17 Facts About Conspiracy Theories

[@shanstergoodheart5177]

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

[@rparl]

Again Stupidity, The Gods Themselves, Contend In Vain.

[@johnmoore9862]

Summed up conspiracy theorists perfectly.

[@erikasmith3961]

Franz Reichelt: He jumped off the Eiffel Tower, on February 4th, 1912, to test out his wearable "parachute-suit". In prior tests, the worst injury was a broken leg. Initially, Reichelt was going to use a dummy but decided to use himself at the last second. He died on impact with the ground.

[@MentalFloss]

We actually included that story in a recent episode (though for the life of me I can't remember which, right now...) so I think we're gonna leave it out of this upcoming vid. Otherwise it's a perfect suggestion, though!

[@Liggliluff]

Sounds more like he died due to the lack of a working invention than the invention itself killing him.

[@Nightthade]

For people killed by their own inventions: here's a particularly morbid one, Phalaris, an ancient tyrannical ruler from modern day Sicily, was known for roasting his victims alive inside a giant brass bull statue. The creator of the bull, Perillus, was the first man he tested it on.

[@YeeSoest]

There's a difference between "listing the actual facts" and "pointing out logical inconsistencies" when it comes to winning someone over. If you give them the information that makes THEIR brain go "wait...that doesn't make sense", THAT is a game changer in my experience. Ask them how the incompetent idiots that we know politicians to be can make all these elaborate shemes work. Ask them about angles that they haven't thought about, new information will NEVER be received but new connections between existing knowledge works alright...

[@mimsydreams]

In my experience, they usually disconnect from the conversation when you bring up plot holes in their conspiracy. Some people's cognitive dissonance is too strong and you can't break through, no matter what.

[@kitgabriel7698]

@@mimsydreams yes and then they resort to ad hominems and the such

[@N8DulcimerOld]

The easy answer is that our politicians do not actually write any laws. They are given laws to sign by corporate entities who are highly calculated and extremely competent. For example, Joe Biden himself did not write the 1994 crime bill that was officially meant to ensure that heinous criminals face just sentences, but actually served to extend the sentences of african americans in order to keep private prisons full. It was given to him by A.L.E.C, a conservative group who have authored dozens of laws designed to ensure people stay locked up in prison as long as possible and are locked back up as soon as possible. So it is easy to say "biden has dementia he couldn't possibly orchestrate the mass incarceration of an ethnic minority for profit." but he doesn't have to, he just has to sign the paper that comes across his desk.

[@YeeSoest]

@@N8DulcimerOld that's a good point, although one that works best in America I guess. In europe, we usually hate the politicians because our lobby people are doing a better job at hiding their efforts ;)

[@caryrodda]

I saw the video on the Buzz Aldrin punch. You can hardly blame him, the way the guy was getting in his face and insulting him.

[@seanbaugh3239]

There's actually 20 facts but "they" don't want you to know what the other 3 are. 🤔......😳 *"NUFF SAID"™*

[@lp-xl9ld]

"Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up!"

[@girlinahat3407]

Imagine being the guy who got punched by Buzz Aldrin, do you put that on a resume?

[@terrafirma5327]

I mean, that is basically one degree away from going to the moon yourself.

[@jeffgray1884]

@@terrafirma5327 Ralph Kramden would agree.

[@Darxide23]

I don't know, but watching him get punched by Aldrin is one of my favorite videos of all time.

[@Adam-ds1ik]

I am not the idiot who do that but if I were punched by Aldrin I would tattoo the bruise caused by it onto my face so it were permanent

[@kevind6723]

Glad the folks at MIT are on top of the important science we need them on.

[@jliller]

You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

[@shaneminer4526]

If you one up a conspiracy theorist it really throws them off. Them: the moon landing was faked! Me: Oh, you're one of those who believes in the moon...

[@midnightodellewest1999]

ahahahahaha!

[@delusionnnnn]

With an ad from the Epoch Times as a pre-roll. Christ, perfect irony.

