# What is the biggest event that is accepted by all conspiracy theorists at face value? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 17, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158 "2021-02-17T19:58:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/81 "2021-02-24T19:28:31Z")
I have a conspiracy theory that most Flat Earthers are simply trolls. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/82 "2021-02-25T18:38:17Z")
Is there any significant, systematic doubt regarding the atomic theory of matter, i. e. the idea that matter is build up of some smallest element or another? It’s a notion that’s much harder to demonstrate than the existence of viruses or the Earth’s spherical nature or the fact that no, the moon isn’t a hologram, but I don’t recall anybody ever claiming that those championing the idea of atoms are all just in the pocket of Big Small… ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/83 "2021-02-25T18:40:47Z")
No, Big Small is the nanotech mafia: > **[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Pocket](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/pocket)** > > Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Pocket ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/84 "2021-02-25T21:11:04Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > everybody believes that the USA threw two A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At least I never heard or read anybody denying that. Jesus, read “the Jesus Factor”, by Edwin Corley. Premise is that a nuclear device won’t explode if it’s in motion, which a dropped bomb is. Very nice 1971 SF which explains what REALLY happened. I’m surprised some CT’er hasn’t seized upon it. Hmmm, perhaps I’ll get on that; is there any money in CT? Dan ---
**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:** [February 25, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/85 "2021-02-25T22:03:36Z")
I can only wonder what exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki then. Probably a humongous dirty bomb, judging by the death toll and the radioactivity afterwards. And yes, there must be big money in CTs, just like in cults and TV-preaching, but not everybody can do it. You have to be a special kind of con man. I couldn’t get away with it, but some people have a natural talent for that and they even seem to enjoy it, as far as I can tell. > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > So, how do flat-earthers explain the obvious problem that if the earth were flat cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now? If the Earth isn’t flat, why are maps flat? And now there is even a better one than before, says the [New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/science/new-world-map.html?searchResultPosition=2), double sided even! And if it is paywalled, it is just part of the conspiracy, so beware! ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/86 "2021-02-25T23:13:23Z")
If you know you couldn’t get away with it, well, that speaks to your humanity. But really, read the book. All is revealed. Dan ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/87 "2021-02-25T23:31:00Z")
Dang, don’t spoil it for us! Dan ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/88 "2021-02-27T14:31:09Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > what is the biggest thing or event that _ **is** _ accepted by all conspiracy theorists at face value Single event accepted by all? Not likely, but how about a cluster of 8 out of 10? The conspiracy folks I’ve run across were big on: Illuminati, Jews, Catholic Church, Masons, Mormons, US Government, Blacks, Communism, God’s Plan and Organized Crime. I believe all of them would accept 8 of these as being behind all major events - in a conspiratorial sense. ie Jews run the economy, the Illuminati run the wars, Mormons are planning to take over the government, Communists control Hollywood, Blacks want our women, the Catholic Church controls organized crime, It’s all God’s plan. CTs don’t agree on all of it, but I’ll bet they agree on 8 out of 10. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/89 "2021-02-27T14:35:08Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Single event accepted by all? The OP is asking for real world events that all CT theorists believe occurred according to the mainstream interpretation with no conspiracy involved. In other words, something that’s a _real_ real-world event, not a CTified real-world event. So sorta the opposite of your list. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/90 "2021-02-27T15:20:18Z")
OK, but it says accepted at face value. So you mean reality in the context of CT think? Not likely. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/91 "2021-02-27T16:51:10Z")
I’m not defending the wisdom of his question. As I interpreted his motivation, I think he was trying to find some sort of threshold, where (assumedly) CTers believe in their BS about big things, but about reality in small things. So IMO the question was “What is the biggest small thing most CTers will have heard about but at the same time take at face value?” I think the question is a nonsense, but probably for a different reason. IMO almost all modern CTs are created by professionals to make money; they aren’t cooked up by random crackpots in un-airconditioned double-wides. They’re certainly not invented individually by the rank and file CT consumer. Once professionally created, then the CTs are spread across social and RW media in search of eyeballs and donations and book / vid sales. Which CTs are then eaten up by the massive credulous audience that has been carefully nurtured these last 20+ years. At which point we get to a different question: Which real world even is both a) big enough to be well-known to all and b) not big enough for some grifter to monetize as a CT. The answer to that is the null set. By the time it’s big enough to be a) it’s long above the threshold for somebody to b). ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/92 "2021-02-27T16:54:38Z")
There is no event that billions of people agree happened the same way. The answer to the OPs question is: it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/93 "2021-02-28T10:56:17Z")
> [@etasyde](#): > > Stretching slightly passed “living” memory, the assassination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand _was_ a conspiracy, but nobody seems to blame it on the banks or anything. At the time of WWI, some people thought it, and for that matter, most wars, were instigated by munitions manufacturers. After all, they were the ones who profitted most. I expect this CT has never really gone away but rather just morphed into blaming the Military-Industrial Complex. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/94 "2021-02-28T23:10:21Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > I have a conspiracy theory that most Flat Earthers are simply trolls. I know a Flat Earther who really believes it. She also believes InfoWars, chemtrails, that Antifa is a threat. And she’s a fundamentalist Christian. She has no critical thinking ability, and little logical thinking ability. That conclusion isn’t only from her beliefs, but from her fiction writing which includes all sorts of illogical stuff. Makes Plan 9 look tightly crafted in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/95 "2021-03-02T04:08:56Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > How about the guilt, as well as body count, of some major serial killers? Leaving aside a few questionable investigations that have actually been reopened by authorities, does anyone question the guilt of a Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgway, or John Wayne Gacy? There’s one about the Yorkshire Ripper. If you believe it, Peter Sutcliffe was a copycat who killed “only” four of the thirteen victims. Another person, the real Ripper killed the other nine. [There’s a book about it.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-REAL-YORKSHIRE-RIPPER/dp/B00EIVZ8BI) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/96 "2021-03-02T10:01:19Z")
Yeah, I recognise this one - I’ve seen the author pushing his wares on Facebook a lot and many a time I and others have taken him to task. His arguments have no merit whatsoever - he tends to try to explout the many failings of the investigation to attempt to develop a CT that those failures were purposeful and collectively intended to cover up even greater failings - such as the claim of more than one unapprehended killer. The claims do not stack up, and yes there was for quite a while a belief that there might be a second killer who was a relative of Sutcliffe and these have been extensively investigated. Sutcliffe operated in my home town and I remember seeing all the posters, along with seeing the residence of one of his victims who lived near to a pub I used to frequent. There were quite a few folk in my town that I know who had close encounters to those events, such as walking past deposition sites or workplaces of victims. Even today Sutcliffe is a raw subject in Leeds and the police really did not cover themselves in glory, or even competence. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/97 "2021-03-02T12:14:36Z")
Today I learned that Sutcliffe died of COVID in prison in Nov 2020. Good riddance to a wacko. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158/98 "2021-03-02T14:38:16Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IMO almost all modern CTs are created by professionals to make money; they aren’t cooked up by random crackpots in un-airconditioned double-wides. They’re certainly not invented individually by the rank and file CT consumer. I disagree. I don’t think professionals have enough imagination to create a good conspiracy theory; I think that people like Alex Jones are extremely adept at recognizing a good CT and promoting a good CT, but I don’t think he has the genius to actually invent a new theory. He might expand, improve, twist, whatever, but I don’t think he creates new ones, at least new ones that go anywhere but to his faithful deciples. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-biggest-event-that-is-accepted-by-all-conspiracy-theorists-at-face-value/933158.md?page=4)