Can You Win an Argument with a Conspiracy Theorist?

Why do some people believe in conspiracy theories? Can you change their minds?
SUBSCRIBE so you never miss a video!
bit.ly/3tNKzhV
And follow us on Instagram and Twitter!
/ abovethenoisepbs
/ atn_pbs
The Earth is flat. We never landed on the moon. Tupac is alive and well, living in Cuba and still releasing music to this day. Conspiracy theories are all over the internet. Why do some people believe in conspiracy theories, and can you change the mind of someone who believes in one?
Conspiracy theories are nothing new, but with the internet and the rise of social media, conspiracy theories are getting in front of a lot of eyeballs. After the Sandy Hook school shooting in late 2012, a term that started on underground blogs went mainstream -- CRISIS ACTORS. Conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones started pushing a narrative that the school shooting never happened, and that that the victims weren’t students but instead were paid actors.
Sometimes, conspiracy theories can spill out into the real world and do actual damage -- like when a man armed with a rifle entered a Washington DC-area pizzeria, convinced that the restaurant was involved in a sex trafficking operation masterminded by Hillary Clinton. He didn’t find anything but a bunch of now-freaked-out people eating pizza.
But have you ever sat down and tried to argue with someone who believes in a conspiracy theory? Can you change a conspiracy theorist’s mind?
**What is a conspiracy theory?
A conspiracy theory is a belief that an organization is working in secret to achieve some sinister goal.
**Are conspiracy theories always false?
Not always. They usually are false, but they can be true. For example, back in the 1950’s and 60’s, there was a conspiracy theory claiming that the CIA was using U.S. citizens to conduct secret mind control experiments. Surprisingly, that theory turned out to be true. The project was called MK Ultra, and it was indeed an experiment run by the CIA. Congressional testimony in the late 1970’s showed that it was real and did, in fact, happen.
**What is illusory pattern perception?
Illusory pattern perception is when your brain perceives a pattern when one doesn’t actually exist. Humans are primed to see patterns, so this actually happens more often than you probably realize.
SOURCES:
Survey of conspiracy theory beliefs in the U.S.
www.publicpolicypolling.com/w...
Project MK Ultra congressional testimony
www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rp3h/...
The psychology of conspiracy theories
journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/1...
Illusory pattern perception predicts belief in conspiracies and the supernatural
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/e...
Lacking control increases illusory pattern perception
pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1c44...
Stress doesn’t cause ulcers
www.slate.com/blogs/thewrongst...
Australian pair wins Nobel prize for stomach ulcer research
www.theguardian.com/education...
TEACHERS: Get your students in the discussion on KQED Learn, a safe place for middle and high school students to investigate controversial topics and share their voices. learn.kqed.org/discussions/
About KQED
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. An NPR and PBS member station based in San Francisco, KQED is home to one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services, and an award-winning education program helping students and educators thrive in 21st-century classrooms. A trusted news source, leader, and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration - exposing them to new people, places, and ideas.
Funding for KQED’s education services is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Koret Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, the Crescent Porter Hale Foundation, the Silver Giving Foundation, Campaign 21 donors, and members of KQED.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Conspiracy Theories Gone Viral
1:43 A Brief History Of Conspiracy Theories
2:38 The Research On Conspiracy Theories
4:10 How Do Argue With Conspiracy Theories?
5:10 Is The Conspiracy Theory Falsifiable?
7:11 Bill Nye!!

[@martijndekok]

Conspiracy theorist: "Prove me I'm wrong" Reasonable person: Here's tons of evidence Conspiracy theorist: "That's fake news" My solution to proving flat earthers wrong would be to launch them into space .....and leave them there ....without oxygen.

[@miqueasvalentinhernandez3998]

My solution to them would be getting those new age and conspiracy followers to India.

[@noone-ff3yx]

I have a theory that some conspirators have been conspiring to discredit conspiracy theorists and their conspiracy theories by inventing a conspiracy that conspiracy theorists are just crazy so their conspiracies will be successful as conspired by the original conspirators.

[@brocklesnar9067]

@@miqueasvalentinhernandez3998 what would happen when you take them to india ?

[@dunamoose3446]

i see the Belter in you isn't dead

[@RichWoods23]

@Wo Jak Setting aside Martyn's 'kill people' hyperbole, whether or not the earth is flat isn't a matter of opinion. If someone thinks that 2+2=5 when I think that 2+2=4 then they are wrong. Obviously I wouldn't be justified in killing them (at least only in some circumstances -- I'll leave you to work out what those might be) but I would be justified in concluding that they are either tragically uneducated and ignorant, or of limited mental capacity, or possibly outright delusional. I would consequently be justified in treating them quite differently than I would people who agreed with me.

