Venture with us into the extraordinary world of conspiracy theories where the line between fact and fiction becomes blurred. Strap in for a thought-provocative journey as we scrutinize popular theories, such as the enigmatic tic-tac UFO, the puzzling Pizza Gate, and the contentious Flat Earth theory. Employing critical thinking and reliable sources, we aim to peel back the layers of these narratives, challenging established myths and beliefs.
In this final exploration, be prepared to question your own beliefs as we underscore the value of forming opinions based on credible sources. Warning, this episode may challenge every assumption you hold dear. Stay with us as we promote open-mindedness, celebrate different perspectives, and fuel your curiosity. This enlightening discussion encourages all listeners to ask questions and leaves no theory too outlandish to examine. This is the place where curiosity thrives, and truth is the ultimate prize.
@dotpaw1 on twitter,
dotpaw (buzzsprout.com),
BBBARRIER on rumble
@bbb3 on Minds
https://linktr.ee/dotpaw
Feed | IPFS Podcasting
Venture with us into the extraordinary world of conspiracy theories where the line between fact and fiction becomes blurred. Strap in for a thought-provocative journey as we scrutinize popular theories, such as the enigmatic tic-tac UFO, the puzzling Pizza Gate, and the contentious Flat Earth theory. Employing critical thinking and reliable sources, we aim to peel back the layers of these narratives, challenging established myths and beliefs.
In this final exploration, be prepared to question your own beliefs as we underscore the value of forming opinions based on credible sources. Warning, this episode may challenge every assumption you hold dear. Stay with us as we promote open-mindedness, celebrate different perspectives, and fuel your curiosity. This enlightening discussion encourages all listeners to ask questions and leaves no theory too outlandish to examine. This is the place where curiosity thrives, and truth is the ultimate prize.
@dotpaw1 on twitter,
dotpaw (buzzsprout.com),
BBBARRIER on rumble
@bbb3 on Minds
https://linktr.ee/dotpaw
Feed | IPFS Podcasting
Hey, everybody, it's B on dot Paw podcast stuff about stuff. Oh, got a hot topic today. Everybody conspiracies. Okay, everybody has a favorite conspiracies and there are a lot of them out there.
B:I'm not trying to debunk any conspiracies or prop any conspiracies up, just want to talk about conspiracies in general. We're looking a few, some I did not even know about. I don't think they are conspiracies, I just think they're people having disagreements and I don't know. So let's get into the definition to start out with. So conspiracy theory is a belief or explanation that suggests the events or situations are the results of a secret, often sinister and usually illegal plot by a group of people or organizations. Okay, that about sums up the past five years. These theories typically propose that powerful or hidden forces are manipulating events to achieve their goals, often at the expense of the general public or against the interest of society. Well, that's a pretty bold statement. I think we can all agree that. Yeah, okay, that's kind of what I think about a conspiracy be.
B:Some of them are sublime, some of them are ridiculous. They can be a wide range of topics political, scientific, public health, even popular culture. There's rarely any evidence. Some selective use of facts, misrepresentation of data on both sides, distrust of official sources and mainstream narratives and some conspiracy theories are relatively harmless, while others can have serious real world consequences. Misinformation, mistrust of institutions and some people have been violent about some of these things which be in the Dot Paul podcast stuff about stuff is totally against. It's important to note that many conspiracy theories lack strong evidence I will give that a caveat except when they do.
B:Sometimes, let's just say three years ago some things were conspiracy theories and then three years go by and hey, lo and behold, those nut jobs were right Not 100% right, but 90% right, which is close enough. In most people's books, some things are just so far-fetched obviously they can never be proven. That is my caveat of that statement. A lot of these things are in an environment of uncertainty or fear which, basically the past three years Critical thinking, skepticism and reliance on reputable sources of information, some will say are important tools for evaluating and debunking conspiracy theories. My second caveat would be what if those sources, those reliable sources, have not been that reliable and you're finding out now that they've lied in the past or they've bent the truth, or they just don't know what they're talking about, or they're beholding to some big company. I'm not being a conspiracy theorist when I say this, but again, think about some of the things that were said, written about some of the people riddle-killed about these topics three to five years ago, and think about today and what we know today. Those nut bags were right.
