The Big Picture: Conspiracy Weary

[Kumomaru]

Funniest conspiracy theory i've ever heard was one where my government teacher was convinced the penguins were going to come to wipe us all out one day.

My rebuttal: "no, no, it'll be dolphins."
Without missing a beat: "Who do you think's gonna be riding on the dolphin's backs?"

 

[MovieBob]

Interesting take Movie Bob. Though I got to wonder, why is it that people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin get the spot light as conspiracy theorists while characters like Keith Olbermen and Chris Mathews get a free pass? Especially considering how Keith and Chris has been conspiracy theorizing for the past several weeks about the Arizona massacre. That seems to be the most recent rash of conspiracy talk on the news.

I guess even Bob is prone to confirmation bias.

Setting aside any veracity (or lack thereof) to Olbermann etc's assertations about Arizona, there's a key difference at play: Positing what the shooter may have believed, or what political leanings may have contributed to his choice of target is "theorizing" - which is what news-analysts "do" in the absence of new information - but not CONSPIRACY theorizing.

Olbermann (or whoever) postulating "Jared Loughner might be a Tea-Partier" is a theory - actually, that's being generous, it's really just more of a GUESS. Sarah Palin specifically claiming that the "lame-stream media" organized in order to bring her down, or Glenn Beck accusing The President of being a Socialist sleeper-agent groomed by Bill Ayers under the direction of George Soros are both, by definition, conspiracy theories.

 

[SturmDolch]

I loved the video. It was insightful but still made me laugh. I especially like the argument you just gave me for when people say the Iraq War was a conspiracy. That they didn't plant the evidence. That's so true.

A harmless video. Yes?

WRONG!

Take the first letter of every word in the title.

TBPCW

Translate this into numbers with an elementary number cipher.

20 2 16 3 23

Add them together.

20+2+16+3+23=64

Element number 64 is Gadolinium.

The melting point of Gadolinium is 1312 Centigrade.

1312 was whenPope Clement V forcibly disbanded the Knights Templar.

Thus, the only logical conclusion is that Movie Bob is a trying to turn humanity into a giant Popsicle!

AHHH!

That's a pretty epic reply.

 

[goldenheart323]

Could you please explain why THIRTY THOUSAND scientists have signed up to debunk man-made global warming, NINE THOUSAND of whom have PhD's?

Yeah about that list... [http://www.skepticalscience.com/scrutinising-31000-scientists-in-the-OISM-Petition-Project.html]

As if biologists have never been included as an authority on what causes climate change? (They would know the effects weather change has on animals, but no insight into what causes weather change in the first place.) I guess both sides play the loose label game.

If man made Global Warming/Climate Change is believed to be real, then governments everywhere have another excuse to impose more taxes on its citizens and make more regulations on energy use, all in the name of saving the planet. Anyone against the new tax or regulation would be painted as being against saving the planet. Oh, and they'd be labeled a kook for not believing it's all man's fault. Any scientist speaking out against it is automatically labeled a shill for Big Oil and ignored.

Ok, so it's an EVIL GUBMINT CONSPIRACY faked up to CONTROL EVERYTHING. How appropriate for this thread.

Isn't it though? We're on a planet who's climate changes drastically over time. It's done that long before man even existed. Suddenly, when we can detect a change of less than 1 degree, we get people telling us the climate's changing because of US, and we need to feel bad about it and buy different stuff and we need to pass new restrictions & regulations & we need new taxes to fund going green projects. Or to put that more succintly: "Everyone needs to do what we say, OR WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!" Which makes more sense? Which is a simpler explanation?

By they way, have they ever developed a climate model that takes into account the effect water vapor has on the climate? That has a big effect, but last I heard, that still couldn't be done.

 

[omegawyrm]

Could you please explain why THIRTY THOUSAND scientists have signed up to debunk man-made global warming, NINE THOUSAND of whom have PhD's?

Yeah about that list... [http://www.skepticalscience.com/scrutinising-31000-scientists-in-the-OISM-Petition-Project.html]

As if biologists have never been included as an authority on what causes climate change? (They would know the effects weather change has on animals, but no insight into what causes weather change in the first place.) I guess both sides play the loose label game.

