# Who here has met a tinfoil-hatter in the flesh? I have.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-has-met-a-tinfoil-hatter-in-the-flesh-i-have/203868>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 25, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-has-met-a-tinfoil-hatter-in-the-flesh-i-have/203868 "2003-09-25T23:53:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-has-met-a-tinfoil-hatter-in-the-flesh-i-have/203868/61 "2003-09-30T20:40:46Z")

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The “tinfoil-hatters” represent a fairly fascinating “genre” of mental illness. There must be something to be learned here, meshing abnormal psychology with meme theory. [Here’s the apparent “Patient Zero”](http://www.nthposition.com/strange_jay.html) of the whole “a conspiracy is technologically controlling my mind via strange radiations” psychosis.

On the broader topic of “crackpot theories”, [the phenomenon described here](http://www.toynbee.net/) is the work of one singularly industrious nutjob.

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**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-has-met-a-tinfoil-hatter-in-the-flesh-i-have/203868/62 "2003-09-30T20:56:46Z")

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From **Umbriel’s** cite:

> [@](#):
>
> combined recent developments in gas chemistry with the strange force of animal magnetism, or mesmerism

lends weight to my personal (and utterly unsubstantiated) theory that the delusions are based on whatever ideas happen to be floating around the victim at the time. Way back when, it was demons or God, then science, and/or secret organizations get added into the mix. And then of course we have [this](http://mindcontrolforums.com/), which is an entire community of people with the same delusion.

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