[@Hand-in-Shot_Productions]

Yeah... if the people at _The_ _Epoch_ _Times_ aren't conspiracy theorists, I don't know who are. I have not watched more than a few seconds of their nonsense ads, but I know from those few seconds alone that they claim that the deep state is real (as in their claims of bearing "new evidence for Spygate", despite that theory being debunked by both the left and the right) and that the bad communists are influencing American politics. The latter is very common in their ads, from their timelines of the so-called "Chinese virus" (that conspiracy was proposed by a white supremacist) to their stories of Americans watching Stalinist television shows (a cheap McCarthyism ripoff).

[@IOU1987]

Remember no one knew about the h-bomb getting made, just Heidegger and a hand full of other high ranks. You don't need to know the end mean if you just make one part of the assembly line.

[@micahphilson]

It's not just that the moon truther confronted Buzz Aldrin. That guy was famous for harassing astronauts constantly and being as confrontational as he could.

[@MrAtrophy]

Buzz gets to punch people that call him a coward , withe everything he has done. he is allowed.

[@TheAbstruseOne]

There was also a history there between the two men. This particular asshat repeatedly claimed that the astronauts killed in the Apollo 1 were assassinated by NASA because they were going to talk about the "faked" project. Dr. Aldrin was part of the Apollo program even that early and personally knew the men. So yeah...dude deserved to get punched in the face. Also, in a trend that thankfully has not stopped, the asshat (whose name I won't mention because he's an asshat) released the footage of him getting punched thinking the public would be on his side and found out that...no, pretty much everyone wanted him punched in the face.

[@FuzzyKaos]

@@TheAbstruseOne so, abuse is alright as long as the person who is violent is an astronaut?

[@rach_laze]

@@FuzzyKaos no it's not but a punch in the face and the resulting backlash online can really be a wakeup call for the asshat that was the aggressor and antagonist in the first place. From what I remember from the incident he was attempting to get a rise from Aldrin, he got a rise just not the kind he was aiming for

[@greenredblue]

@@FuzzyKaos Kind of more like abuse is alright as long as the victim are themselves guilty of significant abuse, especially when they clearly feel entitled to engage in that conduct. It's certainly not a moral high ground, just very, very sympathetic.

[@egpmh2891]

I completely agree, especially since the guy was cornering and thrusting up again sting him waving a book in his face calling him a liar. He’s 72, if it was faked he would’ve stated it it was a long time ago; thus there is no reason to bash him as he was defending himself and his fellow astronauts.

[@myew]

Inventors killed by their own creation... don't you mean "parents"?

[@blademaster02]

Jimi Heselden, former owner of Segway, died when he segway'd off a cliff. We wasn't the inventor (though common misconception has it that the inventor died this way), but maybe this is close enough for your list show!

[@TallOldOak]

Thomas Midgley Jr. played a major role in the development of both leaded gasoline and CFCs. Later in life he got polio which left him severely disabled so he constructed a system of pulleys and ropes to get around his house. He died by getting tangled up in the ropes and strangling himself. This man couldn't help but invent things that hurt people.

[@matthewdrummond1340]

The tinfoil hat one explains why we used to put *tinfoil* on the tips of our *rabbit ear* antenna for our TVs. Yes I'm that old (37). *GET OFF MY LAWN!!!*

[@jamesjackson-df1hi]

WHAT ABOUT THEORIES THAT HAVE EVIDENCE TO BACK THEM UP.?

[@alarcon99]

My favorite one, which I learned about on a “believe it or not” type show (and is mentioned on your website) is Thomas Midgley, Jr., who became entangled in the ropes and was strangled by the machine he invented to help him with his polio (only remember because he added CFCs to gasoline and Karma is a bitc# ) but also wanted to add about the false myth that J. I. Guillotin died by the guillotine.

[@alexmcd378]

Aww, no mention of flat earth conspiracy people? Is love to see the calculation for how many people and how long that secret could be kept

[@jackjackson1157]

qz.com/604938/this-mathematical-formula-shows-why-large-scale-conspiracies-are-quickly-exposed/ this might help

[@MentalFloss]

You can find Grimes's equations here! journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147905 (about Section 1- Methods)

[@alexmcd378]

@@MentalFloss awesome, thanks!