[@erikziak1249]

What is most painful is when you see your own parents grow old and start beliving in BS, reading BS, supporting BS and refusing to admit they might be wrong, using one universal argument of "life experience", which they have more than I do. If it were strangers, I would not mind, but this mental deterioration is as bad as physical one, when elderly people get stuck to wheelcharis or become partially paralysed after a stroke. We have means to cope with physical disability, but mental disability (not caused by stroke), simply by beliving BS, cannot be cured. And is very, very painful, and I often feel embarrassed when my dad starts talking his BS world views, referring to BS authors of BS books, who have super big popularity, because they are so "alternative" and "natural" and whatnot. The problem is you cannot ban human stupidity. Everybody has the right to claim whatever they want. Truth does not care about beliefs. There are useful and not useful views and beliefs. The tragedy of humanity is that a majority of people all around the world hold at least useless and misleading, if not dangerous beliefs, which infect brains, causing the typical, simple to "understand" - simple to put in boxes "us vs. them" worldview.

[@Brugar18]

The "us vs them" mindset is a big roadblock that we must overcome in order to start working together and increase chances in doing correct decisions.

[@nolagatto2136]

I couldn't have said it better, I totally agree! It's really tough...

[@bigbangtheory1185]

Wow, agreed! 💯👍🏽

[@erikziak1249]

@Shep VanDelay Since Russia invaded Ukraine, I do not speak, nor see, nor want to speak to my parents. They support Putin and accuse Ukraine of all sorts of things. They are vitctims of Russian propaganda. I have travelled Ukraine in the last few years, visited also the eastern part: Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporozhie, Mariupol. Even in this russian speaking part, the people were not pro-russian and certainly not pro-Putin. They actually hated him. I admit, I spoke mostly to younger people, maybe some older generation has more sentiment and support Putin there. Needles to say, my parents are also anti-vaxxers. Especially my father is against everything "mainstream", just for the sake of being against it. He wants Slovakia to leave the EU and NATO, which would harm him enormously, but he does not recognize it. It would also harm me a lot, as I make use of the privileges of the EU, I work in Vienna and reside in Bratislava, travel freely, without any border checks across the state border. With customs union and single market, even the Euro currency in Slovakia and Austria alike, I enjoy freedoms we never had before here. People were actually shot when trying to cross the border just a couple of decades ago (iron curtain). I guess similarly-minded people are also those who voted for Brexit, which is another horrible example. It was also all lies, everything promised turneout to be false. Anyway, back home. It is very, very sad, even painful, to see my parents spiraling into believing lies and nonsense. It is impossible to argue with them. This next words really hurt me as I write them: I could cope easier with the death of my parents than seeing them deteoriate like this. This is not physical disability or any medical condition like alzeheimers. There is no cure and even if there were, how could anyone convince them to undergo it? Impossible to do anything at all.

[@erikziak1249]

@Shep VanDelay Humans are susceptible to all kinds of logical fallacies and biases. Me, being also a human, included. But at least I am aware of it, admit it and try not to fall for easy truths, nor do I give a higher weight to opinions that support my current beliefs, if they are without sources and make use of foul arguments. Actually, I hardly dislike such sources of information, regardless of what they claim. I am very well aware that propaganda is working hard on both sides when there is a war. There is propaganda in Russia, there certainly is in Ukraine and since the EU is also at war (luckily only economic war) with Russia, I expect to take everything I read and see with a grain of salt, especially when there are no sources, or the sources are not trustworthy and independent. Said that, my conclusion is that, while Ukraine might (and most likely did - again, I cannot prove or disprove it, but it seem plausible) have done some bad things to ethnic Russians, or specific groups of separatists, it still does not justify a full scale invasion with thousands of civilian causalities, not to mention massive damage to infrastructure. I can think of a potential evidence that would change my mind, but currently I see none. You wrote that you dramatically reconsidered your perspective on Russia. That is a very, very hard thing to do for many people. Letting a belief go and accept that things changed requires a real personality and character. It is often not that hard to believe something, it is much harder to let a belief go, when we see new evidence, new facts. Sadly, many people, e.g. my parents, are already in such a stage, that they are incapable of changing their mind. They are denial. Like various "end of the world sects", claiming the world with end at a certain date, and when it does not happen, they do not give up their belief, it just makes them stronger in it and they will start to claim that the end did not come only because they warned that it will. I can hardly think of a stronger case of cognitive dissonance. Those people are forever lost. They cannot admit they were wrong and move on. Should I ever become such a person, I really hope to notice it and be able at least to be silent and not make a nutcase of myself. As long as people cannot read minds, I am free to think and believe whatever I want, it is only by what I say or write, that others get to know my mental state.