If man made Global Warming/Climate Change is believed to be real, then governments everywhere have another excuse to impose more taxes on its citizens and make more regulations on energy use, all in the name of saving the planet. Anyone against the new tax or regulation would be painted as being against saving the planet. Oh, and they'd be labeled a kook for not believing it's all man's fault. Any scientist speaking out against it is automatically labeled a shill for Big Oil and ignored.

Ok, so it's an EVIL GUBMINT CONSPIRACY faked up to CONTROL EVERYTHING. How appropriate for this thread.

Isn't it though? We're on a planet who's climate changes drastically over time. It's done that long before man even existed. Suddenly, when we can detect a change of less than 1 degree, we get people telling us the climate's changing because of US, and we need to feel bad about it and buy different stuff and we need to pass new restrictions & regulations & we need new taxes to fund going green projects. Or to put that more succintly: "Everyone needs to do what we say, OR WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!" Which makes more sense? Which is a simpler explanation?

By they way, have they ever developed a climate model that takes into account the effect water vapor has on the climate? That has a big effect, but last I heard, that still couldn't be done.

It's cool how you have more expertise on this subject than actual experts on the subject.

 

[Deepzound]

Watch the Global Warming Swindle. It was made by actual scientists, not a politician.

So a television producer/director is now an actual scientist? who would have known! [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Durkin_(television_director)]

You should really check up on the criticisms of the documentary you herald, it is no where near accurate, and a lot of the scientists featured in it are completely misrepresented, some even having their segments removed from the "documentary".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Global_Warming_Swindle

I'll end this with an excerpt from Carl Wunsch, a professor of MIT featured in the film:

Carl Wunsch, professor of Physical Oceanography at MIT, is featured in the Channel 4 version of the programme. Afterwards he said that he was "completely misrepresented" in the film and had been "totally misled" when he agreed to be interviewed. He called the film "grossly distorted" and "as close to pure propaganda as anything since World War Two", and he lodged a complaint with Ofcom.

 

[goldenheart323]

It's cool how you have more expertise on this subject than actual experts on the subject.

Yeah, it's totally sweet. :-D



Seriously though, if it were just talk show hosts disagreeing with all the experts, I'd be rolling my eyes at them. The thing is, I've seen plenty of actual climatologists voice their dissent on the matter. It's not as one sided as we're lead to believe.

 

[mcnally86]

Bob, please stick to comics. The biggest conspiracy is how they allow you to talk about things you don't know about. Now this would have been a good episode if at the end you said "global warming is NOT real." And by good I mean would have 8x the comments and the escapist rates the quality of a show by the amount of comments. Wait I think I just solved the conspiracy about your multiple shows. Quick tell me how bad The Expendables was a distract them with a flame war!

 

[spaceman12]

Bob blindly following the orthodoxy is extremely annoying. Global warming is a crock, and Obama has never been able to provide a birth certificate. If the birthers are so wrong, why doesn't he just produce the goods already? but anyway.


For all bobs talk of facing reality, he sure as hell loves to lump in uncomfortable truths with conspiracy nutjobbery.


PS/FYI:the millions of dollars in play in Big Green could concievably generate some dodgy data, the egyptian ambassdor has publicly stated that Obama told him he was a muslim in private, and that Obama's teacher and family have been located in kenya, not to mention Obama's repeated quirky and bizarre remarks about being a muslim immigrant. Al Quada no, immigrant muslim showpony yes.

D-

 

[spartan231490]

Global warming is real. Whether or not we are significantly affecting it is the debate.

Conspiracy theories are stupid. Personal agendas should always be considered.

Does it matter whether we are causing global warming or not? I mean, if your house is on fire, do you sit in the flames just because it wasn't your fault?

Sorry, this is a my pet peeve, so I'm just gonna stop now before I can't stop at all.

OT: good video, good show, but I think it's naive to assume that all conspiracies are BS. Conspiracy is a tool, mankind has used it before, people in power have used it before, both of these things will happen again.