B:Conspiracy theories can vary widely and change over time, so it's challenging to create a definition list of the top ones, which I've been trying to do. Additionally, the promoting conspiracy theories without evidence can be harmful and contribute to spread of more misinformation. I don't agree with that statement. Anytime you look for the truth in anything, it cannot be harmful and you don't spread more misinformation if you're asking questions. I disagree with that statement that the search of all searches did for me. Here are a couple 9-11 conspiracy theories.
B:Some people believe that in the US government our other powerful entities were involved in or allowed see, those are two different statements. They're involved in, I think is wrong. This is my opinion. Or allowed that's a little more wishy-washy statement the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. As a pretext for war and also to curtail several liberties, I don't think allowed is the right word. I think it was a failure on many levels of the way different three-letter agencies work here in the United States and it did lead us into a very long war. What came out of that was curtailed civil liberties. The Patriot Act sounded like a good idea. Everybody was behind it. I know a lot of people saluted it. You put flags on your car. You hung your flag outside. It was USA, usa, usa. So the Patriot Act was easy to pass. Later on, looking into the Patriot Act, guess what? It's not that patriotic.
B:The moon landing hoax I totally can debunk this because I know people that worked in NASA. I know something about what happened. We did land on the moon. There would be no reason to fake it, claiming that we beat the Russians. Who gives a rip? Even back then I was alive it was the USSR and the USA right, our allies. It was obvious who, in my opinion, was the better choice for humanity. We did not fake that and no one has ever faked that. The level of fakery it would take to do that would be incredible. Three men landed on the moon the first time Apollo 11. There were thousands, tens of thousands of people that made that happen. No, that was not a fake. To this day, there are reflectors for lasers. You can reflect a laser powerful enough off the moon and it will reflect back to you and you can time it and you can know exactly where the moon is and how quickly it's moving away from the Earth. It's just crazy that anybody would talk about this.
B:But also, I have to say there are people that love all these things. I'm about to say that love poking the bear. You know what I mean. Poke the bear. You're at a dinner table, a cocktail party, at the bar, wherever, and you just poke the bear Just to get people riled up. That's not someone who disbelieves or believes. That's an instigator, and that's a whole other topic.
B:Jfk assassination conspiracy. You know many conspiracies surrounded the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, alleging involvement of multiple groups and individuals beyond Lee Harvey Oswald. Well, fast forward to 2022, 2023, guess what? Look it up. Illuminati control. The Illuminati is said to be a secret society that controls the world events and governments to establish a new world order. I don't think they're called the Illuminati anymore. You know the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, anything that's got the name World in it. You know, look out, I think there are some people on the globe that want to control everything because they think they know better or they have more. To the point, they have money invested in something. If you keep doing what you're doing, they'll lose money and they won't be as billion billionaires they already are. Covid-19, that's huge. We just referred to three years ago what all the nut job said, and now 2023, what has been revealed. It is staggering how correct quote unquote the nut jobs were and the price they paid to speak out. Many of them. They were not wrong about some of these things.
B:Chemtrails I don't know a lot about that, you know. I do know aircraft do live, leave contrails when they're flying normally through the atmosphere. Some people report, they take pictures of the sky and there are many, many, many tracks. I don't see that here in North Texas. I do see jets flying very high and I do see those trails coming off them. I don't think it's chemical trails. You have to wonder sometimes, some of these pictures people take with their phone and it just looks like a latticework of chemtrails. Now you have to ask yourself is that Photoshop? It's not that hard to fake. Then why would these people do it? These are again instigators if that is happening.
B:Flat Earth Get a life. If you think the earth is flat, you are wrong. Moving on, q non. So the Q conspiracy was something that people went crazy about several years ago. So a conspiracy theory that stated on the internet that Q non or Q non or just Q alleges that a secret cabal of Satan worshipping pedophiles controls the world. Okay, and a Q figure will eventually expose and defeat them. Well, it's been three, four years. There's been no Q figure. I don't think Q's around anymore. As quickly as they developed, they're gone, unless they're totally underground and I don't know.
