Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with conspiracy

WTF

Nattie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:44:18 -0800

Creep me out! Lately I've been on an "unsettling stuff" kick -- I like feeling unsettled and I find it creatively inspiring -- but I'm running low on things to explore. It's hard to articulate precisely what I'm looking for, but it tends to be stuff that almost certainly isn't true but for the few minutes you think about it, it's really unnerving. The underlying theme in what unnerves me seems to be that reality appears to be one way, but in fact it's this other, more sinister way. Examples of stuff is conspiracy theories -- New World Order theories, CIA experiments in mind control and paranormal stuff --, weird religious or spiritual ideas about "evil" supernatural phenomena, some theories of time and space (which I am not so quick to put in the "almost certainly not true" category), etc. Oh, and then lately Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" video and all those articles about the occult symbolism -- she has a lot of unsettling pictures where she doesn't seem human. Weird mysteries fit the bill, too, like the Taman Shud case. Other pseudo-scientific ideas, like the Parasite Eve idea that because mitochondria have different DNA they might actually "take over" a person completely, work too.

Also, this is even more subjective, but the more plausibly expressed the idea is without actually being realistic, the better; it has to lead me on a bit or else I never feel unnerved. So, for example, your standard Bilderberg Group conspiracy theory has some element of feasibility that David Icke's "oh btw they're all blood-drinking reptile ppl from another dimension lol" doesn't; the former is unsettling until you give it a few moments thought, the latter is just too ridiculous out of the gate. Anything that starts from some kind of evidence, even if misrepresented or misunderstood, seems to work, which is probably why pseudoscience is good for this sort of thing. Also, I've noticed that stuff that uses apparently made-up evidence works too, provided that the made-up evidence is of the kind that sounds possible and you'd have to actually look it up to know better; conspiracy theories tend to do this a lot, like they say that so-and-so noteworthy person said XYZ, or they make up noteworthy people altogether.

In other words, the sort of stuff that if you take what's presented on good faith instead of scepticism, the unsettling conclusions seem plausible.

I'm looking mostly for shorter things, like ideas, short stories, and maybe short films. I'm not entirely opposed to books and movies, but my inability to "believe" anything creepy for more than a few minutes greatly dilutes my enjoyment of longer things. Long stuff takes an investment of seriousness I just can't muster for anything like that. When it comes down to it, I don't believe in anything supernatural and I don't think any grand scale conspiracies are likely. "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro, for example, didn't unsettle me as much as it would have done in a shorter format, although it was fairly unsettling. I'd be willing to try more things like that, even though it's less likely to be effective.

To be clear, fiction or nonfiction or fiction-masquerading-as-non-fiction are all cool.

Stuff I am *not* looking for:
- Certified real scenarios, at least for the most part, because those tend to be genuinely upsetting or just piss me off, and that's not the feeling I'm looking for with this question. However, if the certified real scenario *sounds* like something that's so bizarre as to be made up, it might qualify; so something like "however many people die because of Corporation X's negligence and that's unsettling" isn't what I'm looking for, but some real CIA experiments seem to fit anyway, like the mind control experiments are just weird to imagine. Things that allegedly happened but are under dispute work pretty well, too.

- Edging into "scary story" kind of stuff, gore doesn't unsettle me. When it comes to horror genre things, I need weird paranormal stuff going on to feel freaked out, not blood. I don't care if blood/violence is present as long as there's weird stuff going on, but it needs to be more inspired than something like the Jason movies. The Ring/Ringu is the best example I can come up with of something that was violent but that wasn't the main scary part; the scariness mostly came from how alien the girl was and how little was explained.

To put it another way, what's something you read/watched/heard about that gave you an eerie, upsetting feeling, even though you knew better? I realize none of my criteria are precise and I'll probably get a lot of answers that don't effect me much, but give it your best shot.

