# What do you believe firmly with zero evidence? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129 "2022-02-26T00:42:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/101 "2022-03-01T12:34:00Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I believe some NFL games are rigged; same for certain other sports. I remember the NFC championship game between Minnesota and New Orleans following Katrina. The officials basically sat back and did nothing while the New Orleans defense beat Brett Favre to a pulp with late and excessive hits. The Saints were the feel good story of the decade, and virtually everyone was a Saints’ fan and wanted the Saints in the Super Bowl at that particular time. It was pretty obvious to me what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/102 "2022-03-01T12:39:36Z")
I believe in a Creator. Humans have done a horrible job overall in trying to figure it all out but, nevertheless, my study of science and the universe have convinced me that this is true. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/103 "2022-03-01T13:25:58Z")
I am healthy and would know it if something was wrong with me, so no need to go to the doctor. I am going to the doctor because I’m being pressured to, but I know deep down it’s a waste of time and money. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/104 "2022-03-01T13:56:50Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > > [@mordecaiB](#): > > > > I don’t think Trump ever had covid. I think whatever happened to him > > What’s the likeliest explanation for him being rushed to Walter Reed at this point? Does Walter Reed have a mental ward? Dan ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/105 "2022-03-01T14:09:38Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > [**Here’s the data**](http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/dataSearch.html) for tracking earthquakes in and around the UK. I make it approx 200+ quakes in the last 2 years. > > Whe people write that sort of conspiracy stuff, it’s always interesting to spend a bit of time checking out facts. Weeellll…I was discussing conspiracy rather than the fine details of earthquakes. But anyway. The phrase I used was > as close to earthquake-free as you can get. I’m not going to bother searching to see if I can find a country more free of earthquakes. I’ll just note that **in 1940 an elderly woman died when she fell down the stairs. This is the last recorded earthquake death in Britain.** [There have been a total of 11 known earthquake deaths](http://www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/education/faqs/faq14.html) (including one suicide and two deaths by “shock”), dating back to 1580. j ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/106 "2022-03-01T15:25:37Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Here’s mine. I don’t think Trump ever had covid. I think whatever happened to him months before when he was taken to Walter Reed at night and we were told it was to finish some tests for his physical(which I didn’t believe at the time) happened to him again. I think if he was really treated for covid and recovered in such a short time he is such a egomaniac that he would claim it was him that was responsible for the miracle treatment being available. The phony photo ops didn’t help matters I’m surprised that more people don’t think that. He says he’s got covid, goes to the hospital for a short time, has no apparent symptoms, and returns, having conquered covid. I am convinced that it was a big honking scam on his part. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/107 "2022-03-01T15:28:09Z")
Not quite a belief but a giant question based on nothing - I sometimes wonder if, in whatever mysterious structure of the universe, all information is recorded and stored. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/108 "2022-03-01T16:18:15Z")
This, our memories and experiences are ribbons in time following the path of the earth in space. These individual memories are tied to each other through shared experiences and relationships. Once humanity is wiped out and there are no more humans to add to it becomes like an old book in a library that no one references anymore. Maybe there is big memory log of dinosaur experiences out there out there but we are too far away from it to access it or the connection got damaged in the meteor hit. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/109 "2022-03-01T16:25:18Z")
Nice, good to know. My definition puts the accent in a longer duration, but I see this is not the only definition: > **[Definition of ANOREXIA](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anorexia)** > > loss of appetite especially when prolonged; anorexia nervosa… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/110 "2022-03-01T16:29:14Z")
I guess there is something there, as scientists are so worried about the [information paradox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole_information_paradox) that seems to happen when things fall into black holes. Why would they worry about information being lost if it is not recorded somehow in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/111 "2022-03-01T17:07:02Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > > [@mordecaiB](#): > > > > > I don’t think Trump ever had covid. I think whatever happened to him > > > [/quote] > > > > > > What’s the likeliest explanation for him being rushed to Walter Reed at this point? > > Does Walter Reed have a mental ward? > > Dan That’s what my thought was. With Trump, who knows? He could have been trying to pry open the nuclear football with a letter opener. > [@velomont](#): > > I’m surprised that more people don’t think that. He says he’s got covid, goes to the hospital for a short time, has no apparent symptoms, and returns, having conquered covid. And I don’t really recall any pushback against the story either. The guy is pushing 80 and is obese, a perfect target for a long term covid illness, and he’s back in the White House a couple days later? Unless the upper class get much better treatment than what we were told was/is available, I just can’t buy the covid thing. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/112 "2022-03-01T17:24:39Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I just can’t buy the covid thing. Especially compared to Boris Johnson who did have covid and spent three nights in intensive care. He said: “You don’t realise what a state you’re in”. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/113 "2022-03-01T17:42:15Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > Although I’m not at all a Star Wars fan, I really like that idea that “long ago (and far away)” this story happened with technology we haven’t created yet on Earth. I believe that the entire Star Wars story is set in our very own Milky Way Galaxy at a time far in the future, when the technology seen in that story will exist here in this galaxy (not necessarily on Earth). The narrative “A long time ago in a galaxy far away” is actually stated from the Point-of-View of a narrator even farther in the future and a galaxy far away from the Milky Way. (To be fair, I admit that I believe this because I do see some scraps of in-story evidence for it.) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/114 "2022-03-01T17:49:02Z")