B:I never paid much attention to that one. I watch most of it. It seemed ridiculous to me. New World Order I think there is an idea to have a new way of doing things in the world. These people are typically global elitists and they won't control over humanity. I'm not eating bugs, I'm not living in a 15 minute city, all the things you want me to do. I'm doing the exact opposite. That's my personal opinion on that. Oh, here we go.
B:Area 51, an extraterrestrial coverup. Let's just start at Area 51. The government said it did not exist for many years. When I was a young man, you used to go up to Kikapu was it Kikapu point or American point or whatever and put a telescope up there and see it. Okay, now, the whole time people were hiking up there and watching the base. Nothing was ever observed in the daytime. Now, at night, odd lights in the sky would appear. It's nighttime. You can't tell. These are amateurs, these are civilians. They don't have the equipment. So again, blurry photos of blurry lights. Extra-terrestrial coverup.
B:Well, extraterrestrial life and advanced technology, two big topics there. Et probably exists. I don't think it's been here. If it had, it probably crashed here. Whoops, of course, if you crashed out in New Mexico, I'm just thinking there was a barbecue that weekend. Advanced technology, that's a completely different subject.
B:A lot of people said there's no way that these leaps and these bounds that we made. Well, what's happening in Area 51, area 27, whatever many areas are in our country, and then all the other clandestine labs? Yeah, yeah, it could. The NASA, yeah, yeah, it could. Now you know Bob Lazar, you know, everybody knows Bob Lazar. If you believe Bob Lazar, look up his name if you don't know who Bob Lazar is. So I've always said this. So here's my statement on Bob Lazar.
B:So, if you believe Bob Lazar and what he said and this is unparaphrasing, I don't have the quote in front of me that they, the government, the Area 51 that he worked for, groom Lake could not figure out how this thing worked, and he was brought in to look at the propulsion. And the only thing that he said in all those interviews throughout all the years that's been consistent is this device sat in the middle of the sports model, which is a saucer which is what they named that particular UFO and it would raise the sport model up, the saucer up, and then it would tilt and the more it tilted it would begin to move forward, much like a helicopter. Right, you tip the blades and it will start to move forward, fast forward to. Well, what happened? I think it was 2018, but it was released in 2022. Joe Rogan talked about it. Hey, they talked about it in Congress several months ago, and you see what they call. So they're three. There's the go fast, which is to me it looks like a dot of light and it's steady, and then it just moves away out of and these are 18s, whatever, they are the fastest jets the US Navy has and it just goes. Hey, I'm just going to go over here. The jet can't chase it, so they clock that at 2,500 miles an hour. So that's a hell of a drone, or it's not. From here there's the Tic Tac which they saw go from in space down to sea level. What I mean sea level? I mean a foot off a sea level. Then come back up and hang out with the F-18s.
B:The most unusual thing I found about that encounter was so Captain Fraber I believe that is how you pronounce his last name said they have a rally point where they all take off from the carrier and then they rally and then they do what they're going to do, whatever training they're doing. The tic-tac disappeared and someone said well, it's back at the rally point. Okay, how did it know that? How did it know where the rally point was? It's got to be observing them or can read their machines or read them. That's incredible. And then the gimbal, the one I was just talking about, what they called the gimbal. So you see that. Find that image and look at it. The first off, the thing is flying against the wind, 180 knots, okay. Then you watch it and it pivots up. It's almost vertical and it flies off. Exactly what he said back in the 70s. Bob Lazar described that activity back in the 70s. So there's something to ponder.
B:Humans, so a lot of things have been debunked. I like this one Pizza Gate conspiracy theory. Washington DC Pizzeria was the center of child sex trafficking involving higher ranking politicians. I never believed that. I just think it was funny because it was called Pizza Gate. It was ridiculous. But those are the ones you really really have to look into.