[@Jacob-ry3lu]

There's a great quote to remember before engaging in a debate with a conspiracy theorist: you can't reason someone out of a position that they didn't reason themselves into!

[@jeffwinkler1137]

Ive got a great quote for ya too... Suck one

[@audiogarden21]

That's a good one. I'm personally a fan of Hitchen's Razor; that which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

[@callmemandy1712]

That’s actually a really good one!

[@leethrch]

Conspiracy theories operate the same way as religion, all based on beliefs and none falsifiable claims.

[@michelenugent8223]

Like the lab leak.

[@luciatorres3613]

I'm watching this because my father lost his job and has become a conspiracy theorist. I miss my old normal dad

[@musicexpansion7119]

i wish you and your family blessings

[@audiogarden21]

RIP Daddy Torres. Best of luck in your reacquisition.

[@funkymonkey65]

2 years on, what is the situation now?

[@bradysmith4405]

Sorry to hear that. I’m watching cause my uncle is married to the daughter of a senator and I’m starting to act in movies, usually lower budget but still. I’m not naive, I know there’s obviously corruption in dc and Hollywood but some of these people’s theories would pretty much require them to have a pretty much magic level of cooperation and control. To the point where anyone that has more success or connections than them must be “in on it!!”

[@twdarcy]

I let my homeless sister move in with me and all she does is lay in bed and watch youtube. Now she believes every conspiracy theory. It's exhausting.

[@funkymonkey65]

How do you deal with, it, do you let her have her rant, walk away, does anything work

[@Salty4Reel]

The burden of proof falls on the person making a claim

[@gdninjaapple4145]

Winning an argument against a flat Earther is like playing chess with a pigeon, no matter what you do they will just knock over all the pieces and act like they won.

[@Itsbully06]

@@pandreis1452 pegeons are the best

[@M0T0.M.B.]

like fake champion charlie z ahaha

[@bobjoebo8933]

**coo**

[@FellowHuman137]

That's dawkins you plagerist

[@MeasuredFlat]

Cool story, but meanwhile, in the real world, Einstein could not prove the earth was spinning, after scientific experiments showed it was not, so, Einstein created relativity, and relativity can be found in make believe

[@Dyrwen]

Physics girl brought me here. And I'm glad to be here

[@AboveTheNoise]

Yakob A.S. We love Physics Girl! Glad you made it over to our channel!

[@keiichimaebara3754]

@@AboveTheNoise Actually you can win an argument with someone who believes in a flat Earth Theory you just have to use more practical common sense like if the Earth was flat how come cruise ships don't fall off the edge or we don't noticed the angle is shorter because the edge that's flat if you go over that work on a notice that it's a lot different of a shape if we don't fall off and then Also how come the sunsets You just need a ditch all the NASA stuff because you're not going to believe that but if he used the common sense ground it'll show them that it's not possible I have argue that with them and I know A conspiracy theorist memo If you hit them with something big cannot explain away with their theory then what happens is they get quiet they don't say anything because they're either angry are embarrassed but But if you leave Room for contradiction in your argument Then they will sit there and try to Argue with you in attempt to make you agree with them and gets you believing it at least that's my experience you just have to use a different form of arguing with those kind of people

[@zmogushibridas2992]

@@AboveTheNoise Fact water always find level .... xD

[@PaulGAckerman]

A shape-shifting lizard *would* try to convince me that the world is not controlled by shape-shifting lizard people. Nice try, but I'm on to your tricks! Just kidding, I came across this video because I'm trying to cope with someone that believes in many conspiracy theories. I subscribed because I liked it so much.

[@AboveTheNoise]

Paul Ackerman glad you liked the video and hope you enjoy the channel!

[@TheREALExposingtheJoyofS-px3ri]

For those who don't believe in shape-shifting lizards... If you want to see smoking gun video proof that shape-shifting lizards exist... Watch this video here. :) No trolling by the way... kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpi1q3qubMqZfdk

[@mermaid960]

Totally, totally... No lizard I'm control her- *hiss* Uhm... I have a pet lizard?

[@medowatcher]

Same here, my mother used to be a nurse who was very science driven, but now in her 50s and retired she’s fallen into this worm hole of conspiracy theories. I’m worried about her mental health and after 2-3 years of arguing with her with evidence it’s proven futile. I feel like I’ve lost a part of my mother and our relationship is no longer the same 😔. She just brings up new theories every day. Literally. I can’t keep up arguing against her claims, my sister and brother just ignore her. Perhaps I am just adding fuel to the fire? Can someone give me any advice.

