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I thought the “jet fuel can’t melt steel beans” guys were way off base from day 1. You don’t have to get steel fully melted to weaken it. Anybody who has mess

I thought the “jet fuel can’t melt steel beans” guys were way off base from day 1. You don’t have to get steel fully melted to weaken it. Anybody who has messed around with a blowtorch and a section of rebar knows this. Plus the building had just been hit by a fully loaded jumbo jet and several of the supports were damaged in the impact. The idea that someone snuck in hundreds of explosives and attached them to the building without any of the thousands of people who work in it noticing as a backup to an already elaborate air hijacking plan makes no sense.

colechristensen 5y ago
What does make sense is that in an attention economy it is pretty easy to grab people’s attention by taking a significant event and trying to convince people that the common narrative is false is very profitable. You get a lot of attention and if you do a good job the idea grows all on its own and becomes something you can capitalize on the attention for a long long time.
dragonsky67 5y ago
What I don't understand is what value do people get out of promoting this type of conspiracy theory? Who profits? Is it just attention seeking or is there some profit motive? If so what? I'm all for exposing corruption and I think there is enough to keep any anti government person occupied, but why do we get people inventing conspiracies in the most improbable of places? 9/11, Covid19 etc.
- kadoban 5y ago
  Thinking you've found a hidden truth is unreasonably fun. And then you can form a community and have some fun with your fellow nutbars too. People also want the world to make more sense than it actually does. There being a secret group running things is at least _an_ explanation for the weird shit that happens, even if it doesn't really hold together. There's a bunch of profit motives and politics involved as well usually.
- jandrese 5y ago
  If your goal is to erode trust in institutions then pushing any and all conspiracy theories is worth your time. Anywhere you see people trying to undermine the local government you see conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are great because they're so efficient. Once started they are self reinforcing.
- germinalphrase 5y ago
  Presumably, those “Loose Change” frat guys made some money off it…
- vegasthrow 5y ago
  Everything is a "conspiracy theory" until the news media catches up 6 months later
- stef25 5y ago
  > What I don't understand is what value do people get out of promoting this type of conspiracy theory? Who profits? Is it just attention seeking or is there some profit motive? If so what? They must really believe that what they're saying is true.
vegasthrow 5y ago
The idea that someone snuck in thousands of rounds of ammunition and a few dozen fully automatic rifles into a casino with thousands of people and employees without any of the thousands of people who work and guests in it noticing as a backup to an already elaborate plan to shoot up a country concert. Weird that the Saudis were there too.
morpheos137 5y ago
One interesting point some "truthers" make is that the welded steel lattice frame of the buildings should have been an efficient heat sink transfering heat away from hotter areas to colder areas. So warpage is unlikely to have been significant. On the other hand thermal expansion of relatively straight beams is likely what brought the towers down.
jbd0 5y ago
But you do have to get steel melted to have molten steel.

colechristensen 5y ago

What does make sense is that in an attention economy it is pretty easy to grab people’s attention by taking a significant event and trying to convince people that the common narrative is false is very profitable. You get a lot of attention and if you do a good job the idea grows all on its own and becomes something you can capitalize on the attention for a long long time.

dragonsky67 5y ago

What I don't understand is what value do people get out of promoting this type of conspiracy theory? Who profits? Is it just attention seeking or is there some profit motive? If so what? I'm all for exposing corruption and I think there is enough to keep any anti government person occupied, but why do we get people inventing conspiracies in the most improbable of places? 9/11, Covid19 etc.

kadoban 5y ago
Thinking you've found a hidden truth is unreasonably fun. And then you can form a community and have some fun with your fellow nutbars too. People also want the world to make more sense than it actually does. There being a secret group running things is at least _an_ explanation for the weird shit that happens, even if it doesn't really hold together. There's a bunch of profit motives and politics involved as well usually.
jandrese 5y ago
If your goal is to erode trust in institutions then pushing any and all conspiracy theories is worth your time. Anywhere you see people trying to undermine the local government you see conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are great because they're so efficient. Once started they are self reinforcing.
germinalphrase 5y ago
Presumably, those “Loose Change” frat guys made some money off it…
vegasthrow 5y ago
Everything is a "conspiracy theory" until the news media catches up 6 months later
stef25 5y ago
> What I don't understand is what value do people get out of promoting this type of conspiracy theory? Who profits? Is it just attention seeking or is there some profit motive? If so what? They must really believe that what they're saying is true.

vegasthrow 5y ago

The idea that someone snuck in thousands of rounds of ammunition and a few dozen fully automatic rifles into a casino with thousands of people and employees without any of the thousands of people who work and guests in it noticing as a backup to an already elaborate plan to shoot up a country concert. Weird that the Saudis were there too.

morpheos137 5y ago

One interesting point some "truthers" make is that the welded steel lattice frame of the buildings should have been an efficient heat sink transfering heat away from hotter areas to colder areas. So warpage is unlikely to have been significant. On the other hand thermal expansion of relatively straight beams is likely what brought the towers down.

jbd0 5y ago

But you do have to get steel melted to have molten steel.