B:Oh man, death of a sudden bin lad that saw this one coming. I go, yeah, he's dead. And I just said to myself are is he? Because that's exactly what happened. There are conspiracy theories. He was taken prison, he's in Gitmo or someplace else and they have him and he's, you know, being tortured or whatever. If you have Osa, he's not going to tell you anything, okay, and I'm pretty sure they killed him and they have the video. It will never be released. You can do as many freedom of information acts as you want and you'll never get anything. It's not in our lifetimes.
B:And you know, I just saw that one coming. But they say it's been, you know, debunked and they say DNA testing right, statements from officials has confirmed death, right, so okay, now then the other side. Well, not the other side, but that side. I'm doing count, point, point or count. I'm not on either side. Sorry, I didn't want to misrepresent myself. We'll say, yeah, right, I bet. So you want to see him laying on the ground for bullet in his head? You know, of course folks will say that's not him, that look at his ear, that's not his ear, whatever.
B:So again, you know, people, troublemakers, people like to, you know, stir things up. Obviously, flat earth theory has been debunked. You know scientific evidence. I love messing with people with this one, you know. You know, sometimes, if I've had one too many craft beers down at the tap room, I go, hey, what about that round earth? Do you believe all that? How crazy is that? And then I'll just go flat earth on them. And it's just. People's reactions are just priceless and I'm poking the bear. That is my point. And then I tell them I go, I'm just joking with you, I'm with you just to see what, you know, you would say or what people would say. It's a joke, calm down. So I haven't heard this one.
B:In living in Texas, you think this would be all over the news. So, jade Helm 15, conspiracy theory suggests that the US military is training that's a training exercise as a cover for government takeover of Texas. What? No exercise accord in 2015, concluded without any such takeover incident. It's, you know, a baseless theory, but that's hilarious and I guess if more Texans knew about it we would be laughing about it. Well, here's a sad one. I can't believe this was a thing, but Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting hoax Obviously that was debunked. Why that would even be a thing. Chemtrails, like we talked about apparently that's been debunked. Like I was saying, you know, you see the ice crystals on the wings. I don't know if that's debunking, if just more of an explanation.
B:So some more credibles that remain unsustainated are the you know, the Watergate scandal, a notable example of conspiracy turning out to be true. Look out, it was considered a conspiracy theory that President Richard Nixon and his administration were involved in illegal activities, included the break in and Democratic National Committee headquarters. However, investigations by journalists and government agencies included the FBI and Congress. Eventually no wait, hang on, I'm reading my notes here of this one yeah, so eventually they uncovered the truth and then Nixon resigned. That's sad because and if you go back and read any Nixon papers or studies he was not a big dummy like everybody thinks he is. This is the only thing anybody remembers of him, so, and probably of all of us. You know, probably your biggest mistake will be the only thing remembered, no matter what you do in your life.
B:Tuskegee Syphilis study yeah, that's a dark chapter in US medical history. Involved a decades long experiment conducted by the US public health service in which African American men with syphilis or properly were not properly treated excuse me, even active after effective treatment became available. The study was initially hidden from the public and can be seen as a real life conspiracy to withhold medical treatment for research purposes. You can bet there was money involved in that research purposes. Operation Northwoods I don't think I know this one. These are from my notes from doing the search of all searches on the search of all search systems. Hang on, I need some water everybody. Okay, sorry, operation Northwoods this was a proposed conspiracy within the US government during the early 1960s.
B:Plan involved carrying out false flag operation such as stage terrorist attacks to provide a pretext for military intervention in Cuba. While the plan was never implemented, it was declassified and made public, confirming the existence of the conspiracy within the US government. What is this one? Counter Poll, the FBI counter intelligent program, counter oh, counter pro, aimed to surveil and portray and disrupt various civil rights and activist groups in the 60s. While initially considered a conspiracy theory, it was exposed through leaked documents and Senate hearings conferring the existence of the program. Yeah, that was. That was pretty true. Iran Contra this was big when I was a boy. This was a secret Reagan administration apology to policy to sell arms to Iran and use the proceeds, jesus, to fund Nicaraguan rebel groups. That contrasts during the 1980s, initially dismisses a conspiracy theory. Investigations and congressional hearings confirm the covert operations. You know that is yeah. That's why I say, in our own history, let's just say the past five years, or you could go back 10 years if you really want to, and then look at 22, 2022 and 2023. What's been proven? This list will get longer.
