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WHY DO I CARE?
In the past, I've spent a lot of time debunking conspiracy theorists. This site was originally
launced in an attempt to debunk a conspiracy theory. These
days, my "debunking time" is usually spent dealing with more mainstream topics and outright
liars. However, it's all similar in that whether it be crazy conspiracy theories or just general
lying, they are all based on deceit which is made easier by the Internet.
Many people may simply ask: Why in the world do you care if some people think that NEXRAD weather
radars control the weather? Why do you care if some people think contrails are
a government spraying operation? Why do you care if some people think 9/11 was a government
operation planned by the Bush administration? Let them believe what they want. Why waste your time addressing
such silly claims? They're harmless and only deluding themselves. So "Why" is a very valid question.
There are three reasons: Practical, intellectual, and being annoyed.
The practical reason is due to stories like this
where a man, fearing alien clones and a CIA conspiracy, killed two people before surrendering. Another
example can be seen on this conspiracy site
where a gullible reader ("TrueLies") asks on February 16th what are in "chemtrails", she is flooded
with silly theories, and then later reports a list of ailments including "paranoia." Even her husband
told he she shouldn't visit such conspiracy sites, and yet the fact that she did caused her to
have a hypochondriac-style response to non-existant chemicals. And now we have crazy Hollywood types
like Charlie Sheen promoting the 9/11 conspiracy theory.
So, no, these people don't only harm themselves. Their disinformation and scaremongering can and
do harm many others.
Another reason is intellectual. While such theories strike a rational person as just being
silly, the exercise of investigating and rejecting them is stimulating and informative. My
interest in NEXRAD and subsequently the development of this site was originally due to my
investigation into a crazy conspiracy theory regarding NEXRAD. In the process I learned a
lot about radar--which I've tried to summarize in the radar section of this site--which makes it worth the
time investment.
Asking questions about the government or science is fine and healthy. It's when
people believe something in spite of all reasonable, logical, and scientific evidence to the
contrary that they become dangerous--both to themselves and, as shown above, to others.
Finally, the other reason is being annoyed. In April 2004 I was banned from a conspiracy theory
forum. No reason was given but what seemed to bother them was the fact that I asked too many
questions, the wrong questions, and always insisted on references to back up their claims.
So they banned me. That motivated me to launch this site and debunk their theories.
However, as I mentioned above, I have since become bored with debunking silly conspiracy theories and
am far more interested in analyzing real political and economic issues.
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