Gifts for my Conspiracy Theory Obsessed Friend!

batonthefueltank — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:05:41 -0800

Every year I am at a loss of what to get my best friend for Christmas. He is a man who really has everything. He likes electronic gadgets but they are usually fairly expensive, and he usually wants something very specific that he ends up buying himself. When I ask him what he wants, he hems and haws and just says, “Nothing, I don’t need anything.” I always struggle for material things to give him, so last year for his birthday I wrote him a very heartfelt letter detailing some lovely memories I had of him from our times together. He loved it!

He is not into reading a lot, but loves watching tv and movies. He loves science fiction and tv dramas. He likes movies like Contact, The Last Mimzy and Braveheart and tv shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Closer, 24, Big Love, Law & Order and Burn Notice. He listens to music by Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen and Jewel. He enjoys spending time with his family, and eating out. He is not very active at all. Every once in a great while he plays a game on the Wii.

His big interest of late is conspiracy theories (and the like). I am thinking that this may be the way to go regarding the gift(s). He is big into people like David Wilcox, Alex Jones, David Icke, Keith Olbermann and Ron Paul. He likes watching movies online about 9/11 truth, preserving the US republic, one world government, the Bilderbergers and radio shows about “The Creature from Jekyll Island.” His latest acquisition is the movie “Zeitgeist”.

I may just resort to a gift card or offer to take him to dinner, but I wanted to see if you all could help me come up with something creative. I'm open to any and everything in the $50-$150 range. Thanks!

Escaped from Greenock Prison

cameronfromedinburgh — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:13:33 -0800

Browsing today's newspapers here in Scotland it would seem that there is an anti-Scottish feeling pervading the whole of the USA after the compassionate release of the Pan-Am bomber last week. Question1: Am I right in thinking that this is the case, or is it just right wing neo-con nonsense eminating from the Fox News stable? Question2: If this anti-Scottish feeling does exist, how best can I explain that we the UK/US public have been sold a lie by our Governments and that this guy was merely a patsy? The usually sound Scots legal system was a victim here and was used and abused by the use of Public Interest Immunity Certificates and dodgy state sponsored witnesses. This system needs rectified, what is the best forum to speak out on?

I've got this friend . . .

nola — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:59:40 -0800

Stupid question filter : "There is no law that requires U.S. citizens to pay income tax" Is this true? Can anyone site the Law? First off let me say I've got no dog in this fight, I'm trying to figure out a reasonable answer for a friend that made the claim "No law requires us to pay income tax" This is one of the videos he wanted me to watch. Why is this position bullshit? I know the IRS inforces, the questiong I have is what is their legal authority? Is there a law in black and white, or am I just missing the point?

Suggest media where the bad guys are more intelligent than the audience

metaBugs — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 07:36:48 -0800

Please suggest books and films in which the antagonists are consistently clever, creating complex and elegant (evil?) plots-within-plots to befuddle the protagonist and audience! I get really frustrated by books and films in which the bad guys just assuming that the spy will die when left standing next to a pool containing sea bass with frickin' lasers on their heads, or make other decisions that the audience can see are stupid. Basically, I want an evil genius who's consistently cleverer, more calculating and more resourceful than I am.

For example, I really liked The Magus, The Game, Fracture and Swordfish. In all of these, the antagonists' plans were entertainingly complex and apparently well thought out, with careful planning and sensible backups in place. Some of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels are good for this too, e.g. the reveal right at the end of The Player of Games made me smile.

I liked "Columbo" and "Jonathan Creek" for pretty much the same reasons: intelligent detectives unravelling a complex but usually elegantly constructed conspiracy, keeping the audience in the dark just as much as the protagonist is.

I realise that your answers are necessarily going to be subjective, that's fine. Just tell me which bad guys kept you guessing and off-balance until the last page!

Ketchup monoculture

ryanrs — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:31:23 -0800

Why so few varieties of ketchup? Tomato-based condiments seem particularly prone to speciation. My grocer carries many varieties of salsa, pasta sauce, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and steak sauce. Probably ten varieties of each. There are many brands, and each brand sells several variations.

