Paris agreement meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions anyway.
> [@](#):
>
> It’s unclear exactly what Trump believes. He held a press conference during the 2016 election to admit that Obama was born in the United States after all, but the Times reported that he’s again questioned the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate in recent closed-door conversations.
>
> But that’s the thing with conspiracy theories: You never really know the truth.
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### Author:  [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/49 "2018-04-16T18:43:22Z")
> [@](#):
>
> UFOs get well into big conspiracy theory territory when you have things like aliens at Area 51, Men-in-Black, and such. Flat Earth is definitely in CT territory as it involves pretty much all the engineers, international pilots, and physical scientists to be involved in a massive coverup.
Yeah, but is that harmful though. I don’t think so. See, a conspriacy theory is only harmful if a large number of people believe it, and if they are actively doing harmful things. Flat earthers aren’t murdering scientists, pilots, etc. The flat earth society has 46K twitter follows. That’s pathetic.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/50 "2018-04-16T18:53:51Z")
I admit I’d be concerned if members of the Flat Earth Society were planting bombs on planes or ships, saying they deserve it for supporting the lie of “global” travel, or murdering employees of NASA or the ESA.
I’m not fond of conspiracy theorists, but as long as they take no violent action, they’re (barely) tolerable.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/51 "2018-04-16T18:56:30Z")
> [@Ashtura](#):
>
> Yeah, but is that harmful though. I don’t think so. See, a conspriacy theory is only harmful if a large number of people believe it, and if they are actively doing harmful things. Flat earthers aren’t murdering scientists, pilots, etc. The flat earth society has 46K twitter follows. That’s pathetic.
In a nation where more than 40% of the population believes in Biblical creationism and rejects the tenets of evolution, denial of something as provably factual as the spheroid shape of the planet is a real problem. Even if flat earthers are a minority of people overall, their example of how to deny evidence in pursuit of a belief serves as a demonstration to others who will use the same methods to espouse and propagate harmful beliefs.
Fictional stories about the supernatural, aliens, et cetera are fine because we all understand that they are imaginary. When people start pretending the imaginary is real and equivilating fiction with fact, it serves to undermine the value of actual evidence and critical thinking, qualities that are in increaselying short supply in the public sphere.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/52 "2018-04-16T19:02:28Z")
In the 21st Century CTs are certainly not harmless when you have people harassing those that lost loved one in the “offboarded planes” on 9/11 or parents of children “that never existed” after Sandy Hook.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/53 "2018-04-16T19:02:54Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> In a nation where more than 40% of the population believes in Biblical creationism and rejects the tenets of evolution, denial of something as provably factual as the spheroid shape of the planet is a real problem. Even if flat earthers are a minority of people overall, their example of how to deny evidence in pursuit of a belief serves as a demonstration to others who will use the same methods to espouse and propagate harmful beliefs.
To be fair, we don’t know how many of the Flat Earthers are doing it ironically.
Get it? Ironic? Fe? Flat Earth? Huh? Huh?
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/54 "2018-04-16T19:04:20Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> In the 21st Century CTs are certainly not harmless when you have people harassing those that lost loved one in the “offboarded planes” on 9/11 or parents of children “that never existed” after Sandy Hook.
Yes, I forgot about them. Conspiracy Theories are (barely) tolerable as long as they’re not violent or assholes.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/55 "2018-04-16T19:09:56Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> Seemingly harmless conspiracy theories encourage the kind of thinking that can lead to belief in more harmful conspiracy theories.
Analogous situation: the argument that it’s OK if your doctor espouses supposedly harmless woo for a relatively insignificant medical condition.
Even if it is safe to (for example) prescribe homeopathic magic water for a cold (no medical treatment of any kind, including placebos is ever 100% safe), the problem is that the groundwork has been laid for patients believing that homeopathy can also be used for treating, say, a serious heart condition or cancer.
Very often, the lapse or absence of critical thinking that leads to acceptance of one conspiracy/goofball theory promotes eventual acceptance of a flock of others, of varying degrees of malignancy. [Crank magnetism](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Crank_magnetism)\* is a real phenomenon. Best not to indulge it at all.
\*“A sovereign citizen, a creationist, an anti-vaxxer, and a conspiracy theorist walk into a bar. He orders a drink.”
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### Author:  [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/56 "2018-04-16T19:14:51Z")
> [@Ashtura](#):
>
> Yeah, but is that harmful though. I don’t think so. See, a conspriacy theory is only harmful if a large number of people believe it, and if they are actively doing harmful things. Flat earthers aren’t murdering scientists, pilots, etc. The flat earth society has 46K twitter follows. That’s pathetic.
Harmful isn’t just caused by people killing people. Harmful can happen in other ways.
A healthy skepticism about government claims is good, but when you take it to excess it becomes problematic. Soon you have people not brushing their teeth because government agencies recommend it (and the advice of dentists). Seems like an extreme case? Well then take water fluoridation. Many folks suffer dental health issues because paranoid some people, usually in other counties or states, decided that this was a government plot to poison them all.
It isn’t too far of a fall with conspiracy mindset to start actively _not_ participating in the government - to whit I never encountered a 9/11 truther in the US who actually voted during elections: “Why should I vote when the Illuminati has already decided who is going to win?!” was an all too common and tragic attitude. They saw themselves as future _Zamfpolit_ in a coming revolution, but couldn’t be bothered to vote against the people they railed against.
Harmful shows up in other ways besides murder: Look at what the Sandy Hook truthers have done to the parents of victims. That is mental cruelty beyond all measure. It isn’t limited to Sandy Hook, either - The Boston Marathon bombing, the Las Vegas Mass shooting, all have cruel, disgusting human antics brought on by this encroaching paranoia. Just last month some would be truther types confronted the victim parishoners of that Texas Baptist church that was the scene of a mass shooting. That is harmful even if no bodily harm was done.
Flat Earth is more than just its twitter following (there’s probably dozens of such accounts). I’ve encountered more than a couple just in my daily routine where in a more rational world I would have to do some serious hunting to find one (and that FE would probably just be having a lark). This is what happens when you fail to counter the fact-free void of conspiracy theories.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/57 "2018-04-16T19:20:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> Conspiracy Theories are all good fun, until some Pyramid loses an Eye.
_‘Golf Clap’_
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/58 "2018-04-16T19:22:32Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#):
>
> I think the question becomes “How far is it necessary to go to protect stupid people from themselves, and how far to protect everyone else from stupid people”.
>
> I don’t know the answer.
[Ask this guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tvEo68VYik)
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### Author:  [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2018, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/59 "2018-04-17T11:00:34Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#):
>
> ALl of those things have been answered ages ago. Even the most ‘rational’ of 9/11ers are far off base.
>
> And you find they are a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total number of engineers in the USA. Furthermore, the vast, vast majority of those engineers are computer engineers, sanitation engineers, and electrical engineers - not the kind of engineer I depend on for information on what makes a building stand.
>
> I was referring to vaccines, which are far and away the most economical method of disease prevention we have, and are not incredibly popular. Many doctors give them at a loss, and they are not very profitable for the vaccine manufacturers.
It’s real trivially easy to make up a name and some credentials and get it added to that list of architects and engineers. I’ve done it a few times when I’m really bored.
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2018, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conspiracy-theories-harmless-fun-or-not/812438/60 "2018-04-17T11:24:14Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> \*“A sovereign citizen, a creationist, an anti-vaxxer, and a conspiracy theorist walk into a bar. He orders a drink.”
I’m so stealing this.
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