I believe that the Bush Administration knew, during the summer of 2001, that a terrorist attack in the United States was imminent. So, they began planning the response before it happened, and were already coordinating the logistics of overthrowing the Taliban, and had already decided to proceed into Iraq, before 9/11 had even occurred. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/115 "2022-03-01T18:08:18Z")
Regardless of what the Bush Administration knew about 9/11, I believe they were looking for an excuse to start a war with Iraq. They needed to finish the war that Papa Bush started. Otherwise, why attack Iraq, instead of a country that was more involved in 9/11? ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/116 "2022-03-01T18:12:41Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Especially compared to Boris Johnson who did have covid and spent three nights in intensive care. He said: “You don’t realise what a state you’re in”. And look how similar those two are, right down to the weird hair styles. 😀 I also find it weird that Trump, a well known germaphobe, wouldn’t have went in to a towering rage of firing staff that allowed him to get infected. > [@Moriarty](#): > > I believe that the Bush Administration knew, during the summer of 2001, that a terrorist attack in the United States was imminent. So, they began planning the response before it happened, and were already coordinating the logistics of overthrowing the Taliban, and had already decided to proceed into Iraq, before 9/11 had even occurred. I’ll meet you partway. I think Iraq was in the crosshairs well in advance of 9/11 and obviously Bush knew an attack was coming somewhere. What he/they didn’t count on was how massive the attack would be and how quickly it would be associated with Usama. Hence the miniscule US troop deployment to Afghanistan and accepting only token troops from most NATO countries. He wanted Iraq first and Afghanistan was an annoyance to his plans. I will say one thing about Bush that separates him from Cheney/Rumsfeld: I think Bush truly believed we would be welcomed and be able to turn Iraq in to a democracy. He was totally wrong of course, but I think he believed it. Cheney/Rumsfeld didn’t believe the democracy crap at all. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/117 "2022-03-01T19:18:55Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I think Iraq was in the crosshairs well in advance of 9/11 and obviously Bush knew an attack was coming somewhere. What he/they didn’t count on was how massive the attack would be and how quickly it would be associated with Usama. I realize that this is the “without evidence” thread, but there’s a pretty famous daily intelligence briefing which Bush received that was entitled “Bin Laden determined to attack within United States”. It’s also been reported that attorney general John Ashcroft stopped flying commercial airlines that summer. I can well imagine that they were anticipating an event that would trigger popular sentiment for a war, for which Bin Laden and Al Qaeda would take responsibility. They didn’t exactly wait to call him out once it happened. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/118 "2022-03-01T19:29:24Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I realize that this is the “without evidence” thread, but there’s a pretty famous daily intelligence briefing which Bush received that was entitled “Bin Laden determined to attack within United States” Yep, that’s why I think they had to know something was coming. > [@Moriarty](#): > > It’s also been reported that attorney general John Ashcroft stopped flying commercial airlines that summer. That’s interesting, I didn’t hear about that. You could be on to something. > [@Moriarty](#): > > I can well imagine that they were anticipating an event that would trigger popular sentiment for a war, for which Bin Laden and Al Qaeda would take responsibility. They didn’t exactly wait to call him out once it happened So true. I think the only thing we differ on was the size of the attack being a surprise. I actually think the Iraq part was planned before Bush was even elected. Republicans weren’t subtle about that at all. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/119 "2022-03-01T19:43:23Z")
Well, there’s that whole God thing… . . As a Assistant (to the) Minister, I was going to pop in and just say that. But then I read through the thread, and was intrigued by this: > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Here’s what I believe, and my only evidence is logic. > > There is no such thing as “supernatural” v. “natural.” It’s all on a spectrum. Like color. There’s a whole spectrum of frequencies that we call “color.” A segment of that spectrum we can perceive with functioning human eyeballs. Some places on that spectrum our eyes can’t perceive, but we have developed instruments that can _see_ those places. Some animals, insects, etc., can see frequencies that we cannot. > > What we call “supernatural” are places along a spectrum of (let’s call it) “reality” that we can’t perceive with our human body/instrument. To say those things/objects/events don’t exist because humans currently can’t perceive them is the height of anthropocentric narrowness. IMHO it’s an amalgam of arrogance, hubris, and cluelessness. Over the years and especially in modern times, humans have developed technology that enables us to perceive things that humans used to think were “supernatural.” There’s more of that ahead but there will always be things we don’t understand and can’t with our limited human instrument. > > But it’s all One Thing. Nothing else makes sense. Wow, that’s a good job articulating an interesting way of looking at things! And good for me to think about, as an unrepentant Materialist. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/120 "2022-03-01T19:48:14Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think Trump came to some sort of financial arrangement with Putin to postpone his invasion of Ukraine until after his presidency ended. I just wanted to come back and point to this idea in the current climate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129.md?page=7)