[@rparl]

The North pole map used in the UN logo doesn't help.

[@WifeMamaArtist]

I’m pretty sure that life is just a conspiracy theory too.... 🤷‍♀️

[@slartibartfast2452]

Conspiracy theories are the real conspiracy theory

[@capri1722]

Not really an "inventor," per se, but the artist who created the Blue Mustang statue outside Denver International Airport was killed while building it when a piece fell on him and severed his femoral artery. There's a reason the locals call the statue "Blucifer." (As an aside, there's a bunch of conspiracy theories about DIA that would fit well into this video!)

[@rynbunn4613]

Awesome video! I have an idea for you. Could you do a list video on the origins of common Sci-Fi plot devices? For example: Uploading a human consciousness into a computer, A.I. deciding humans are a/the problem and should be exterminated, slingshotting around the sun as a time travel method, etc. It would be cool to see how long a lot of what we consider to be modern concepts have been around!

[@MentalFloss]

Thanks! And oo, that's a really interesting idea. I could see it being difficult to research unless there are books specifically on that topic, but "The Origins of X Sci-Fi Tropes" would be a lot of fun. I'll add it to our doc of ideas! (Btw, your comment made me pull up our old vid related to retro-futurism kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHbRapyOZb5_hJY and when I saw the video studio, instead of our living rooms, I got legit sad for a second. Never thought I'd miss our tiny, too-hot, not-sound-proof-at-all studio!)

[@sarahlouise1700]

Not technically an invention, but the blue bronco statue outside Denver airport killed the artist during installation.

[@sarahlouise1700]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mustang And the conspiracy theories about DIA are wild!

[@roycegeenty4252]

How many examples are there of things called conspiracy theories that turned out to be very true?

[@jliller]

An excellent book about Booth and the Lincoln assassination, "American Brutus", pointed out an interesting detail. Booth had his initials (JWB) tattooed on his hand. That was one of the ways the man killed in the Virginia tobacco barn was confirmed to have been Booth. There's also the fact that he was a nationally-renowned actor and it would have been rather difficult to fake his dead body or live in anonymity for decades afterwards. It's also difficult to imagine someone like Booth wanting to live quietly. One does not become a professional stage actor and plot a conspiracy to decapitate a national government without a desire for attention. I think we're too accustomed to assassins and other famous murderers being nobodies prior to their crime. Like Benedict Arnold, Johns Wilkes Booth was a big deal before he committed an infamous act that overshadowed all that came before it.

[@rparl]

When I was in college I read a book about Lincoln having survived the attack, but barely. He retired to the West, like Nevada. At one point a little boy perceived that he's important but isn't sure why. So he asked him to sign his autograph book, but "not on the first pages, cause I want to save them for someone important." He signs "A. Lincoln, to Tommy, an honest friend." As the parade starts, a little black girl is being prevented from standing in front to see the parade. He invites her to ride in the lead vehicle with him. The book was presented as fiction, but endearing.

[@Alverant]

How many conspiracy theories are true and people are just saying they're conspiracies to avoid admitting they were wrong. I would have included the fact, but something you hinted here, is that sometimes evidence against a conspiracy can be twisted to be evidence FOR the conspiracy.

[@theoriapraxis6729]

I had the honor to meet Buzz Aldrin (in passing) at a fund raiser years ago. That man is a badass. I have no qualms believing that he beat the crap out of some moon landing denier.

[@levicoffman5146]

You're in luck! There is a video and it is awesome!

[@rparl]

In the TV show, The Finder, one episode featured mental control from satellites. The main character used a tinfoil hat to keep from being affected.

[@jordancarlson961]

This was my thought. I thought I was the only one who remembered that show lol

[@katherinelynch4193]

More art than invention, but Luis Jimenez was an American most famous for the “Blucifer” statue in Colorado (the giant blue horse with red eyes). While working on it in 2006, part of the sculpture fell on top of him, crushing his leg and causing him to bleed to death. For some reason, they actually completed the cursed thing in 2008 and it stands tall to haunt the nightmares of all who come to Denver International Airport.