But not ketchup. I rarely see more than three or four varieties. Usually it's just Heinz, Hunt's, and the generic store brand. Maybe a feeble low salt / low sugar variant. This makes no sense. Ketchup is one of the highest selling condiments in the US. Why doesn't the market support more variety?

My grocery store sells twelve types of salt. Why only a couple types of ketchup?

The propaganda machine or my imagination?

drpynchon — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:19:23 -0800

Am I imagining things or has there lately been a surge of right-wing opinion dominating the forums of popular sites like digg and reddit? It seems like people are voting up weird random articles like this one and then circle jerking away about regulation=bad, government=bad, Obama=BigBrother=communism, taxes=bad, etc. usually talking points.

Are these sites always prone to just being anti-establishment regardless of the party in power or is this a planned tactic on the part of American conservatives to address their prior failings in handling the internet? I've seen some links to what appear to be goon squads doing this but has anyone written a substantive evaluation of this phenomenon and how organized it may be? Also have the folks that run such sites addressed the fact that they may be used as propaganda devices and attempted to develop means to combat this?

FDR knew Pearl Harbor was coming?

tzikeh — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:15:17 -0800

Is there any factual basis to the idea that FDR knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor, and allowed it to happen to get the U.S. citizenry behind the war? Some of my history professors are dead certain that the Roosevelt administration, which had been agitating to enter into WWII, knew the attack was coming, and let it happen in order to move public sentiment firmly into their corner. Others say this is complete and total bunk, and even the dumbest conspiracy theorists wouldn't believe it. I've wandered through Wikipedia's entry on the topic, but, as to be expected, there are piles of conflicting information.

Is there a MeFite who has studied this, or knows a good deal about it, who can support the idea that they knew it was coming?

What song was this?

FatherDagon — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:37:18 -0800

Looking for the title/artist of a conspiratorial hip-hop track from the mid-90s. I had a collection of mid-90s hip hop b-sides a while back, and it contained one cut that was all about wild conspiracy business - the Illuminati, the Bilderberg Group, water flouridation, alien invasion, the whole nine. The music was kind of a playful yet ominous loop, I think it was string instruments or something like. It definitely wasn't Immortal Technique, altho I know he gets pretty conspiratorial at times. I believe there were three or four different lyricists throughout the song. Anyone have any ideas? I'd most likely recognize the artist/song name if I saw it, but for the life of me I cannot remember.

conspiracy theory art

kenko — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:30:08 -0800

A while ago I read about an artist, then recently deceased, whose works consisted of the names of entities in popular conspiracy theories connected with graceful arcs (according as they were held to be in cahoots). Maybe it wasn't only conspiracy theories but also more legitimate political connections. I can't find his name or examples of his work online, and I would like to. Only you can help!

Information on Zeitgeist: the Movement?

WhaleRider — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:48:27 -0800

Zeitgeist: the movies versus the movement... objective thoughts? I've just finished watching both the original Zeitgeist film on 9-11 and the addendum on corporatocracy and what we can do to fight the way our world is going... answer: The Venus Project.

I'm quite interested in the ideas of the Venus Project but am a little hesitant to give any personal information to them as I learn more from their website. Anyone heard of them or their political/social/economic doings?

I'm also interested in other current conspriracy theories on 9/11, our government, the CIA, etc. I'm on a bit of a kick at the moment thanks to "Confessions of an Economic Hitman"

Thanks!

Banking Conspiracy Beach Reading

mecran01 — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:18:56 -0800

I'm looking for accessible, credible writing about global banking conspiracies that doesn't lapse into anti-semitism or tinfoil haberdashery. Does such a book exist?

