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re: 5 Ways Every Conspiracy Theory Makes the World Worse
Posted on 7/15/14 at 10:30 am to Slippery Slope
Posted on 7/15/14 at 10:30 am to Slippery Slope
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Not only that, it's astounding the arrogance that some of these people have while justifying their irrationality.
Yes. This is one of my biggest problems with them.
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Posted on 7/15/14 at 10:49 am to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
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The answer is: Tell people that life isn't always complicated and while skepticism is healthy, it's a two way street. You should be skeptical of not only the government, but what another person is trying to tell you.
Government funded education isn't designed to encourage critical thinking; most people aren't capable of it anyway. Once people start questioning things, who knows what dangerous ideas might come out of that?
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We agree with this. :/ EDIT: If you mean vaccination is a good thing and soccer moms ignoring years of virology, epidemiology and dermatology results is stupid as frick.
Agreed. However, the skepticism goes both ways; you can't tell someone not to be skeptical of a medical-industrial complex but that they should be skeptical of people telling them they should be skeptical. Yeah.
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Again this refers to the act of healthy skepticism. If there's a profit motive, there's a reason to lie as it directly benefits the person utilizing the information.
There's a profit in vaccinations as well. Just sayin.
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Our government isn't made up entirely of Congress. There are plenty of people who want to do things, but until the internecine conflict in it is quelled through election, it'll continue being that way.
If you vote in a bunch of people who hate government, you're going to see exactly what you're outlined.
I don't want to vote people in who 'hate' government. I want people who want to limit the federal government's power, because I believe power corrupts.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 10:52 am to Stacked
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My favorite thing about conspiracy theorists is how the person believing the conspiracy theory all of a sudden becomes an expert in the field of study their conspiracy theory hinges on.
Yeah, its a riot. Kind of like those non-climatologist scientists who claim they know global warming exists and is man-made. But we should trust them because they are scientists and they know better. No way there is some wide understanding that climate change studies mean more grant money, so participating in the GW hoax is financially beneficial, while doubting it is not.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 11:01 am to cokebottleag
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Government funded education isn't designed to encourage critical thinking; most people aren't capable of it anyway. Once people start questioning things, who knows what dangerous ideas might come out of that?
This is a platitude -- everyone already knows that education starts at home. The fact of the matter is: Tell your children to pursue truth rather than tell them what's right or wrong. Don't push your agenda on them, raise them to be critical of themselves especially.
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Agreed. However, the skepticism goes both ways; you can't tell someone not to be skeptical of a medical-industrial complex but that they should be skeptical of people telling them they should be skeptical. Yeah.
Healthy skepticism, not skepticism for skepticisms' sake.
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There's a profit in vaccinations as well. Just sayin.
There's also decades of life-saving research, evidence and scientific unanimity (moreso than anything else, really) regarding the experts.
If there was a vaccination conspiracy, they would need thousands of epidemiologists, virologists and dermatologists to agree, to collude, to bypass everything that it takes to be a doctor and a scientist.
And convince not a single one to come out against vaccinations.
That's not healthy skepticism, that's insanity.
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I don't want to vote people in who 'hate' government. I want people who want to limit the federal government's power, because I believe power corrupts.
These are people who invariably have a dislike for government, which means that they will derail it at any given moment. Thus, we an inhibiting force when we could have one that recognizes the scope and scale of power and responsibility.
Now we won't have that for decades, because there are people who believe the federal government is bad and the state government is somehow magically incapable of enforcing draconian laws.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 11:31 am to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
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These are people who invariably have a dislike for government, which means that they will derail it at any given moment. Thus, we an inhibiting force when we could have one that recognizes the scope and scale of power and responsibility.
Now we won't have that for decades, because there are people who believe the federal government is bad and the state government is somehow magically incapable of enforcing draconian laws.
One of the main points of having a limited federal government is to allow the states to figure out what works and what doesn't on their own. Colorado can decide to legalize marijuana, while Kansas can decide not to. The same goes for anything except what is specifically prohibited of the states: interstate tariffs, foreign relations, printing money, etc.
The 3 strikes law is a great example. It worked int he first state that passed it, and other states adopted it if they chose.
And the opposite of dislike of government is liking government. There are very, very few things that a federal government program does well or efficiently besides increase its own size and power. It does this by having a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence. Government is necessary for a stable society, however in a perfectly stable society commerce cannot expand. Instability is caused when bad business practices fail and are replaced by new methods or businesses. When a government prevents (either purposefully or accidentally) the failure of poor business methods or businesses, it prevents growth. This is should not and cannot be allowed to have.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 11:36 am to Slippery Slope
The only conspiracies I think have any kind of weight or believability are those surrounding the Kennedy assassination.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 11:37 am to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
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If there was a vaccination conspiracy, they would need thousands of epidemiologists, virologists and dermatologists to agree, to collude, to bypass everything that it takes to be a doctor and a scientist.
And convince not a single one to come out against vaccinations.
That's not healthy skepticism, that's insanity
Chernobyl was hidden from the Pripyat population for days, and would likely have been for much longer had the Swedes not discovered the radiation. Governments hide things all the time, likely the biggest conspiracies are the ones you never hear about, because someone competent covered it up.