[@jimbusmaximus4624]

@@medowatcher I'm in the same boat. My mother believes in things that are absolutely insane! It started off with small things, actual things I couldn't falsify. But now it's full-blown organ harvesting lizard people and other things too ridiculous to type out.

[@amapparatistkwabena]

My conspiracy theory is that KZbin keeps the best videos from getting many views-like this one. The algorithm is against you, bruh.

[@AboveTheNoise]

Now, that's a conspiracy theory that makes total sense!

[@darkner2390]

From my point of view, there are three catagories of conspiracy theorists/believers: The thinkers, the followers and the crazy ones. The thinkers always question whatever is told to them, do their own research and try to answer questions. Some are or grow biased and will only use sources which support their point of view. The followers believe anything they are told, as long as it only supports their side. They will not listen to anyone who has a different opinion or anyone telling them it's just flat out wrong, no matter how well built up the arguments are. Instead, they will just laugh or not take that person seriously. Often contradicting themselves when they call others 'sheeple'. The crazy ones will attempt to use anything which supports their side, even without checking the source, or if it directly disproves what they are trying to prove, or if it simply doesn't make any sense. If you disagree with them, they will respond with clear aggression, throwing insult after insult at you. The thinkers can still be convinced, the followers are highly unlikely to be convinced and the crazy ones are just impossible.

[@liviahernandez905]

So are you saying conspiracies don't exisit? Or better yet goverment conspiracies in world history have never occured? Let's start with that. You can't call it a conspirasy theory if it was an actual conspirasy

[@williamwhitten7820]

@@liviahernandez905 I think Darker, Doesn't really know what he is trying to say. By saying "The thinkers can still be convinced" he seems to be saying that they can be talked out of believing a conspiracy theory. This is hubris, in that it assumes that all conspiracy theories are bogus. Particularistic thinking demands particular arguments, generalized statements must be minimized in critical analysis. History is full of real conspiracies. A general statement, that can be defended. But not in the confines of a KZbin forum.

[@bradysmith4245]

We should acknowledge there are also different levels of conspiracy theory. The thinkers usually stick to things that are at least possible or reasonable. Like something with the jfk assassination not being exactly like we’re told. But the crazy people believe in things that don’t make any logical sense, like Australia not existing or local news anchors being aliens. Often those people are just mentally ill.

[@chrish.9788]

This makes me feel better. I'm so tired of getting frustrated with family that believe in paranoia-based conspiracy theories. They're smart too. So frustrating!!

[@AboveTheNoise]

Thanks for watching and glad the video was helpful. Good luck!

[@jimbusmaximus4624]

I know how you feel. I'm ALWAYS hearing about how all these dead people, who are actually alive and disguised as someone else. Famous people, political people, even the president. It's so frustrating.

[@williamwhitten7820]

@@jimbusmaximus4624 WTF?!?!?

[@jimbusmaximus4624]

@@williamwhitten7820 I have a family member that believes in all these wild, absolutely insane things. It started with the flat earth stuff, and progressed to full-blown paranoid delusions about the government being taken over by people who the rest of the world actually believes are dead.

[@williamwhitten7820]

@@jimbusmaximus4624 Well , that is very bizarre indeed. I don't know if the term "paranoid" fits. Perhaps delusional is better...

[@YoungTheFish]

My favourite conspiracy: The Canadian 100$ bill smells like maple-syrup.

[@cerealfamine1]

Could be true, I know the Canadian $20 smells like cocaine.

[@vithei477]

Why do you have so little views? This channel is amazing

[@AboveTheNoise]

vit hei thanks for watching and the support! Help us spread the word - we’ve only been around for a little over a year and haven’t *yet* reached critical mass!

[@_.riice._]

The reason why this video has such a little amount of views is probably because it's just been uploaded

[@pilusatuyvlog5593]

new house is not appeal enough for people but burned house is something wanted by much people cause there's big appeal overthere. And what i want to say, this channel is belike new house.

[@jeffery8806]

More people need to care to think about thinking. Too many chasing the tail of outrage of the day. :(

[@thorb2663]

My older brother who used to teach me about things like neutron stars now doesn't even believe gravity exists. I use to engage with him, but it doesn't matter when he says the scientific method itself is a conspiracy. I miss having real conversations with my brother.