[@erraticonteuse]

My JFK assassination conspiracy theory is that the third shot was by his own Secret Service agent, who just panicked. That's it. Everything else was exactly as the official story says. Once I told a friend my boring JFK conspiracy theory, and he said, "Oh I've got one of those too. I think there *was* a man on the grassy knoll from the Mafia who was also there to assassinate him, but Oswald just beat him to it. They weren't working together or anything. It was just a really good opportunity for an assassination, why wouldn't there have been more than one?"

[@Pratchettgaiman]

Technically the project mogul balloon would still be a UFO, as it was a flying object that was unidentified

[@lukehill9934]

Marie Curie! She didn't quite "invent" Radium, but she did die from radiation poisoning after discovering it.

[@rebbecachunn]

Aldrin punching that guy raised the already high pedestal he is on. IMHO the punch s/b the gif for all time

[@btetschner]

A+ video! Amazing explanation of so many different elements of the conspiracy theory culture!

[@88hpe41]

You have the original Anne of Green Gables.... That is so cool! I love that film.

[@yutinglim6286]

Thomas Midgley , Jr : He contracted polio at age 51, derived an elaborated system of ropes and pulleys to lift himself out of bed. He got entangled in that elaborated system and died of strangulation at the age of 55. He is famous for invented tetraethyl lead (as an additive to gasoline) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

[@incy55]

Where can i get 'Tin" foil?

[@egpmh2891]

There is weird one I recently learned of: people actually believe that the country of Finland does not exist, that is just a false place holder on the map/globe

[@michaelwhite2823]

Good content aside, you have a great style! Intelligent, pleasant and down to earth!

[@rredd7777]

About those tin foil hats: They don't sell tin foil in the stores anymore, only aluminum foil. You can only find tin foil from chemical or alloy dealers. WHY??? Funny how the MSM never talks about this.

[@MrWhitman]

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier who invented a hybrid gas and hot air balloon to cross the English Channel. After the initial launch, the hot air balloon burst into flames and fell. He and his passenger, Pierre Romain, became the first victims of an aerial accident.

[@heathermedling1313]

What is that metal thing on your shelf with the RoboCop DVD? I keep trying to figure it out but it's driving me crazy. Please please let my OCD off the hook and explain

[@jphilb]

Steve Berry wrote an entire book about Elizabeth 1. The King’s Deception. Good read.

[@AdriLeemput]

Fact 12: using big words (Faraday Cage) but absolutely not knowing how it actually works? Sounds like a great summary of most of those people.

[@alanwaibel5654]

Intventers killed by their inventions sounds fascinating, but what about artists killed by their works of art. One piece of art at Denver International Airport is a huge blue horse. That statue fell on the artist and killed him.

[@Liggliluff]

I don't know what it is, but she's "making faces". I don't know how to describe it; but the most common gesture she does is to squint, lift up her head, several time throughout the video.

[@jimmyhuesandthehouserocker1069]

There has been over 2000 books written about the Kennedy assassination, with about as many conspiracy theories, across the spectrum from logical and plausible to the most ridiculous and absurd such as space aliens. My personal favorite is how the second gunman, was in the trunk of JFK's limousine. This DOES explain a couple of things, though

[@jarradscarborough7915]

that guy who got punched by Buzz Aldrin wouldn't recognise he truth if it hit him in the face... ...because it did and he didn't!

[@u.s.paratroops4633]

I always thought H. H. Holmes could've been Jack the Ripper

[@ryanking2155]

Thomas Midgley Jr came to mind straight away for the next video - the inventor of CFCs and leased gasoline, killed by a system of ropes and pulleys he used to lift himself out of bed after contracting polio. Hell of a life 😳

[@Amarianee]

