"The trouble with conspiracy theories is that a lack of evidence is not taken as proof it's not real, but instead as proof the conspiracy is indeed everywhere. This is like thinking that the reason you never see elephants hiding up in the treetops is because they're good at it."
― Dr. Ward Q. Normal
Unbeknownst to me, apparently January 6th was QAnon's prognosticated Storm. Well, of course It didn't materialize. Apparently, at least some QAnon followers are experiencing the disillusionment I promised would come. In keeping with the manner in which conspiracy theories evolve, there will be an adjustment of predictions of why the Storm didn't happen –– true believers will buy into it as a whole new slate of spun theories and prognostications will be served in fresh cups of QAnon Kool-Aid.
When attempting to research or validate conspiratorial information, and no independent or alternate source will suffice or be recognized as such, and merely by contradicting and debunking that information such sources are simply rendered complicit in the conspiracy, then what does it mean to say one is thinking or researching outside of one's bias-bubble? The question is fair: What potential counter-sources would be accepted? What evidence would be believed? If your answer is only from sources you just happen to agree with, then you've become a candidate for mental mediocrity. This is not critical thinking — this is motivated reasoning in its truest form.
One of my first encounters with True Believer® conspiracy theorists were the Zetas from ZetaTalk and their leader Nancy Lieder of Wisconsin. The debates occurred in the mid-1990s on IRC (Internet Relay Chat), but they still have a website (www.zetatalk.com). Nancy and her followers believed she was a contactee with the ability to receive messages from extraterrestrials from the Zeta Reticulis star system through an implant in her brain ― she was the Chosen One.
Lieder alleged that she was selected by aliens to warn humankind of the impending Nibiru Cataclysm ― a large planetary object set to collide with Earth in May of 2003. Like other conspiracy theories, the date came and went and yet we're still here. Though they postponed the date a few times, all predictions have passed. Naturally, none of this deterred them. There was always some reason why it didn't pan out, much of which had to do with alleged miscommunications and errant interpretations from the aliens, according to Lieder.
Astonishingly, today there are still ZetaTalk proponents professing belief in this totally debunked astronomical phenomenon. I do not know if Nancy Lieder is still involved or even alive. Though I tried in vain back then to deconvert members of this cult/conspiracy group via IRC, they were utterly brainwashed and believed it all hook, line, and sinker. It was so sad. I recall followers quit their jobs, avoided starting families, sold material possessions, and some eventually succumbed to disillusionment I unfortunately witnessed first-hand.
What made this a veritable conspiracy theory was that the Zetas believed NASA was deliberately covering it up to avoid widespread earthly panic. They also alleged that the US Government was in on it and were using the South Pole Telescope to track Nibiru's trajectory. Again, the lack of admission by any agency was seen as evidence for a coverup and the conspiracy.
David Morrison, the former director of the SETI Institute and NASA Astrobiologist at Ames Research Center, said he used to receive dozens of emails a week about the impending arrival of Nibiru: people were terrified and pondered whether or not they should kill themselves. Again, because Morrison said it was untrue, he was accused of being part of the conspiracy. Professor Brian Cox Tweeted in 2012 that, "If anyone else asks me about Nibiru the imaginary bullshit planet I will slap them around their irrational heads with Newton's Principia."
Everything the Zetas believed (and still believe) is unscientific because it's unfalsifiable. No matter how much evidence was presented to them that Nibiru didn't exist, they would claim people just hadn't looked in the right place yet. At one point the Zetas presented photographs of Nibiru, but these were eventually discovered to be astrophotographs of other celestial objects or lens flares. Again, so embarrassingly sad to see people get so suckered into a crackpot heap of garbage.
My encounters with the Zetas and ZetaTalk helped shape my understanding how conspiracy theories work by decorating bogus narratives with scientific-like jargon. But it was all unfounded pseudoscience with nothing to back up their claims and assertions. There was no getting through to them and one merely had to allow time to pass and sadly watch as one member after another experienced disillusionment. I'm seeing this going on again, right now, with QAnon ― the methods and madness fit the pattern. It's just a slightly different flavored conspiracy theory.
And now it's gotten even weirder with the capitol riots being called a false-flag operation.
:: face palm ::
Think, people ... THINK!
From Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World:
"A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage"
Suppose (I'm following a group therapy approach by the psychologist Richard Franklin) I seriously make such an assertion to you. Surely you'd want to check it out, see for yourself. There have been innumerable stories of dragons over the centuries, but no real evidence. What an opportunity!
"Show me," you say. I lead you to my garage. You look inside and see a ladder, empty paint cans, an old tricycle--but no dragon.
"Where's the dragon?" you ask.
"Oh, she's right here," I reply, waving vaguely. "I neglected to mention that she's an invisible dragon."
You propose spreading flour on the floor of the garage to capture the dragon's footprints.
"Good idea," I say, "but this dragon floats in the air."
Then you'll use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire.
"Good idea, but the invisible fire is also heatless."
You'll spray-paint the dragon and make her visible.
"Good idea, but she's an incorporeal dragon and the paint won't stick."
And so on. I counter every physical test you propose with a special explanation of why it won't work.
Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there's no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true. Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us or in exciting our sense of wonder. What I'm asking you to do comes down to believing, in the absence of evidence, on my say-so.
You can keep reading here.