The bottom line is whether or not you believe the people in government are actually caring, selfless, noble, honest individuals... or if you believe they are the same as the rest of us, if not worse since they have power and money there for the taking. Government is made up of all the same scumbags that Citibank is, or Comcast, or Merril Lynch, or Goldman Sachs, or Enron, etc. Does anyone really think the head of the IRS is different at heart than the head of BP?
Posted on 7/15/14 at 11:39 am to Henry Jones Jr
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The only conspiracies I think have any kind of weight or believability are those surrounding the Kennedy assassination.
JFK conspiracies are about the same level as the 9/11 truther ones in my opinion.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 11:47 am to cokebottleag
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JFK conspiracies are about the same level as the 9/11 truther ones in my opinion.
Indeed
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:09 pm to UMTigerRebel
If sleeping tiger doesn't show up soon I'm gonna regret reading this thread
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:13 pm to cokebottleag
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Chernobyl was hidden from the Pripyat population for days,
We're not talking about one country regarding vaccinations. We're talking about the entire medical community. Finding an anti-vac. doc is about as rare as finding a Gator fan in Ben Hill.
Of all the conspiracy theories, those that espouse anti-vaccination ideas are the least credible and the most irrational.
There is legitimately no reason not to get your child vaccinated and most that were obsolete were thrown out.
You are not going to win me over on this one, you may with another line of thought, but definitely not this one.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:15 pm to cokebottleag
All it takes for me is to see children coming down with diseases once thought eradicated because parents bought into the baseless fear mongering associated with vaccination to make me think people who spread such fear mongering are the worst kind of people.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:16 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
Look, I'm not specifically arguing the vaccinations aren't accepted science. I'm saying 'accepted' science in general always deserves to be questioned, I don't care if its a 100% acceptance rate by the medical community.
I don't question the vaccination safety in particular, I was more trying to get at the idea that a 'consensus' of scientific evidence or opinion is not the end-all be-all.
I don't question the vaccination safety in particular, I was more trying to get at the idea that a 'consensus' of scientific evidence or opinion is not the end-all be-all.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:24 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
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There is legitimately no reason not to get your child vaccinated and most that were obsolete were thrown out.
To be fair, my brother had seizures as a result of 2 vaccinations. This is not up for discussion. He almost died as a result. He probably had some of type of allergy and my mother didn't know any better so he was placed on phenobarbital as a result. He has never had another seizure.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:27 pm to Prettyboy Floyd
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To be fair, my brother had seizures as a result of 2 vaccinations. This is not up for discussion. He almost died as a result. He probably had some of type of allergy and my mother didn't know any better so he was placed on phenobarbital as a result. He has never had another seizure.
The death rate of epidemics far, far outweighs the death rate of vaccinations. We're talking about one in a number outside of the realm of reporting, which is really rare.
Those of us with CBRN defense training take this shite really, really seriously.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:29 pm to Ross
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All it takes for me is to see children coming down with diseases once thought eradicated because parents bought into the baseless fear mongering associated with vaccination to make me think people who spread such fear mongering are the worst kind of people.
I can't help myself.
Like all the baseless fear mongering associated with asbestos?
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:32 pm to StrawsDrawnAtRandom
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The death rate of epidemics far, far outweighs the death rate of vaccinations. We're talking about one in a number outside of the realm of reporting, which is really rare.
I understand that but you have to know that the government holds no one accountable for these mishaps. A bad batch of shots from DTAP in the early 90s caused a ton of problems. My brother was never normal and has had tons of issues with drugs and my mother claims he was a different kid before the seizures. I have no idea because I don't remember back that far but there is no return on that kind of investment. You put faith in the vaccinations and you sign your rights away and you trust that it's for the good of all. Both of my boys are vaccinated but they each ran fevers with them. I think it's normal parental behavior to be suspect of putting needles in your children.
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:32 pm to cokebottleag
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I can't help myself.
Like all the baseless fear mongering associated with asbestos?
My God they're not even remotely the same thing. Take it from someone who is deeply ingrained in this subject.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_equivalence
Posted on 7/15/14 at 12:56 pm to Slippery Slope
How can you explain the fact that the government doesn't want us wearing tin foil hats anymore because they know that they work, and instead have replaced all of the tin foil with aluminum foil which doesn't reflect the ultra low frequency waves?
This post was edited on 7/15/14 at 12:57 pm
Posted on 7/15/14 at 1:11 pm to Prettyboy Floyd
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I understand that but you have to know that the government holds no one accountable for these mishaps. A bad batch of shots from DTAP in the early 90s caused a ton of problems. My brother was never normal and has had tons of issues with drugs and my mother claims he was a different kid before the seizures. I have no idea because I don't remember back that far but there is no return on that kind of investment. You put faith in the vaccinations and you sign your rights away and you trust that it's for the good of all. Both of my boys are vaccinated but they each ran fevers with them. I think it's normal parental behavior to be suspect of putting needles in your children.
I think I should preface this by saying: I'm sorry for your brother and for your children -- but in the end it is better for them. As a person who was around for a small cholera outbreak here in Mexico City, plague and disease caused by viruses are terrifying. No medical procedure is 100% without side-effects, but there are plenty of illnesses that have a much higher rate of death and destruction than vaccinations that are far, far worse.
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