4 ms·

Alex Jones claimed 1) that the US Air Force attacked Texas with weather control weapons 2) that the majority of frogs in the US are now gay because the governme

Alex Jones claimed 1) that the US Air Force attacked Texas with weather control weapons 2) that the majority of frogs in the US are now gay because the government is intentionally turning people homosexual for population control 3) that the most monstrous shooting in my lifetime, Sandy Hook, was a false flag and the bereaved families of the murdered first graders were crisis actors. Alex Jones is an awful person. He lies about so much, some of it will end up being accidentally correct. What he says or thinks should be shunned by any decent human being, and he should not be brought up here.

sebmellen 6y ago
Yes, I don't disagree. My point here is that a lot of people who are not very informed, who may be susceptible to his conspiracy theories, will see this news come out and think, "Oh, he was right. Maybe he's right about something else." IMO the problem is that it was ridiculed when he said it. Now he can look back and post a link to an NPR article stating that human-monkey chimera embryos have been created. I make this comment only because a friend of mine sent me the NPR article [0] with a note saying "man maybe Alex Jones is right about a lot of stuff, lol." I don't know how common this sentiment is, but it's another talking point lodged in Jones's favor (to the detriment of all of us). [0]: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/15/987164563/scientists-create-early-embryos-that-are-part-human-part-monkey https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/15/9871645...
bpodgursky 6y ago
The frog thing is interesting because there's a kernel of truth there; we're releasing an enormous number of endocrine disrupters into the environment (PVC, BPA, etc, etc etc), which is wreaking havoc on both animal animal and human animal hormonal balances. Obviously it's not an intentional government plot... but that doesn't mean we _aren't_ "turning frogs gay".
- mypalmike 6y ago
  Conspiracy theories usually start with a kernel of truth. And then a combination of misunderstanding, paranoia, and intentional disinformation fills them with heavy amounts of untruth.
eloff 6y ago
> Alex Jones is an awful person. He lies about so much, some of it will end up being accidentally correct. Agreed. > What he says or thinks should be shunned by any decent human being, and he should not be brought up here. No. He should not be a taboo topic. Let it out in the open where rational people can see for themselves how crazy he is and make up their own minds. I really hate this whole cancel culture thing, I don't even wish it on the Alex Joneses of the world.
- throwaway5752 6y ago
  I don't care for cancel culture, too. That doesn't mean we can be selective about who and what we spend our limited time on Earth discussing. Not talking about a pathologically lying conspiracy theorist is good for efficiency and mental health. To each their own.
  - 127 6y ago
    I barely knew Alex Jones existed before he was starting to get censored from all kinds of platforms. What was previously just a blip on the radar, censorship turned into a mainstream talking point.
    - eloff 6y ago
      Agreed, that's the only reason I've heard of him either.
      - throwaway5752 6y ago
        You're both lucky. He's been around a while, and had explosively grown in prominence before deplatforming. What has been challenging, as an adult growing up into the internet is seeing younger kids exposed to polished and talented psychopaths. These people are very, very good at exploiting social systems and have no qualms about leveraging social norms for their personal benefit. This goes well beyond partisan media. I'm sure this will all sort out someday, but it usually takes years to develop resistance to the sort of manipulation techniques they employee to leverage standard weaknesses that all people have, and the internet has given them massive leverage. People are now exposed to this well before their cognitive development is complete. It is a lot to ask of kids to be able to develop defense mechanisms to military grade propaganda while their prefrontal cortex is still a work in progress. Anyway, Alex Jones is bad, and while I don't care for cancel culture like I said earlier, I will worry about that after the many other more pressing problems facing life on Earth are in a stabler place.
Tade0 6y ago
I never understood 2). Doesn't the global economy essentially hinge on an ever growing supply of workforce?
jpeter 6y ago
The frog one isn't far from the truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5uSbp0YDhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5uSbp0YDhc If you spout out every random conspiracy theory you know, some of the things you say will be true.

sebmellen 6y ago

Yes, I don't disagree. My point here is that a lot of people who are not very informed, who may be susceptible to his conspiracy theories, will see this news come out and think, "Oh, he was right. Maybe he's right about something else." IMO the problem is that it was ridiculed when he said it. Now he can look back and post a link to an NPR article stating that human-monkey chimera embryos have been created. I make this comment only because a friend of mine sent me the NPR article [0] with a note saying "man maybe Alex Jones is right about a lot of stuff, lol." I don't know how common this sentiment is, but it's another talking point lodged in Jones's favor (to the detriment of all of us). [0]: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/15/987164563/scientists-create-early-embryos-that-are-part-human-part-monkey https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/15/9871645...

bpodgursky 6y ago

The frog thing is interesting because there's a kernel of truth there; we're releasing an enormous number of endocrine disrupters into the environment (PVC, BPA, etc, etc etc), which is wreaking havoc on both animal animal and human animal hormonal balances. Obviously it's not an intentional government plot... but that doesn't mean we _aren't_ "turning frogs gay".

mypalmike 6y ago
Conspiracy theories usually start with a kernel of truth. And then a combination of misunderstanding, paranoia, and intentional disinformation fills them with heavy amounts of untruth.

eloff 6y ago

> Alex Jones is an awful person. He lies about so much, some of it will end up being accidentally correct. Agreed. > What he says or thinks should be shunned by any decent human being, and he should not be brought up here. No. He should not be a taboo topic. Let it out in the open where rational people can see for themselves how crazy he is and make up their own minds. I really hate this whole cancel culture thing, I don't even wish it on the Alex Joneses of the world.

throwaway5752 6y ago
I don't care for cancel culture, too. That doesn't mean we can be selective about who and what we spend our limited time on Earth discussing. Not talking about a pathologically lying conspiracy theorist is good for efficiency and mental health. To each their own.
- 127 6y ago
  I barely knew Alex Jones existed before he was starting to get censored from all kinds of platforms. What was previously just a blip on the radar, censorship turned into a mainstream talking point.
  - eloff 6y ago
    Agreed, that's the only reason I've heard of him either.
    - throwaway5752 6y ago
      You're both lucky. He's been around a while, and had explosively grown in prominence before deplatforming. What has been challenging, as an adult growing up into the internet is seeing younger kids exposed to polished and talented psychopaths. These people are very, very good at exploiting social systems and have no qualms about leveraging social norms for their personal benefit. This goes well beyond partisan media. I'm sure this will all sort out someday, but it usually takes years to develop resistance to the sort of manipulation techniques they employee to leverage standard weaknesses that all people have, and the internet has given them massive leverage. People are now exposed to this well before their cognitive development is complete. It is a lot to ask of kids to be able to develop defense mechanisms to military grade propaganda while their prefrontal cortex is still a work in progress. Anyway, Alex Jones is bad, and while I don't care for cancel culture like I said earlier, I will worry about that after the many other more pressing problems facing life on Earth are in a stabler place.

Tade0 6y ago

I never understood 2). Doesn't the global economy essentially hinge on an ever growing supply of workforce?

jpeter 6y ago

The frog one isn't far from the truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5uSbp0YDhc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5uSbp0YDhc If you spout out every random conspiracy theory you know, some of the things you say will be true.