[@famousamos]

We all know someone we "lost" to these conspiracy theories. I have friends and family who lost their careers and relationships because they allowed their beliefs in conspiracy theories to alter their disposition as a human.

[@bradysmith4245]

I think conspiracy theories have also gotten crazier. It’s one thing if you’re talking about a dozen people covering something up or saying certain events seem slightly suspicious. It’s another to say the earth is flat and everyone on tv is a lizard person. That stuff is just flat out fantasy land and dangerous to mental health.

[@audiogarden21]

It's rather unfortunate and it happens all too often.

[@Icarus931]

Agreed. I’ve gotten rid of friends because they went down the rabbit hole so far there was no reaching them .

[@jluck1590]

​@@Icarus931 I want to be part of helping people come back. It has destroyed a lot of my life. Nothing was real and it destroys so much.

[@funkymonkey65]

Yeah, not so easy when its your wife who you have 2 kids with who she is controlling

[@Infidel_hero]

Our education system has failed us in that critical thinking is not taught from an early age

[@ufosrus]

Darn right!

[@schmoozemoose26]

I thought the "birds aren't real" conspiracy theory was a joke.

[@davidrogers8030]

It is.

[@edgeeffect]

There's also another thing with belief... is that very often the believer doesn't believe in the belief... it's just that it's important for some tribal or social reason or other to be perceived as believing in a belief. You see this in religions, politics and of course conspiracy theories all the time.

[@kingra7]

I have favorite 3 conspiracy "theory": 1. US government hired nazis scientist, 2. US government infected people with syphilis in Tuskegee, 3. Leader of the world (NWO) and rich people are praying to an owl.

[@017clipz]

Not even conspiracy “theories” 1 operation paper clip is available online at cia.gov and for public viewing. 2 the Tuskegee experiment has also proven to be true and is also available online^. And the owl is also true as there is an owl monolithic structure in bohemian grove California which is located in a millionaires retreat which has video evidence of people worshipping this owl called mollock

[@Nhoj31neirbo47]

Truth is not contingent on human beliefs.

[@DPGrupa]

Human beliefs shape the truth to come. US believing that Iraq has WMDs created the fact “2003 invasion of Iraq”. People believing that their fellow citizens are actually lizards? History is littered with examples where false beliefs about groups of people lead to atrocities.

[@blakethompson-dodd9874]

Truth IS societal belief. Reality, however, is not.

[@IndexJocker]

cant wait for you to blow up man, been watching for almost a year now and im constantly waiting for a video to go viral. best of luck, sending u tons of support from a tiny island in sweden! :)

[@JeremyWS]

Proving a conspiracy theorist wrong is easy part, now getting one to admit to being wrong that's the difficult part. What might help is asking one why one believe in the conspiracy theory in the first place and after one answers show one the flaws in one's logic. This does work sometimes but results may vary.

[@thespectord2984]

This channel is so good, gonna recommend it :D

[@AboveTheNoise]

TheSpector :D yay! Glad you like it. Thanks for checking us out!

[@supersportryder]

It's only a conspiracy theory until it's proved a conspiracy. It's such an ugly term used for the purpose of belittling curious minds.

[@queenceecee733]

It's better than calling them nutjobs.

[@Basky008]

Conspiracy Theory in a nutshell: Someone or Some Thing is out there to GET US!! No matter what anybody says, that fear cannot be broken until the people do not deal with their fears head on!!

[@BigAssBaIIs]

Technically thats a conspiracy theory

[@sankako6075]

They allready got you, they didnt get me

[@blueballedtech]

This video is great, especially the dialogue near the end. I've heard "it's so obvious," so many times.

[@theomegaman218]

People conspire to protect their interest. That’s a fact of life.

[@EdgarHilton]

My favorite is when somebody whom I respect and love dearly, came to me one day, sat across the table from me, and asked me (without humor or irony): "So, what do you think about the people that live in the center of the Earth? Friendly or not?". Then for the next hour he tried to convince me that this is true., complete with "facts" and "figures".

[@user-ti3wk6zs1r]

It aged incredibly well 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 (sarcasm)

[@SkY-qc9uw]

I would never start believing conspiracy theories because I lost my job, I started doing drugs insted...

[@marcmontplaisir9372]

Thank you for this very well done video. I, too cannot believe that you have such a low audience. We need more of these material on youtube. !

[@x50nathan]

No we don''t. archive.org/details/new-world-order-communism-by-the-backdoor-2014-documentary-xvi-d-avi

[@The88Cheat]

"Do your own research" is most theorists "evidence." lol

[@michelenugent8223]

You don't have to anymore. It's right there on the news.