B:So conspiracy theories can arise from a variety of factors. Obviously, distrust in government institutions, mainstream authorities. When people believe that these entities are untrustworthy or have a hidden agenda, they are more inclined to believe an alternative, often, often conspiratorial, explanation of events. Well, this is my first thing I would say about these institutions and the government and these mainstream authorities stop being untrustful. We have to trust you. You know you used to. You know they would say something on the news and you go. Damn, somebody says something on the news now and you go. What you know we've just been lied to so many times over and over. That's why people you know get into these crazy conspiracies and sometimes not crazy. So you know. Obviously, distrust of authorities fundamental driver conspiracy theories is a general distrust of government, institution and mainstream authorities.
B:Like I just said, when people believe that these entities are untrustworthy, you know have hidden agendas, usually money and power. That is my personal takeaway from that statement. From the search of all searches, they are inclined to believe alternative uncertainty and fear. The last three years I have never seen people so fearful, won't even come out of their houses, uncertain about everything suspicious. I've never seen anything like this in America and it was very unsettling. I understand not wanting to get sick, but really I just have to say this out loud you have a mask on in your own backyard by yourself. What are you doing?
B:Okay, you know social and cognitive bias. You know human cognitive bias, such as confirmation bias, you know, and that seeking information that confirms existing beliefs and the need for patterns and meaning can contribute to this. So, patterns and meaning, that's why you'll see Jesus' face in the piece of toast. Be cool if that was Jesus in the piece of toast, but the Lamb of God's not up in the toast, brother, okay, just saying. But our brain will try to make that. That's why clouds look like bunny rabbits or puppy dogs or whatever. You know, I saw one the other afternoon Pretty good looking dragon, pretty good. So your brain does that. Don't fall for that. You know people tend to interpret you know complex information in ways that align with their own. You know personal beliefs and pre-existing beliefs. That is true, that is very true.
B:Disinformation and misinformation. The spread of disinformation and misinformation, often facilitated by social media, online echo chambers, plays a significant role in proliferation of conspiracy theories. Excuse me, I was having trouble speaking the Queen's English there. False or misleading information can easily be amplified and shared, creating a sense of legitimacy for the conspiracy theory. Well, that's what we thought we were seeing in, you know, three years ago, and now those things have turned out to be true. So I get what that statement is saying there. And social media is not that social Okay, be careful out there folks. It's not that social. And online echo chambers are just that. Everybody finds their own forum and that's that.
B:Cultural or historical factors Okay, some conspiracy theories are deeply rooted in cultural and historical narratives. These can include longstanding mistrust of Pacific government or groups or any action that happened in the past, and they fuel this belief over time. So you know, some things are hard to forget and forgive. The south has some of these, the north has some of these, the east has some of these and so does the west I was just picking out our country and they're each different and they each fall for different things. Now, some of these things are true, some of these things are historical and they should be left to history. Some had been rectified, some have it. Some things can be easily proven, some things can't.
B:But every county in the United States has a courthouse that's open to the public. All those records are open to the public. If you want to go and find the first person that had a land deed in your county, you can go there. They'll probably take you to the basement. In the back it will be a big old book, handwritten yes, handwritten and you'll see where Billy Bob, joe Bob, bought the first five acres in whatever county Texas Right. And then from that point on, through the ages well, our age to today, to the last person that bought a land deed right, it will be recorded in there Public record.
B:I used to do this with my father as an oil and gas lease broker. It was fascinating. It's the only thing sorry, dad, it's the only thing I liked about the job was the research. I love history, especially American history, especially Texas history, so I was in my element. I would do that, excelled at it. Oh, this job's not that hard. And then I had to do the hard part. That's why I didn't last too long as a oil and gas lease representative.