 

[spartan231490]

Could you please explain why THIRTY THOUSAND scientists have signed up to debunk man-made global warming, NINE THOUSAND of whom have PhD's?

Yeah about that list... [http://www.skepticalscience.com/scrutinising-31000-scientists-in-the-OISM-Petition-Project.html]

As if biologists have never been included as an authority on what causes climate change? (They would know the effects weather change has on animals, but no insight into what causes weather change in the first place.) I guess both sides play the loose label game.

If man made Global Warming/Climate Change is believed to be real, then governments everywhere have another excuse to impose more taxes on its citizens and make more regulations on energy use, all in the name of saving the planet. Anyone against the new tax or regulation would be painted as being against saving the planet. Oh, and they'd be labeled a kook for not believing it's all man's fault. Any scientist speaking out against it is automatically labeled a shill for Big Oil and ignored.

Ok, so it's an EVIL GUBMINT CONSPIRACY faked up to CONTROL EVERYTHING. How appropriate for this thread.

Isn't it though? We're on a planet who's climate changes drastically over time. It's done that long before man even existed. Suddenly, when we can detect a change of less than 1 degree, we get people telling us the climate's changing because of US, and we need to feel bad about it and buy different stuff and we need to pass new restrictions & regulations & we need new taxes to fund going green projects. Or to put that more succintly: "Everyone needs to do what we say, OR WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!" Which makes more sense? Which is a simpler explanation?

By they way, have they ever developed a climate model that takes into account the effect water vapor has on the climate? That has a big effect, but last I heard, that still couldn't be done.

It's cool how you have more expertise on this subject than actual experts on the subject.

Once again, because I feel this is very important. WHY DOES IT MATTER IF IT'S OUR FAULT? If global warming is real(I think so, my area is definitely not as cold as it used to be, migration movements are occurring months later than they did 20 years ago, ect.) then why does it matter whose fault it is. If your house is on fire, do you let it burn unless it was your fault? no, you call the fire department, and ask questions later.

 

[Cursed Frogurt]

Global warming is real. Whether or not we are significantly affecting it is the debate.

Conspiracy theories are stupid. Personal agendas should always be considered.

Does it matter whether we are causing global warming or not? I mean, if your house is on fire, do you sit in the flames just because it wasn't your fault?

Sorry, this is a my pet peeve, so I'm just gonna stop now before I can't stop at all.

OT: good video, good show, but I think it's naive to assume that all conspiracies are BS. Conspiracy is a tool, mankind has used it before, people in power have used it before, both of these things will happen again.

My argument is that we can't affect the weather, we can't affect climate change, so can we please focus our time and money on real issues? Look, I'm cool with a lack of pollution, but these country-biased, expensive greenhouse gas protocols are bullshit. Back in 2004, a college professor of mine who worked for some environmental group on the side gave a presentation on how he DISAGREED with the Kyoto Protocol, saying it didn't accomplish anything and was really biased against the US.

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

@ Bob

Brilliant.

 

[Elandin]

One of the worst things you can do on the internet is post on a forum.... wait.... $#@&!

 

[Drejer43]

But how do you explain the flag man, how do you explain the flag

 

[Drejer43]

double post

 

[krowpots]

Pathetically unenlightened, I am sorry your views are this basic Mr. Moviebob. I implore you to ponder deeper into "reality".

 

[Canadamus Prime]

That last joke would probably mean more to me if I actually knew who David Ike was.

 

[Solivagus]

Bleh. My biggest problem with conspiracy theories being so widespread is that it means they're actually possible (in far more mundane ways than a global shadow government yes, but still possible) because all you need to do to discredit inquiry is to look incredulously and say 'it's conspiracy nonsense' and then whoever asked the question has to look sheepish and go away forever. It's not a binary. Conspiracies do exist, not all conspiracy theories are invalid, but yes, 9/10 of them are bunk. Of course, even by saying 'conspiracies happen' people probably think I'm a kook. Which kinda proves my point.

Definitely agree with this. By simply labelling something as 'conspiracy nonsense', you've set it up to be interpreted in a particular way by the public based on preconceptions.