I'm a bit of a random Youtuber, especially during work when one of my programs is being compiled and I need a quick 2-3 minute distraction.
Lately I've stumbled onto a lot of Conspiracy Theory videos on Youtube, primarily the whole "New World Order"/911 was an inside job/etc. videos, but there's a lot more out there. I thought this would be an interesting topic for D&D.
Mainly:
1) What's your favourite Conspiracy Theory (either one that you subscribe to, most funniest one, etc. etc.)
2) What Conspiracy Theories do you think have the most merit?
3) What Conspiracy Theories make you grind your teeth and weep for humanity?
Here's a handy-dandy, non-exhaustive list of popular conspiracy theories:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories
I'll start us off....
My favourite CT is "The moon landing was on a sound stage in Hollywood"... Just because it led to this awesome video of Buzz "Lightyear" Aldrin punching out a dude:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU
As far as the one with the most merit, I've gotta go with Andy Kaufman not being dead. One of these days he's gonna re-appear and boy will our collective faces be red. Or our collective faces will just look at one another and be all like "who's this guy?".
And the one that makes me weep for humanity is the "9/11 was an inside job"... Now, I'm not above being open to the notion that the government may have been privy to 9/11 ahead of time, but some of the things that people try and pass off as scientific evidence (no planes, WTC was collapsed by bombs, etc.) is just ridiculous.
Posts
Yeah, I'm pretty far behind in the Conspiracy Theory times.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
Magic Online - Bertro
If I had to pick a fun one, though, it would be the X-filesish aliens stuff - roswell and all that. That stuff is at least fun to contemplate, unlike the really retarded stuff like "WORLD BANK LOLOLOL"
Here, found it. It's got 9 videos on youtube, and it's called "Out of the Blue." Here's part 1 (which isn't the most interesting section, but I ended up watching the whole set one evening):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdZpRcTBwdA
Edit: Also, one of the most interesting theories to me is that aliens have built a base on the dark side of the moon and are observing us in secret. I love that kind of shit.
I hate that one.
Once in a while, a guy comes in here and posts a wall of badly written, barely coherent text and spends hours trying to convince us he holds the key to true knowledge. Whenever possible, he ties it with whatever comes to mind, like Atlantis, Mayan calendars, pyramids, and ice age animals.
This might not be a conspiracy theory in the traditional sense - unless the government is keeping the knowledge secret - but it has the right level of crazy.
There's nothing quite so fun as having someone tell you the stuff you've been studying for years is all bullshit because of some poorly-edited video they saw on Youtube.
I was in my backyard a few weeks ago and this stuttering crazy lady told me all about them. Not surprisingly, Al Gore is a lizard man as well.
* edit: I should add that she was frothing at the mouth crazy and talked at me for about a half-hour. I thought she was joking about the lizard people but... no, she was in fact serious.
Communist fluoridated water
Detroit suppressing 100MPG car
DaVinci Code BS (New Testament conspiracy)
Staged Moon Landings
Story about the "brick wall" of 2012 is quite an interesting one as well. They couldn't enter 2012 and whenever they did the situations changed but all showed a desolate dead world.
Wow, metaconspiracy!
http://www.truveo.com/sprinkler-rainbow-dirty-work/id/522009393
The conspiracy theory I find most reasonable is that pharma companies either have the capability or actually do have the cure for multiple diseases, but don't release them because it is far more profitable to sell the shitty stuff they have now.
I believe the same one about auto makers. I can't be arsed to look it up now (the bane of all conspiracy theories!) but I've heard several cases of miracle engines bought by car companies and never seen again.
But here's the thing: if a car manufacturer could make some kind of miracle engine, why the fuck wouldn't they want to produce it and gain a huge advantage over competitors?
You have to be a conspiracy nut to believe the "histories" provided by both religions, and any and all evidence to the contrary is part of "The Conspiracy."
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. IT'S LIKE THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES! Money isn't made from the cure, you need the steady income stream from upkeep. Dealer certified repair centers, routine maintenance schedules. Think about it!
It's scary how many people seem to be buying into it.
Bilderberg Conference stuff? Haven't seen the movie.
That's actually true to some extent.
Best example I can think of is Rogaine. It works but the minute you stop the effects vanish.
Why ? Because if you quit buying it the Rogaine people are bankrupt.
I'm not saying there's a cure for Cancer or Aids but I wouldn't be suprised if that were the case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propecia
other baldness drugs already exist
That stuff gives you breasts ? Wow that seems like a a sour deal. "Hmm Women will sleep with me now that I have hair oh wait now I'm a D cup."
I was skeptical, listened to the carefully crafted gobbledygook and was entertained.
Then I came across a peer reviewed scientific paper claiming that there is evidence of this.
http://www.bentham-open.org/pages/content.php?TOCPJ/2009/00000002/00000001/7TOCPJ.SGM
It hasn't made a fart in the media though.
Apparently Denver is marked to be the Western Headquarters of the New World Order, and DIA is going to be a major part of it.
Also included are an entire underground city beneath the runways, sprinklers in concrete hallways (which I guess are sinister because why would you need sprinklers in concrete?) and a vibration under the tunnels that makes people nauseous.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
steam - WeAreAllGeth
I'm a fan of some of the really bizarre and elaborate ones, like "Lizard people secretly rule the world" or "The Earth is hollow and inside there's a Nazi UFO base".
The Mob having something to do with the JFK and RFK assassinations.
Electronic voting machines and intentional voter disenfranchisement.
"9/11 was an inside job!"
Fluoride, vaccinations, or other mainstream medical things will kill you or pollute your bodily fluids.
"Barack Obama is a gay Muslim born in Kenya!"
Edit: And the "Chariots Of The Gods" shit that implies that the only way non-European civilizations could have ever accomplished anything is if aliens showed up to help 'em along.
Edit 2: And the "NAFTA Superhighway is going to replace the dollar with the Amero" gibberish.
Concrete holds up pretty badly in a fire. All pourus and what not
two of my friends read that book within about a week of each other and I almost had to kill them both.
whats that one about?
Also this person actually thought that the trace amounts of tritium (like you could safely drink something 100 times more concentrated) in some water at ground zero mean that they had used a secret new miniature hydrogen bomb to blow up the buildings.
Breasts? It says it causes more testosterone to build up in your body, not estrogen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cooper_(radio_host)
ufo, new world order type stuff.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Yeah I had fun explaining to my friends that Da Vinci Code is, indeed, fiction for the most part. But, as you said, that whole topic is an interesting read.