[@HelloFriendComTech]

I think there is some truth in allot of conspiracy theories and I think it's good to not trust everything you hear, but that goes for the conspiracy theorists aswell. One of the problems I have with conspiracy theorists is that they will assume everything that contradicts their beliefs is false and everything that confirms them is true. When you hear a conspiracy theory on youtube for example, are you taking the time to track down the original sources of the information you're hearing and then determining whether that information was gathered in a legitimate way?

[@bradysmith4245]

Some theories sorta make sense and are possible. Others, like Australia being made up, are just flat out deranged idiocy.

[@alisonfriedman5288]

I think I’m going to create my own conspiracy theory, and then discuss it with a conspiracy theorist.

[@AboveTheNoise]

Lol. That is a very meta idea. Have fun!

[@Nostradumbass420]

Theyre not working in secret. Its pretty open at this point.

[@cesartoscano6813]

Ah when your mom goes down a rabbit hole so deep u have to pull her out… great times

[@bloodpet]

i didn't think of people's belief in god as a conspiracy theory until i realize that that's exactly how people who claim ther's a god talk like

[@user00578___]

Not exactly, believing in God doesn't involve a formal proof as a scientific one, we don't want to deny or change science.

[@dorupero]

All the conspiracy theories now with the internet, I always watch them thinking it's just an another meme, then I realize there are people who actually believe in this shit.

[@peachesmcgee4795]

Yup,my friend believes in the lizard people. Arguing with her is like nailing jelly (jello) to the wall and we have nearly fallen out over it.

[@thespectord2984]

We have a conspiracy theory in germany: They are actually people here who think that the city of Bielefeld (320k residents) simply does not exist. Its so well known that even chancelor merkel already has made a joke about it, and there was an episode of famous TV serious about it. Its an entire City, there are pictures of it, I WAS BORN THERE! BIELEFELD FUCKIN EXISTS! and i am asked so often: What you are from Bielefeld? But that isnt possible, thats a lie, the government - bruh D: okay actually its kinda funny xD

[@ghrey8282]

You are conspiring to educate. Ok I'm in I subscribed.

[@nicholson1968]

My favorite Conspiracy is that Some KZbin Channels are Paid Shills to discredit KZbin Conspiracy Channels. You have been identified. Lol

[@BlueBedouin]

The comment section is filled with so much morons.

[@ChristopherBueker]

Yep. Intentionally trying to deceive people.

[@hazelbasil6451]

@@ChristopherBueker So because YOU disagree with the premise of this video its intentionally deceiving and a paid government shill? That is an emotional reaction with no evidence to back up your assertion. This is exactly the problem with most conspiracies...the CIRCULAR THINKING

[@jellyfishbrained]

@@hazelbasil6451 @Christopher Bueker Not everybody who disavows conspiracies is a paid shill. People who are inclined to believe multitudes of conspiracies are a minority of people.

[@riggermortisfpv526]

COINTEL PRO was real, look it up, go to government sites.

[@rehleinklein7373]

If the earth is flat, how thick is it and what is on the other side? Google didn't know. Who knows?

[@mryaint]

Conspiracy theorists lose their power when we start ignoring them and go on with our lives.

[@user-mr1zs1np7w]

And just let them die of covid

[@vibesmom]

You can’t change anyone’s mind. You can go for a stalemate though, they are more likely to listen to you, and the facts you share will still be somewhere in their brain. They will also feel listened to, and that goes a long way to them hearing you.

[@livannal.t.9068]

you cant change evidence either. which there is a lot of for actual events that happened

[@vibesmom]

@@livannal.t.9068 true there is no reason to change facts. Exploring what is fact is, in my mind, the best way to challenge our own thinking.

[@mayaquinn8801]

Wait I'm confused. What's a flat-earther's argument against airplane travel from places like the US to Australia, across what would be the line marking the end of the world in their theory.

[@laurae3924]

This super informative and fun to watch 👏🏼You go boy☺️

[@AboveTheNoise]

Dee thank you so much! We had fun making it. We appreciate you watching and taking time to leave an encouraging comment!

[@Brugar18]

Having a know how on evaluation of evidence, practices to not cling on personal biases(that we all have), learning to detect falacious arguments can be helpful to at least not to fall in them

[@joshua-we9xr]

The conspiracy person saying "Bro" is so on point. 😂

[@camfranklin5036]

I met Bill Nye at awesome con 😂

[@mphoramathe1801]

There's now a group spreading the idea that the sun and everything else orbits the earth... At least they think it's round😒

[@Doping1234]

You're trying to tell me you are not a lizard person? How comes you're so...cool then? Gotcha!

