Conspiracies and their debunking

[blamebrampton]

Wonderful BBC documentary on World Trade Centre Tower 7 shown tonight on the ABC (Australian version thereof). I still cannot watch any of that footage without deep sorrow, especially for the emergency workers who worked there on that day. The emergency workers interviewed in the doco regarding the many conspiracy theories were respectful and considerate of the theorists' positions, but all gave clear and unambiguous statements about the sequence of events they saw on that day, which utterly debunked the conspiracies.

Of the other interviewees, Richard Clarke, White House counter-terrorism coordinator during the Clinton and first W. Bush administrations, was particularly sane. He argued that anyone who believes that government is capable of a conspiracy on this scale has simply never worked in government. Governments are not competent enough, nor secretive enough, to accomplish a conspiracy on any broad scale. Even their pissweak conspiracies (ah Nixon ...) are soon uncovered.

It reminded me of one of my friends who took up with the naturopathic version of Amway and seriously informed me that there were several cures for cancer available, but that pharmaceutical companies kept them quiet for the money they earn on ongoing treatments.

I looked at her askance, and said, "But ... science doesn't work that way. Scientists who discovered real and easy cures for cancer, of the sort you're talking about, would first of all have been subject to peer review for years, so it wouldn't be a secret, and secondly would prefer the Nobel Prize for Medicine to any amount of money."

"They could be bought off!" she assured me.

"Have you ever met a scientist?" I asked, then reminded her the Nobel comes with a reasonable amount of cash.

In a far more banal, but similar vein, the Times online is spitting over the fact that race stewards penalised Lewis Hamilton 25 seconds in yesterday's F1 Grand Prix, relegating him to third and handing the win to Ferrari's Massa. They describe the race as one of Hamilton's 'most daring performances' and claim that it's a conspiracy against Lewis. I watched that race. The stewards were right. And Lewis drove a safe and contained race and was perfectly happy settling for second before unexpected rain handed him a massive tyre advantage on the final four laps. But that's not as exciting as the published version.

And, to end on the conspiracy theme, I do not believe the world will end on Wednesday when the Large Hadron Collider is switched on. But I do believe Professor Brian Cox is astonishingly hot for a physicist.

Comments

[inamac.livejournal.com]

hot for a physicist And there was me thinking that all physicists are hot - being a fan of Professor Frank Close and all...

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

He's not at all bad! Sadly, my experience of male physicists has mostly been big brains like Roger Penrose who gives good public lecture but looks a bit like a potato.

[meredyth-13.livejournal.com]

He isn't too bad, is he? Of course, one part of me wants to remind them that the Big Bang (if we're right about it) didn't take place within a planet's gravitational field. The other part just jumped straight to the marketing opportunities for a "Do-it-yourself Big Bang kit" that every home tinkerer will want to try in his garage. If you thought making a coffee table was fun, wait till you've tried banging a few elemental particles together with your lump hammer.

:D

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I'm going to call you Jedburgh after that!

[absynthedrinker.livejournal.com]

Conspiracy theories are never going away, so I don't even bother with their adherents. So tedious!

Peace,
Bubba

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

But the debunkings can be *fascinating*!

[empress-jae.livejournal.com]

i wouldn't kick cox outta bed.

he can experiment on me all he wants.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Until Wednesday at least, after which you may be a mere particle stream ...

[norton-gale.livejournal.com]

Confession: I've always had a thing for scientists! I am married to one, after all. And yes, Cox is hawt!!!

He argued that anyone who believes that government is capable of a conspiracy on this scale has simply never worked in government. Governments are not competent enough, nor secretive enough, to accomplish a conspiracy on any broad scale

Exactly! I don't understand how anyone in their right mind believes the moon landing was faked, or the Holocaust. Or UFO landings. The government can't even balance the budget, so how could they be capable of conspiracy on such a massive scale?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd been born a century earlier sometimes, so I could hang out at the Royal Society all day and listen to people talk about their ideas. Modern science is so divorced from lay people, it's a shame!