Did I invent the memory of a murderous conspiracy?

damehex — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:06:32 -0800

Did a journalist investigating the 2000 election in Florida die under suspicious circumstances? If you remember this story even slightly, help me find it. Here's what I recall: he spends the years after 2000 digging up dirt on the fraud. He claims to have within his grasp the last pieces, proof of substantial rigging in a couple of counties, verge of blowing the lid off, etc etc. Then he dies. Is found in a scene of wild violence: motel bathroom with blood splattered everywhere. This is just over state lines, where evidence rules are different enough to allow the local law enforcement to do something nutty (like cremating the body prior to autopsy? I must be pulling details from some other shady journalist death at this point). His death is deemed a suicide. He had been, after all, struggling against depression.

And I thought I read about him initially in a national print magazine (The Atlantic? Harper's?). Then, I recall looking to the internet, which seemed obsessed with him (everything about his story screamed conspiracy). And somehow the internet had pictures of the crime scene, which I remember vividly.

But I put everything I could remember about the story into various google searches for about 10 minutes and couldn't find hide/hair. Help?

A Conspiracy Theory-Themed (Housewarming) Party

S_Alzis — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:11:10 -0800

We have decided to host a conspiracy-themed party in order to celebrate our new home, and we need more drink/food/activity/decoration ideas! Hello all,

We have decided to host a conspiracy-themed party in order to celebrate our new home, as there is a vast pool of ideas to choose from for food items and party activities (not to mention costumes).

We have a few plans already (some feasible and some not-so-much -- but don't hold back!), and we need to come up with more food/drink/activity ideas! We are planning to start this gathering during the day, and utilize our pool and hot tub to maximum conspiratorial effect.

Here are a few ideas we have been throwing around:
-Custom-made tinfoil hats given out at the door to each party-goer
-All-Seeing-Eye pinata (filled with Agent Orange dust)
-Bermuda triangle floating platform for our swimming pool (as a floating conveyance for drinks)
-Carnival-style life-size image with face cut-outs of conspiracy figures hanging out; probably tea-party style (thinking JFK, some aliens, etc.)
-Large syringes filled with brightly-colored alcoholic shots
-Big Brother-style "suggestion" box with form
-Decor: images from conspiracies, hopefully including real conspiracy theory blog excerpts
-Backwards/subliminal message music (to be decided or created)
-Conspiracy videos (to be decided)
-Cupcakes with soldiers around a downed UFO cake

All drink/food/activity/decoration ideas are welcome! Pun-inspired items are definitely encouraged. Thanks.

The Curse of 50 Perry

Anonymous — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:27:35 -0800

What happens in 50 Perry Street in the West Village of NYC? My morning commute walks me past a small door close to the corner of Perry and West 4th in the West Village of Manhattan. The door is adjacent to the restaurant Sant Ambroeus, and almost looks like kitchen access, but it has it's own number and is painted a different color.

Here is a google streetview of the mystery door, with a sketchy man hanging out underneath the jumbo air-conditioner.

What makes this door a mystery you say? Some mornings the Cognoscenti of new york, dressed to the nines in italian loafers, tailored suits with perma-tans and D&G sunglasses, are buzzing in and out of the door, back and forth to their luxury cars parked on the street - Air kisses are given, hugs exchanged. Other mornings it looks like a casting call, with good looking actor types lurking around outside, though I can see several pairs of legs sitting on chairs inside.

I was thinking AA meeting, maybe, but if so it is an ultra-trendy one, and the door/building otherwise has no marks.

Though I always walk on the north side of the street, the other morning I wandered somewhat close to the door and conversation stood still until i passed. I'm terrified to poke my head in, and using anonymous just in case I've stumbled on some sort of NY Fashion Industry morning pow-wow before they set that weeks style agenda.

"You're very clever, young man, very clever. But it's turtles all the way down!"

Jezztek — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:54:18 -0800

Dear Hive-Mind, Want to help me brainstorm up a list of strange (pre-existing) theories? Howdy,

I'm working on a new project and I'm just in the brainstorming phase, but I could use a little extra help. I'm trying to think of as many interesting 'theories' that small(ish) clans of people earnestly believe, but pretty much everyone outside these insular groups don't even consider.

