Where will little bulls sit just quietly and smell the flowers?
My mother is mostly quite rational, but the thing she falls for is the moon’s influence on people. Every time someone casually mentions having slept badly the other night, she replies with: “Well, there was a a full moon that night” or “It’ll be new moon tomorrow”. Apparently every phase of the moon can cause bad sleep or any emotional unrest in her view. I’ve told her about confirmation bias, pointed her to studies that refute her delusion, asked her to provide any explanation for it, but it’s a hopeless case, and I’m the “doubting Thomas”.
Oh, and she insists in believing that cold weather or air draft gives you the common cold, and I bet even her doctor couldn’t convince her otherwise.
Politics has a weird blinder effect on a lot of people. My wife’s uncle is a highly intelligent man, a former fire chief, a really nice, easy-going and generous guy with a great sense of humor who is generally quite pleasant to be around. But he is a birther. Obama was born in Kenya, it’s an indisputable fact, and no amount of faked, forged, trumped-up documentation will ever convince him otherwise. I don’t even bother engaging him on the subject; I’ll find an excuse to be in the other room when it comes up. And it will come up sooner or later.
Does she re-post them all on facebook? All my in-laws do.
Here in the UK, I fell for the story that Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman and Rick Santorum have support as Presidential candidates. :eek:
What? :smack:
An otherwise very intelligent, rational, highly scientifically literate and practical friend has, on several occasions, informed me that she knows someone who summons demons.
It took me quite a while to work out that she wasn’t just joking around.
There’s a few guys at work who can do it. I try to not be in the restroom at the same time.
Why, so can I, or so can any man. But will they come when you do call for them?
My mom was a nurse. Never had hand soap in the kitchen. Cut raw meat on wood cutting boards. Cold air causes your common cold. Then fox news was invented. At the end there was precious little we could talk about.
My FIL has fallen for several investment scams. You see, the Jews control Wall Street and the only way to make money is by giving it to some guy calling you on the phone from Florida. This man is a physician (retired) who also goes for the woo in medicine on a regular basis, because the FDA will never all a real cure to come to America or the pharma companies will go out of business. Oh yeah, and Osama is still alive.
My father also says that Osama is still alive, we have no proof of his death. He is bigger on the whole conspiracy angle, and also regularly sets me up with meetings with people who have amazing ideas to revolutionize industry with their garage inventions. Because I spend a fair amount of my time with venture capital - it means that I am the son that gets to talk to the crackpot of the day.
My mother just forwards glurge and “evidence” that Obama is a Muslim/ foreign born.
Just remembered two more (thanks to thinking about building some customer bookshelves and the issue of which to get rid of):
My Father bought into the Bible Code completely.
Someone in the family (don’t remember who) bought into the Celestine Prophecy completely.
My mom believes that tornadoes seek out trailer parks. I have tried to explain to her that trailer parks are usually in flat areas and that since trailers are lighter than houses and not sunk into the ground, they are likely to be damaged more severely.
Nope, that’s not it at all: “All that metal attracts the electricity in storm clouds.” I asked her if trailers are struck by lightning more often than other buildings: “Yes, they probably are, you just don’t hear about it in the news.”
Mom also absolutely believes that Republicans always tell the truth and that Democrats always lie. When I pointed out that all politicians lie to some degree, her response was “Well, Democrats ALWAYS lie and Republicans only lie a little and only for very good reasons.”
A college friend of mine fell for the ‘Bill Gates is giving $$$$$ to everyone who forwards this email’ thing. This was in 2005, the hoax was already more than ten years old. She forwarded it to all her fellow honor students. I went to a really isolated college, but it wasn’t that isolated. :smack:
I work with LOTS of guys who believe that because they own a couple of handguns and a rifle that these weapons put them on par with, or even make them superior to the “American Fighting Man”, and law officers. I sort of understand this foolish thinking coming from guys who’ve never served in the military, but several of them have. Yet they insist that if The Government came for their guns they’d be able to stop them from taking them. I try pointing out that if the government wants your guns, or your ass they’ll have no problem getting both. They’ll also have no problem prying your gun “from your cold, dead hands” if necessary. (See: Koresh, David; also see: MOVE Organization)
I also have a dear friend who believes that if urban street gangs ever banded together they could (in his words) “take over the country!”
This guy has obviously seen “The Warriors” (1979) one too many times.
Sis in law had a 6+ month long internet “affair” with a Nigerian. They were talking about getting married. Pretty sure she gave some kind of presents or cash, but she won’t admit to it.
I think we have the same mom. In addition she believes the Democrats are the ones who are bought off by and represent the big business special interests and the Republicans represent the working man.
“Republicans represent the working man” is one of the biggest and most successful hoaxes of all, isn’t it?
Also, my mom(who is otherwise a staunch environmentalist) believes that CO2 emissions have absolutely nothing to do with climate change. That notion is a liberal conspiracy to destroy business.
I know a guy who got roped into selling **$1000 vaccums *(had to buy one of his own first, don’t ya know!), fell for a version of the Nigerian scam (the guy at Western Union wouldn’t *let him wire money and told him it was a hoax), tried all kinds of crazy products like magnets that improve fuel milage, “miracle” cleaners, knives (all which he somehow ends up as a sales rep for) and generaly makes the poorest decisions of anybody I know.
One day, my wife says, “Man, he’s just really stupid, isn’t he?” :dubious:
Why didn’t I think of that? 
Remember pyramid schemes and “airplane” schemes? Glorified versions of the old chain letter… yep. Mom fell for those, too.
special points for the Ferdinando reference.