[@Thomas-kx3yw]

If the earth was flat, the sun would appear at the same time for everyone logically talking, boom flat earthers destroyed

[@calibandrive7487]

Can you imagine how helpless we would be to people conspiring against us if we couldn't perceive people conspiring against us?

[@joncoda365]

But falsifiability has nothing to do with belief. It has to do with whether the claims can be proven true or false. The flat earth is demonstrably false... regardless of whether or not a particular flat-earther can or will accept your demonstration. For instance, you could put a flat earther on a spaceship fly them to a distance high enough to visualize the planet from a vantage point that would show them the shape of the earth. You’ve proven yourself correct even if the flat-earther will not accept it

[@mayaquinn8801]

True

[@jimbusmaximus4624]

Exactly. With a good knowledge of physics, and a general grasp of astrophysics, the idea that Earth is flat is completely insane.

[@jamesdean6660]

It must be a little troubling for normies watching this when he states that some conspiracy theories are true.

[@sanityscraps]

My favorite conspiracy theory is Finland Doesn't Exist.

[@shanecallanan7543]

I had a friend who thought mountains were large tree trunks... lol

[@randomindividual4208]

But how is that really a theory? Wouldn't that just be a false perspective of what mountains really are?

[@tigerwolf2243]

2:38 I doubt somebody who thinks they're not the type of person to believe conspiracy theories thinks so because they're male/female, rich/poor, etc. Better measure would be whether someone perceives themselves as scientifically-minded, skeptical or down to earth.

[@patkenlaws]

This is very well done, rational but aware of human fallibility.

[@syppy7416]

y'know your ideas are good when you think people ragequitting arguments counts as a win

[@alrikscyriel6208]

My favorite conspiracy theory: the uncanny valley effect is prove of a human like predator that was infiltrating human groups in the young stone age.

[@lucasharvey8990]

How did you get Bill to come on the show? That's awesome man! Well done!

[@Corruptedhope]

If there is a lizard creature running the world, why aren’t we lizards? Huh? Huh?????

[@tuav]

It is tough to argue against a flat earther but in my experience, it is practically impossible to argue against antisemitic conspiracy theories

[@AboveTheNoise]

Well, if antisemitism is deep rooted in someone’s psyche it’s going to be almost impossible to falsify any theory that confirms that core prejudice.

[@seandavison3916]

can someone explain to me the difference between belief in this video vs. the usage of faith in religious contexts?

[@tannisbhee7444]

Sean Davison I'm just some internet dude, but it occurs to me that while traumatic or painful experience can cause someone to lose their faith, or belief, the same experience reinforces belief in a conspiracy theory

[@jetranger6159]

I'm yet to hear a flat-earther explain sunsets and sunrises. No need to bring up NASA's photos and seascapes with objects half-hidden under the horizon. Enough to ask them why the sun always looks the same size despite its flying all over the Earth's disk at just a few thousand kilometers from the surface. While they may be able to come up with some nonsense about that too, at least there's no way they can shrug that off as a conspiracy.

[@Mabra51]

Conspiracy theorist is just galaxy brain level of trolling.

[@basementblues7417]

Can you win a chess game with a pigeon?

[@NiminaeOld]

The Russia joke didn't age well

[@jenniferlindsey2015]

I appreciate the explanation now. My brother got cancer and then discovered Alex Jones and has been trying to “educate” the family ever since.

[@buckcheep]

Amazing how many things that Alex Jones has set that have come to fruition and are now true isn't it?

[@lvl5dino749]

You should collab with its okay to be smart. That's how I got here. BTW you guys are doing great!

[@AboveTheNoise]

Joe Hanson is a busy man! We'd love to do more videos with him!

[@heimermaal4933]

Want to hear something funny? A kid came up to me while I was having a conversation about the earth Then I hear him say "The Earth is a cross!" And then I started laughing and he was pissed he was having none of that and he started throwing rocks And after couple of minutes of him throwing rocks at me he stopped and sat down and then said once again "The Earth is a cross!" I gave up and left the park Till this day he is in the park telling people that the Earth is a cross 😂

[@aseriouslollygagger5734]

It usually takes 2 years to stop believing in conspiracy theories but I know someone who has been in it for over 20 years. Thanks to Alex Jones and her religious beliefs she is a lifer in the conspiracy cult. It is very difficult to talk to her about anything.

[@alexcpedals]

That's probably a lost case. I've been talking to a woman that began believing in all of that nonsense when COVID started and it's impossible to reason with her.

[@oftenwrong.]

