Rules of Thumb for Discussing Conspiracies

Jontg · 23rd June 2008, 11:59 PM

The following rules should serve as a first line of defense against conspiracy fantasies, providing a simple logical process needed to debunk most of the more deranged ideas out there. I invite everybody reading the thread to contribute further rules.

1. Total control renders debate moot.
An organization that controls every aspect of the public sphere would be able to manufacture any data they wanted to feed us and manipulate events to their satisfaction, making any debate regarding them, let alone resistance to their rule, futile. This applies doubly to assertions that [insert bogeyman here] has access to mind control techniques. If the technology existed, there'd be no need for the elaborate facade necessary to conceal [insert bogeyman here]; even as large a nest of crazies as the twoof movement could easily be rounded up and fitted with chips. MC tech would render all other forms of conspiracy obsolete--the fact that the government even bothers to lie to us means that it cannot control our minds.

2. A conspiracy only has access to the assets of the front group.
Let's say you're a space lizard, and you want to have your pawns in the military-industrial complex build a giant orbital laser with which to fake 9/11. Unfortunately, no such weapon exists--directed energy weapons are highly experimental hardware, and only effective on a small scale. At present, the energy output necessary to even punch through the Earth's atmosphere from orbit, let alone destroy the World Trade Center, would require a weapon so big that it would have to be assembled in orbit over the course of decades. When you're finished with your doomsday weapon, you've got thousands of workers who saw the thing, billions of dollars of taxpayer money unaccounted for, and the unenviable task of hiding the second largest object to ever orbit the earth, the first largest being the moon. And speaking of the moon, have you noticed the water lapping at your ankles? Yeah, you kinda drove civilization to the brink of destruction by screwing with the tides. Good work taking over the world--and good luck keeping it from falling apart.

23rd June 2008, 11:59 PM	#1
Jontg The Bear Skeptic Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: A world of kindling. Posts: 926	Rules of Thumb for Discussing Conspiracies The following rules should serve as a first line of defense against conspiracy fantasies, providing a simple logical process needed to debunk most of the more deranged ideas out there. I invite everybody reading the thread to contribute further rules. 1. Total control renders debate moot. An organization that controls every aspect of the public sphere would be able to manufacture any data they wanted to feed us and manipulate events to their satisfaction, making any debate regarding them, let alone resistance to their rule, futile. This applies doubly to assertions that [insert bogeyman here] has access to mind control techniques. If the technology existed, there'd be no need for the elaborate facade necessary to conceal [insert bogeyman here]; even as large a nest of crazies as the twoof movement could easily be rounded up and fitted with chips. MC tech would render all other forms of conspiracy obsolete--the fact that the government even bothers to lie to us means that it cannot control our minds. 2. A conspiracy only has access to the assets of the front group. Let's say you're a space lizard, and you want to have your pawns in the military-industrial complex build a giant orbital laser with which to fake 9/11. Unfortunately, no such weapon exists--directed energy weapons are highly experimental hardware, and only effective on a small scale. At present, the energy output necessary to even punch through the Earth's atmosphere from orbit, let alone destroy the World Trade Center, would require a weapon so big that it would have to be assembled in orbit over the course of decades. When you're finished with your doomsday weapon, you've got thousands of workers who saw the thing, billions of dollars of taxpayer money unaccounted for, and the unenviable task of hiding the second largest object to ever orbit the earth, the first largest being the moon. And speaking of the moon, have you noticed the water lapping at your ankles? Yeah, you kinda drove civilization to the brink of destruction by screwing with the tides. Good work taking over the world--and good luck keeping it from falling apart.
	__________________ All that is sacred must burn.