YES! People think their politicians are simultaneously too stupid to do anything right and able to outsmart the public and the media and a battalion of experts.

[grey-hunter.livejournal.com]

Brian? I thought it was a woman on the picture. But it can be excused because he has a cool job. :)

Wow. I haven't followed F1 for years. Massa? Seriously? Huh. (I don't even know the other two names.)

Conspiracies are FTW - in mystery novels and as long as no one tries to make you believe they could be true.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

You leave his emo haircut alone!

Yup, Massa, probably now the only person who can stop Lewis (I'd probably like Lewis if it weren't for the fact that all of the F1 press are his lapdogs and I am finding it all SO BORING, so I revel in his losses when they can't run Lewis Wunderkind stories)

[calanthe-fics.livejournal.com]

I disagree with your comments on the Hamilton business. Is giving back the lead not compensation enough? Why penalise further? I don't get it.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Because he gained the lead, then dropped back for a moment while they crossed the line to position himself inside Kimi's cornering line, then swept through, possibly setting up the sequence of events that led to Kimi crashing out.

He didn't cede his advantage, he merely put himself in an excellent position for the next corner, it's not the same!

[jamie2109.livejournal.com]

I watched that doco too and I cracked up at the not competent speech. So right and no one can keep a secret like that for too long; big secrets like that are too tempting to be the person to go down in history as the one who exposed it or blew the whistle.

I did like how the govt analysts and the rescue workers that were there showed that respect, too Made the conspiracy theorists sound like nut cases.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

And how do you hide miles of explosive cabling around a building from AMERICANS?

Heh, I think the conspiracy theorists talking were enough to make them sound deranged.

[blythely.livejournal.com]

"They could be bought off!" she assured me.

"Have you ever met a scientist?" I asked, then reminded her the Nobel comes with a reasonable amount of cash.

LOLOL.

I hate Brian Cox. Dammit, no scientist should have publicity photos like that. I'd add him to my list of nemesii if he wasn't so alksdjfh.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Heh! Yes! Though I think we can blame his boy band background for the publicity shots ;-)

[beatnikspinster.livejournal.com]

Ugh, WTC Conspiracies. Tis the f-in' season. They run around downtown this time of year, treating it like a conspiracy-edition of the Burning Man festival. The first five years were too raw for that. I always wanted to tell them, "Hey Tragedy-Tourist, it's great that you've extrapolated these fantasies from what you saw on your tv, from your sofa. But those around you actually walked through it and lost loved ones, so kindly STFU." Now, it's not quite as raw. Thank god.

Cox is pretty attractive, but not hotter than Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.

[madchemist36.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a scientist, no fucking way could I be bought off if I found a cure for anything. Even something mundane, like chicken pox or something. The notoriety is worth so much more than mere money.

Of course they will then refuse to fund any research projects for the foreseeable future, but that is what the private sector is for!

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

WEll he was a opostar first.

I'm looking forward to the end of the world. At least it will get me out of my appraisal.

[tsosh.livejournal.com]

The Zionists did it!11!!
=D You can't imagine how many times I've heard this about 9/11 (and everything else in the world). And of course there's Bush-the-Reptilian-Alien-in-a-human-Suit that wants to be the leader of The New World Order, and that it was only holograms and not real planes...
Conspiracy theories can be fun, but the 9/11 ones are always making me angry. They usually have clear political agenda, show no respect to the victims, and are supported by lies masked as facts. And those people make money out of it by selling books and DVDs.

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

when i asked my yoga class about health tips for my cousin J i got the medical conspiracy theory bit. that expanded to more drug company theories and scientist who know things and have to fight The Man to get their stuff to the Good People of the Earth. [*rolls eyes*]

also, i know several hot physicists (my brother being one (she says in a totally not incestual way))

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

Have you read H2G2? Obviously, the world cannot end on Wednesday, because it ends on a Thursday

[blindmouse.livejournal.com]

I have no idea who he is, but I agree: Professor Brian Cox is astonishingly hot for a physicist. And looks an astonishing amount like a J-Pop idol for somebody called Brian ...