My cousin and my brother friend are big on liberals controlling the country. And I’m sick of it. But maybe that’s what THEY want me to think

[@understandingmotion983]

Happy New Year PBS I suggest turning off the comments section to this video. Some of the comments are just very disturbing.

[@grohr7697]

Yeah, censorship is usually the best way to get the greatest number of people to the truth. Of course not. That's pre-Enlightenment thinking. State your argument and have tolerance for others, please.

[@curtisfarmer8321]

Someone close to me claims mankind has the technology and the means to make cars that save the passengers in 100% of all crashes and that these cars could be made affordable enough for EVERYONE. The problem is the Auto Industry and their need to keep people in new vehicles for maximum profit, even if it means silencing the "Truth." The evidence is the relatively low NASCAR crash death rate. I've argued every angle I can think of to show how illogical it is. The conversation didn't end civilly.

[@andrewgeorge2666]

What if the conspericy theories are true? And that cloud was actually a giant cat in boots!?

[@MountSilky252]

Andrew George It would explain my seasonal allergies

[@tim3854]

there are plenty that are true, proven true, and admitted to be true, though usually long after most people stop caring

[@MindLaboratory]

PhysicsGirl sent me

[@AboveTheNoise]

She's great and we're glad to have you!

[@heisenbergh.e.warren1421]

Maybe people believe in them because Some conspiracy’s have turned out to be true.

[@ETPangilinan1]

I like the one where ‘as long as it’s something from NASA, it’s fake’ I would love to have flatearthers tell that to a NASA employee. Seriously foolish

[@christinabrenneman7641]

oh no. some people In my family believe NASA was created by Nazis smuggled over after ww2 to spread the horrible Nazi ways by making the public believe the earth is round...got to love family gatherings....

[@gregbrown5020]

Changing the mind of a conspiracy theorist is impossible. New conspiracies will replace debunked ones. Akin to changing a theist to an atheist. Rationalism can exist compartmentalized in the conspiracy theorist's brain which is the common thread that pulls us temporarily together to get thru the day.

[@vitormelomedeiros]

Bill Nye, the SJW Guy And that's a big compliment, love him lol

[@larswillems9886]

1:24 those percenatges add up to 105%......

[@happierabroad]

So basically a conspiracy is only true if the government or congress admits to it? lol. So authority = truth? lol. Isn't that a fallacy called appeal to authority?

[@mitchrichards1532]

Comments are full of defensive conspiraloons with all sorts of justifications. Hilarious...

[@jonathanlevy9635]

Was the entire universe and our memories from before that created at last thursday?

[@bernieflanders8822]

This is right up my street.

[@EdwardThimbleHands]

Religiousness and people prone to conspiratorial thinking go hand in hand, too bad you didn't address it.

[@michaeljordanfansaretheworst]

hey can you do one on the people who think that people become adults at 18 waters?

[@natanaellizama6559]

Is the thesis that there...aren't... Conspiracies?

[@sanmigueltv]

Your channel is awesome ... SUB eh Scribed.

[@juschu85]

The flat Earth theorie is falsifiable. A friend of mine thought it's at least one possible option that the Earth is flat and that was already too much for me. They say the sun is circeling abouve the equator, which is a ring around the north pole, and when it gets night it's because the sun is just to far away from you. Okay, but when something gets further away it ALWAYS also appears to be smaller. So I took my camera, put on a tele lens with an ND filter (sunglasses for your camera), set the focal lenght and focus to the maximum and took one photo at noon and one in the evening with the right exposure settings to see the clear edges of the sun. Both pictures showed the sun in the same size. But in the flat Earth theorie at evening the sun is just a short time away from being so far away that it will be night at at noon it would be the closest it could get. So there would have to be a big difference in size. But there wasn't any. What I really like about this experiment is that while you still need some equipment you don't need very expensive or specialized equipment. You also don't need to travel somewhere far away and don't need a friend you trust somewhere else on the Earth. Basically anyone who knows how to use a camera could do this.

[@reneelynn7795]

What are 3 synonyms for the word ‘conspiracy’ Off the top of your head. Without looking it up. Go ahead I’ll wait. Now give me an example of the term conspiracy theory in your OWN WORDS. Exactly

[@tim3854]

You cannot because the truth always prevails in the end - even with all the people being booted off youtube

[@adamsvette]

But how do you get them out of the conspiracy?!?!?

[@Otome_chan311]

Actually talking to us would be a good start :)

[@ginsuma1402]

Yeah you can change some of their minds by getting them to quit pot.

[@mercurym-7904]

Just Subscribed 👍🏻