B:But you can find a lot of this information and you can. Anyone can ask the government, you can write. There's a form, you fill it out. Hey, I would like all information pertaining to the, to the Roswell crash, right, and I think it takes about three months and you'll get a packet in the mail and it will be all the information the government has, that is, that is available to the public about the Roswell crash, and you can read it yourself and put your own eyes on it and come up with whatever you think is the best scenario for you.
B:Um, skepticism of mainstream narratives? Well, of course, and there is because mainstream, and if you're talking about the mainstream news agencies, they have been proved to be liars and shills for big companies, and it's a shame. They used to go out and find the truth. They used to remember ambush journalism. They would just pop up out of a bush. Remember Geraldo, when he was like doing the right thing? And he would just pop up out of a bush and go Senator, what do you think about? Yeah right, that's what you do. And then you write from a non-biased. That's what they used to do. Those days are long gone. That's why there are podcasts. That is why there are independent journalists, people that know what's up and that are reporting. It's the only way to get to the truth. And then talking to your friends is another way to get to the truth, and I don't mean your online friends, I mean your neighborhood, your city. I went down to our little municipal meeting we had the other night. I lived in this city for six months, went down there just to hear what was going on and to shake the hand of the elected officials. Ok, cool, you know, I don't know that didn't, but made me feel better that there are real people and they're not AI chatbots talking to me online or answering my email when I asked something.
B:Psychological needs Sometimes conspiracy theories can fulfill psychological needs, need for belonging and like-minded communities. That's very true. I see that in some of these forums. Media and pop culture Well, hello, media and pop culture. You know? Books, movies, television, internet. You have to watch all these things because nowadays they're all aligned. If you hear something on the internet, you see something on the news, it's in a movie, in a book.
B:You are being lied to. There is no way those four different media can come to the same conclusions. You know, fictional portrayals can blur the lines between reality and fantasy, leading some individuals to accept conspiracy theories. Now, if you're paying attention, you know the difference. If you're not, you're being led or you're following. Anyway, you want to say that. And then we got a political and ideological, ideological motivation. Sorry, I cracked myself up. Some conspiracy theories serve political and ideological agendas. They can be used to manipulate public opinion.
B:Be careful, look out for this. Always question authority. When I was young it was a slogan never trust anybody over 30. That's what that means. Always question authority, any authority, peacefully, with intelligence. You know I like to look at things. Clarity over agreement. I will be clear on my statement to you. You should be clear on your statement to me. Then I will explain why I believe what I do. You will explain why you believe what you believe. We will have clarity. We may not have agreement I do not have to agree with you to be your fellow citizen or to be your friend but we must have clarity.
B:Critical thinking, media literacy and reputable sources are critical tools in trying to figure out some of these things. Just every day, you don't realize it, but every day when you wake up, you're critically thinking about things, even on the weekend. That's right. So when you decided to listen to this podcast, you made a great choice. You are so smart. But that was a critical decision, right? And we may not agree.
B:You may listen to this and go oh bee's crazy man, the earth is flat and we did not land on the moon and dude's a nut job, or anything else I've said here in the podcast. Each of us have to make our own decisions. I am far from one to try to influence anyone. I think my strongest wording to anyone when I hear something is I think you're wrong. Ok, that's it. That's all I got to say. Now, if they say why, I will explain my position and why, and that's my clarity. And then if you explain your position that's your clarity we don't come to agreement. Fine, cool, let's go have a cold Miller light, let's get out of this heat. It's kind of hot out here. So I hope everybody enjoyed talking about conspiracies and I hope you all go out there.
B:Find your own truth in the world Well, not your own truth, that's a weird statement. Find the truth in the world and come to clarity in your own thoughts and your own opinions. Listen to other people, be open to other people. We lost that, I believe, in the past couple of years. Being open to other people's opinion. You don't have to agree with them, but it's good to be open to know what's going on. So soapbox disengaged and I just want to thank everybody again for being here with Be on Dot Paul podcast, stuff About Stuff. And remember, accelerate with confidence music.