What I'm NOT looking for are theories that are still controversial (even if there is a scientific consensus to contradict them, like people that deny global warming or deny evolution).

Basic religious beliefs aren't going to work for me (So please no 'ha ha, Mormons are dumb'), but if they take it to the next level of strangeness they'll work (for example denying evolution is one thing, but believing the devil literally went around with a shovel planting dinosaur bones to screw with our heads is more along the lines of what I'm looking for).

So basically what I need are theories that have an abundance of evidence to contradict them, but still retain some true believers. Conspiracy theories are fine especially if they have an element of the fantastic, but unusual/fantastic explanations for natural/historical events, or just general cosmological strangeness is even better.

And best of all are theories that aren't seriously considered by pretty much anyone, but your average person on the street may have at least heard of (so super obscure theories are a bit less useful).

Some examples:

UFOs visited ancient Egypt and aliens helped build the pyramids
Flat Earthers
The Devil Planted Dinosaur Bones
The Moon Landing Was Faked
"Turtles all the way down"

Thanks much!

How to deal with an intelligent conspiracy theorist friend?

vizsla — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:19:29 -0800

A friend of mine, who is highly educated (married with two kids, accomplished medical researcher), is absolutely convinced that September 11 was a huge conspiracy initiated by members of the US government. She has a detailed complex explanation for everything. She takes it deeply personally when I scoff at her, telling me I should read the evidence before forming an opinion. I see her as gullible and she sees me as ignorant. Is there an analysis available comprehensively somewhere addressing the conspiracy theorists to the satisfaction of the leading academics in the relevant areas (material engineering, aerodynamics, media relations, architecture etc)? How do you deal with people like this? For example, she says that there is no rational explanation for the WTC7 failure and shows me extensively documented websites showing 300 architects who concur giving their explanations. She believes the Pentagon was never hit by a plane and again cites detailed analysis "proving" it could not have been so. Furthermore she believes (more tentatively in this case) that the media was complicit in the conspiracy and faked the images of the planes flying into the WTC buildings using CGI. Apparently the motive was to induce war for various revenue purposes. It's driving me nuts. It strongly offends my own sense of reality. She has an "explanation" for everything and has spent many hundreds of hours researching this. After discussing it with her, she ends up resenting me deeply and I end up feeling sorry for her which makes her resent me even more.

Federal Reserve bailout

purenitrous — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:29:46 -0800

Without sounding conspiratorial... I'm wondering how much arm twisting it took by political/economic elites to get the Fed to adopt its current Liquidity Plan. Will Carlyle Capital directly benefit from it? A couple of days ago I read this story about their recent notice of default on a margin call. So the story basically describes a situation where the equity firm was unable to meet several payment demands by its lenders. Of course the collateral in question is "residential mortgage backed securities" which I assume have been falling in value because of market forces in the mortgage backed securities market.

So a day later, I read about the Feds plan to solve the liquidity crisis. basically exchanging these same mortgage backed securities that are plummeting to zero for US Treasury bonds.

Then, considering the Carlyle Group and who its principals are (is Carlyle Capital a subsidiary of Carlyle Group? If so, it includes George Herbert Walker Bush and James Baker). Is this an action to protect them from possibly billions in losses?

Is the Fed's move really a plan to bail out well connected political elites?

Here's one of the reasons why I ask: If the value of my mortgage in the secondary market is falling... I would love to have the opportunity to buy it back at a lower price! (or refinance with someone else at its current market value)

Why should the Federal Reserve bail out investors in one particular market? There's definitely not much sympathy for the little guys who are losing their houses to foreclosure.