10:20 ehh, there's a lot more to that one. They did not immediately state it was a weather balloon. Part of the reason conspiracy theories started is because they flat out denied the incident entirely. Then, the government couldn't keep their story straight as to what it was and eventually committed to the weather balloon excuse. The same situation happened with Area 51 and the development of stealth aircraft like the U-2 and the SR-71. The military's stance on top secret projects and research in development is that it literally doesn't exist. Also, the Area 51 chemical incident that killed multiple scientists and the govt refused to release any information on what they were working on, even to doctors, which ultimately led to their deaths, didn't help either. These theories develop because people (typically governments) can't keep their stories straight and usually ARE hiding something - it's just not usually as extraordinary as the theorists think. It also doesn't help that, in recent years, many conspiracies that were thought to be paranoid theories, have been declassified and proven to be true i.e. Operation Paperclip, Operation Northwoods, The Tuskegee Experiment, MK-Ultra, Operation Stargate, and the list goes on.

[@rickseiden1]

The two famous deaths of inventors I know of off the top of my head are the inventor of the Segway and the guy who jumped off the Eiffel Tower to prove his parachute suit would work.

[@MetFanMac]

Correction: The conspiracy theorist never actually called Aldrin a thief. He was punched halfway into finishing the word :D

[@romulusnr]

When there's words in the captions that aren't in the spoken video: SEKRITS

[@erictaylor5462]

The sad thing is, even if Aldrin had sworn on the Bible, the nutter still would not have believed him.

[@matchrocket1702]

Killed by his own invention: That guy who thought he invented a flying suit and to prove it he jumped off the Eiffel Tower in the early 20th Century. He made a pancake out of himself.

[@btetschner]

I have never heard of that origin of tin foil hats before.

[@tonpal]

Mark Twain said "it is easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they are being fooled." Remember, of course, that any good saying is attributed to Confucius, Mark Twain or Winston Churchill who ever actually said it.

[@rparl]

I have a book called Hemmingway Didn't Say That. It's full of misattributed quotes.

[@ufiCz]

I don't know, but does it really matter who said that ? Isn't more important what does it telling us ?

[@tonpal]

@@ufiCz :: You make a good point although in general it is good to know who said something and the context in which it was said so as to give greater meaning to it.

[@knewledge8626]

I not only knew that Buzz Aldrin punched an idiot in the face, I have a tattoo commemorating the event.

[@GlenCychosz]

Ghislaine Maxwell didn't die of Covid-19 next week.

[@cruzcflores]

Correct

[@californiumblog]

Conspiracist Punching should be a sport.

[@cherylcampbell9369]

There are plans in the works for just that thing.

[@joanhoffman3702]

Is it similar to punching Nazis? Asking for a friend.😉

[@JamesD2957]

wait...C.H.U.D.? Maximum Overdrive? This is a very interesting collection

[@jamey1658]

Those Arrow Video Blu Rays on your shelf are all great! Pretty good taste there :-)

[@scottbrown6305]

I prefer the UIU Division of the FBI from the SCP universe. In that paradigm, the UIU is the area to drop the troublemakers and other wise problematic members of the Bureau. They know just enough about what they’re dealing with and have just enough support from various sources to be dangerous to themselves and others.

[@kaziiqbal7257]

Lmao, imagine pressing charges against a national hero

[@6thwilbury2331]

For what it's worth, tin foil is pretty hard to come by these days. Not hard to order it online, but I doubt I've seen it sold in stores in my lifetime. It has been aluminum for as long as I can remember.

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

Also, the Soviets never claimed the Moon Landing was fake.

[@kitcutting]

“Sometimes the small true-true, bigger than the big true-true” - John F. Kennedy August 20, 1970

[@tptman001]

Buzz Aldrin was also the first person to perform the Eucharist on the moon

[@slartibartfast2452]

Funny thing about 2020. This year alone has seen the biggest conspiracy theories of the past 70 years proven true. Debunk it, if you can. Ya, that's what I thought. ;)

[@itsjustmeflo8684]

That part lol

[@er5406]

Haven’t run across your name in KZbin before now. I researched you and see you were a friend of Grant Imahara, I’m sorry for loss I knew him only from Mythbusters, but I will miss him.

[@LearningArenaSS]

Informative 👍

[@marvintpandroid2213]

Killed by his own invention, the one and only Thomas Midgley Jr.

