# POLL: SDMB attitudes towards non-mainstream topics **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185 "2011-04-29T17:43:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/1 "2011-04-29T17:43:15Z")
Just curious about how accurate my (very) general impression of Doper attitudes may be. Check all that apply. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/2 "2011-04-29T17:52:37Z")
But it won’t let me submit if I haven’t checked anything (assuming you want us to check if the answer is ‘yes I believe that.’ ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/3 "2011-04-29T17:59:41Z")
Oh, crap! First poll ever; I forgot “none of the above.” For some reason I was thinking it would have a yes/no for each. Hang on… ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/4 "2011-04-29T18:00:54Z")
I’ll vote for “none of the above” once the option appears =) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/5 "2011-04-29T18:04:51Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Oh, crap! First poll ever; I forgot “none of the above.” For some reason I was thinking it would have a yes/no for each. Hang on… Is fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/6 "2011-04-29T18:26:59Z")
I clicked #4 only, and I am using a very, very loose definition of “may have involed…” In other words, I’m very doubtful, but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/7 "2011-04-29T18:29:48Z")
I’m going to say HFCS is injurious to your health in the same way that refined sugar is. That is, the less of it you eat, the better your health will be. I don’t think it’s some bugaboo that’s going to ruin us all. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/8 "2011-04-29T18:30:31Z")
Research does seem to show that High Fructose Corn Syrup is potentially more hazardous to your health than glucose, due to the stress that fructose can put on your liver. Over time, and in high enough doses. No, I don’t know how long or how much. We saw a film about this in my fat class from a guy who reviews research. I can get the name of the guy and the film if necessary, I think it was something like “Fructose is Evil”. In the meantime, here’s a quote from someone else: “The medical profession thinks fructose is better for diabetics than sugar,” says Meira Field, Ph.D., a research chemist at United States Department of Agriculture, “but every cell in the body can metabolize glucose. However, all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. The livers of the rats on the high fructose diet looked like the livers of alcoholics, plugged with fat and cirrhotic.” And sure, some UFO sightings might be aliens, who knows? It’s not impossible, just very unlikely. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/9 "2011-04-29T18:39:45Z")
None of the above. 2-4 are jokes. High-fructose corn syrup is not any more dangerous to your health than sweeteners with a similar chemical profile, such as honey. Jury is still out on aspartame. TOO MUCH sugar, in particular too much fructose, is not great. But HFCS by itself isn’t a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/10 "2011-04-29T19:02:44Z")
I should have checked number one, too - I agree that it is bad for you like sugar is. I think it’s entirely possible that there have been real UFO sightings. Maybe not likely, but possible. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/11 "2011-04-29T19:14:49Z")
[“Chemtrails”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory) is a new one for me. Sigh. There are plenty of real pollution concerns without imagining new ones, just because you can _see_ condensed water in the air. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/12 "2011-04-29T19:20:52Z")
I think #1 is a weird question. Personally, I don’t think aspartame is bad (as in a chemical that will hurt us) but I do think HFCS is bad (as in it is added to too many products and is bad for your health if you eat too much of it, or too much sugar or too much rice or too much pasta.) I never really think of aspartame or any fake sweetener in the same way I think of HFCS. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/13 "2011-04-29T19:23:04Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I clicked #4 only, and I am using a very, very loose definition of “may have involed…” In other words, I’m very doubtful, but who knows. This. It’s impossible to be certain they’re not. I’d need exceptional evidence before I believed any given “sighting”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/14 "2011-04-29T19:23:44Z")
I checked 4. Very, very, _very_ unlikely that aliens have come here, but out of thousands of sightings, some of which were quite detailed, by very reliable witnesses and difficult to explain otherwise, I cannot flatly say that it’s impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/15 "2011-04-29T19:24:49Z")
I voted for HFCS. I’m pre-diabetic. HFCS causes an insulin reaction that ultimately can be bad for me. Of course, so do other sugars…but you didn’t ask about them. 🙂 -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/16 "2011-04-29T19:43:22Z")
\*\*1. Do you believe that aspartame and/or HFCS may be deleterous to your health? \*\* I don’t know enough to have an opinion. \*\*2. Do you have a problem with any part of the official explanation for 9/11? \*\* I think it quite likely that the Bush Administration knew that something was coming and deliberately looked the other way because they _wanted_ a large terrorist strike they could use as an excuse to attack Iraq and push the rest of their agenda. Distinguishing this from incompetence is extremely hard however, especially since they _were_ incompetent. Note that unlike the grandiose theories about planted explosives and missiles, this only requires that a few people at the top simply not do anything; much easier to achieve, and leaves little or no evidence. \*\*3. Do you think that some of the trails from aircraft may be chemtrails? \*\* In general probably not. But the government [has](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_LAC) [sprayed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dew) the public with odd things in the past. I just doubt they have a reason to do so on a regular basis. **4. Do you think that any UFO sightings may have involved a genuine alien craft?** Highly unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/17 "2011-04-29T19:51:46Z")
Hmmm… I thought HFCS was something to do with Hydrofluorocarbons and the hole in the ozone layer. Still, on balance I’ll hold to my original positions ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/18 "2011-04-29T21:11:58Z")
Wait, I thought those airplane tracks were CALLED chemtrails. It’s some conspiracy thing? 😕 ::Googles:: :smack: Ahh, CONtrails! -1 for number three, please! ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/19 "2011-04-29T21:37:25Z")
:dubious: Hmmmm … so far, I’m mildly surprised. Keep it up, everyone, this is very intriguing. And, thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185/20 "2011-04-29T21:40:55Z")
I don’t think HFCS is any special kind of bad, but I think it is added to too many foods, in too high a concentration, and that isn’t a good thing (IMO). Also, I believe it is possible some alien sightings are genuine, although highly unlikely. So unlikely I didn’t check that box, but still. I wanted to clarify. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-sdmb-attitudes-towards-non-mainstream-topics/580185.md?page=2)