Does the public have access to information about who will be exchanging mortgage backed securities for Treasury Bonds?

ok, this does sound stupidly conspiratorial. sorry about that.
=)~

The Religiosity of Conspiracy and Ideology

Sangermaine — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:02:06 -0800

Does anyone know of any books or articles that look at conspiracy theories from an anthropology of religion or psychology point of view? I'm interested in looking at studies or analyses of the motivations and development of conspiracy theories. To me they seem to fill the same space in the modern world that religion once did (bringing order to a chaotic world, explaining the unknown, etc). This thread mentioned a couple of books that touch on what I'm trying to find but focused more on collections of various theories rather than analyzing them.

Also, in a similar vein, does anyone know of any material that takes the same kind of look at ideologies? For instance, it's often observed that Communism, especially as practiced in the USSR or China, has many religion-like elements. I'd like to find works that explore that theme.

Best 9-11 'Conspiracy' Book?

jjsonp — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:47:16 -0800

Best 9-11 'Conspiracy Theory' book for the skeptic? Like many people, I have been following the 9-11 story since soon after it occurred. Also like many people, I am aware of so many holes in the 'official conspiracy theory'/9-11 commission report that I'm consistently amazed anyone still believes a word of it (and I'm not looking to argue, so if you are a believer that's fine and this question is not directed at you).

I have a couple of friends who are still believers but are also logical and rather than send them some links I know they'll never read I'd like to find a decent book by a legitimate author which does a good job summarizing the impossibility of the official story, particularly with regards to NORAD, timeline inconsistencies, lying by the administration, etc.

The controlled demolition vs. jet fuel + pancake theory is of less interest to me as I feel it's more difficult to prove, but if a good summary of the inconsistencies there is included that would be preferable.

David Ray Griffin (and which one?)? Jim Marrs? I'm looking for recommendations by people who have read multiple books on the topic. Thanks!

What are these hoofprints?

fish tick — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 07:03:37 -0800

What are these hoofprints in Turkmenistan? Found via Pruned.

Potato Chip Bags - Ziploc?

tdabbott — Tue, 08 May 2007 16:42:02 -0800

[ObviousFilter?] Why haven't potato chip bags adopted Ziploc-type seals? Chip-clips are just "ok," and yet I see every other fresh product adopting the Ziploc-type seals. Is this a conspiracy to make my chips go stale (aka inedible) sooner?

"idea obfuscation?"

oigocosas — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:42:13 -0800

i think there is a term--rhetorical or otherwise-- for the way "conspiracy theory" can serve to cloud the environment of ideas thereby rendering politically unpopular notions inert regardless of their veracity. anybody know what im struggling to effin describe and label?

How do I respond to 9/11 Conspiracy theorist friend?

aggienfo — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 21:13:14 -0800

How do I respond to a friends who's advocating 9/11 conspiracy theories (specifically the " Loose Change" video). I watched the movie, then did more research (obligatory
wikipedia page, a rebutting
youtube movie, and a few other
pages), and I came to the conclusion that this is right up there with JFK and Roswell conspiracies - interesting facts and uestions raised, though nothing even close to substantiating what would be the biggest story of our time. Lord knows I want to keep him as a friend, though I'm not quite sure how to react.
Part of me wants to view this like a religious (Mac vs. PC, Creation vs. Evolution) discussion, we each have our sides and just agree to disagree, though as friend I curious as how he got to this point. We're both military officers, so I also am curious how he can continue to serve a country he believes killed 3,000 of its own citizens (though I won't go reporting him or anything crazy like that).

Edith Hamilton killed JFK

Bookhouse — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:42:09 -0800

Know any books that treat conspiracy theory as mythology? I don't believe in conspiracy theories, but I love reading about them. To me it's a thrilling fictional world -- a modern mythology. Has anybody written perhaps an encylopedia or something that neither attempts to prove or debink conspiracy theories, but simply collects and organizes them like Edith Hamilton?

I'm also interested in ficition that is set in such a world -- some of my favorites include From Hell and James Ellroy's current American Underworld series. I also really enjoy JFK -- as fiction. I've got Robert Anton Wilson as well. Less interested in sci-fi stuff like the X-Files than stuff that keeps to the "real" world.