[@TheAbstruseOne]

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.

[@seth_dickinson]

Booth survived and moved to Guntown, Mississippi, and is buried there.

[@edwardyudkoff7137]

Now I really don't know who's buried in Grant's tomb.

[@feldar]

So, there's a conspiracy theory about the origin of the term "conspiracy theory." That tracks.

[@dannyk5387]

an inventor killed by its own invention??? GOD

[@rparl]

God is dead?

[@nerdommeetsboy]

2:36 I heard the lizard people conspiracy was meant to be anti-Semitic?

[@donaldsloan4943]

Remember there was a Conspiracy in the 1940s called the Manhattan project.

[@Apophis324]

My parents recently went to an exposition in Germany (this side of the world is somewhat safer) of a man who invented something like a paraglider. Not all his experiments went well though.. Darn, I can't recall his name...

[@rhonnachurch6929]

That's funny, because now the pentagon admitted to the reality of UFOs.

[@amasulem]

This android is so sophisticated.

[@Tom666x]

Obey and believe everything you are told and you are considered a good, healthy, well-thinking citizen. Start asking questions and think for yourself and you are considered a conspiracy theorist. This is the one and only truth about "conspiracy theories".

[@sensibleb]

"...people who engage in other types of magical thinking... are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories." I wonder if there is a correlation between religious belief and conspiracy theories.

[@YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen]

My money is on "Yes, there is."

[@Rigel7WasAlreadyUsed]

For your next list: Thomas Midgley Jr.

[@kastanie7445]

"Half of Americans believe at least one conspiracy theory" Yeah, ok, but like, half of you also think the earth is only 6000 years old so I'm not sure that figure is representative for the rest of the world. I hope it isn't 😣

[@seanvasquez523]

Okay some of those conspiracy theories are really dumb. But others however they can really get you into thinking about all the events you know and if there was an even darker secret behind them. It's really interesting when you think about it.

[@seanvasquez523]

And it could even make the conspiracy theorists actually right and it could turn an event from conspiracy theory to conspiracy fact.

[@kergiby]

Not an invention, but an art installation crushed its creator and now Bluecifer stands on display by Denver International Airport.

[@step5732]

What happened to the old List guy??

[@saraheerie]

So the Roswell one was technically a UFO

[@melchazaar]

Thomas Midgley Jr. who after contracting polio built a contraption of ropes and pulleys to aid his family in moving him. He got caught in them one day and it strangled him to death.

[@RoGnosis]

Are electronic gadgets damaged if they are half plugged in? Half pin inside socket, other half outside.

[@triteobservations4494]

He's not an inventor, but perhaps this video about conspiracy theories has me thinking about Luis Jiménez, who created the infamous "Blue Mustang" outside of the conspiracy theory-laden Denver International Airport (a sculpture better known by locals as Blucifer). Jiménez was killed by a piece of the sculpture while it was under construction. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Jim%C3%A9nez_(sculptor)

[@TheRealE.B.]

Yes, *obviously* users of the words "conspiracy" and "theory" have *always* had a bad reputation, and the modern negative connotations are not at all a reflection on the "conspiracy theorists" themselves.

[@almostkungfumaster]

Don't look, can't look away...

[@MyChrisable]

Dr. Thomas Midgley Jr clearly the more Notorious of the guys who got killed by their .. genius.

[@jamesslick4790]

4:54 This is odd (to me) as I always assume randomness FIRST, Until convinced otherwise. Is there a term for THAT? Edit: There IS a term: "Shit Happens".

[@MetFanMac]

"Mind reading! That was it. Okay, let's assume it exists, even though no transmissions show up on any known spectrum. The tinfoil-hat people. What do they think? That it's electromagnetic radiation? What do they think the tin is going to do? ... So anyway, if it's electromagnetic, you’d need a Faraday cage for that, and a tinfoil hat doesn't act like one. It's not even grounded. In all likelihood, a chunk of metal on your head is going to conduct any signal you are worried about, not block it. You'd have a better chance with a lead helmet covered in rubber. Tinfoil-hat people are ignorant."