How To Debunk Most Conspiracy Theories

If there’s one thing that the internet loves (apart from porn, arguing and cats), it’s a good conspiracy. Wander away from the main path and you’ll quickly find yourself in a world where secret agencies are assassinating Presidents, who are Muslim, which is taking over Europe thanks to the EU, which is controlled by the Freemasons, who faked 9/11 so that the Illuminati (who were born in Kenya) could move into Area 51, which is covering up the New Alien World Order (at the bequest of the CIA) in order that the United Nations can take your guns away because they’ve uncovered a secret that will destroy big business. Also the Jews are in there somewhere. They always are.

As it hardly needs to be said, these theories are a load of nonsense. By simply playing sinister music, drawing absurd conclusions based on scanty evidence or valuing the opinion of some guy who writes in ALL CAPS above that of an actual expert, you can make a conspiracy out of anything. Also blaming the Jews is like the Swiss Army Knife of conspiracy theories, you can use it in any situation. Now, there is a good argument for just ignoring this nonsense, but unfortunately conspiracy theorists are a part of society so you will probably have to interact with them at some point. Or like me, you might have a morbid fascination with people who have the strangest opinions.

(Personally, I am of the opinion that 99% of conspiracy theories are nonsense, hence why I say “most” theories. I do this to allow myself some wiggle room in case some evidence shows that an actual conspiracy did exist. If only actual conspiracy theorists paid such attention to the evidence and a reluctance to jump to conclusions.)

Either way, when you read a couple of conspiracy theories, you start to notice a common flaw in most of them (apart from the fact that they’re usually driven by paranoia rather than fact). The flaw is that they fall apart if you reverse them. Usually, people take an event and work backwards to form a theory about what group planned it as a conspiracy. However, if you work from the opposite direction by taking the alleged group and asking if the event is the best way to fulfil their aims, the answer is almost always no. That’s how you debunk most conspiracy theories, simply reverse the process and work from plan to event, rather than event to plan.

For example, take one of the most famous conspiracy theories, the idea that the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre was an inside job by the US government. The theory is that the planes themselves could not demolish the Twin Towers, so explosives were planted inside them by the US government in order to provide a justification for the War on Terror. Now reverse the theory and work from the planning to the event. Imagine you are President Bush and you want to go to war in Iraq. To be honest, America isn’t exactly the most peaceful of nations and has been at war for most of its history so this isn’t too hard of a sell. No offence to any Americans reading this, but it’s not Sweden or Switzerland, invading a third world country isn’t much of a new step.

Nor is it clear why planes are essential to the plan. Surely when devising this plan they checked as to whether or not a plan actually can destroy the Twin Towers. If, as the conspiracy theorists claim, it cannot, why would they still use planes? If (as the meme mocks) jet fuel can’t melt steel beams, why would the CIA do it anyway and hope no one noticed? If explosives are the only way to destroy the building why not just claim that the terrorists planted the explosives?

If the whole point of 9/11 was to provide an excuse to invade Iraq, then why not use terrorists with an actual connection to Iraq? Why have 15 (out of 20) Saudi terrorists, if it’s really Iraq and Afghanistan you want to invade? Invading Iraq is by no means the natural conclusion from 9/11 so if it really was a false flag, they were making quite a leap of faith.

The other bits of supposed evidence, when reversed, actually weaken the claim that there was a conspiracy. Another question that theorists ask is how did building 7 collapse if it wasn’t hit by an airplane? Actually, this proves that there was no conspiracy, because why would the CIA destroy a building and just hope that no one noticed there was no reason for it to collapse? Surely if they are going to fake an attack, they’ll fake an explanation too? Conspiracy theorists seem to view the CIA as evil geniuses and complete idiots at the same time.

Then there is the matter that in order to execute this plan, you need to get the co-operation of the main security agencies pretty much as soon as you assume office. You will then need thousands of people to carry out the plan and hope that not a single one of them reveals your plans or has any qualms about murdering thousands of their fellow citizens. You will need everyone to completely ignore basic physics and engineering (if it is true that building don’t fall like that and planes alone couldn’t make them fall).

Another popular theory is the “birther” conspiracy that claims President Obama was really born in Kenya. Again, if you reverse it and view it from the alleged instigators point of view, it makes no sense. Why would a woman living in Hawaii spontaneously move to an undeveloped colony, give birth and then return home all for no reason. Or if you think that he grew up in Kenya, then why is there absolutely no evidence of this? Why does no one remember a white American woman (which would be a rare sight) and her son? How did she manage to get an ad placed in Hawaii newspapers celebrating Barack’s birth?

If Obama did grow up in Kenya, did he just think that no one would notice this when he ran for President? Did he just presume that no one would notice that he didn’t have a birth certificate or that there was no record of him for his early years? Again, it seems to view Obama as part evil mastermind and part idiot.

Aliens are a whole category of conspiracy that makes no sense at all if reversed and viewed from the aliens, not the human’s point of view. Why would another species travel light years through space just to have sex with some humans? Considering that they would have evolved completely separately from humans, we would probably share more DNA (and therefore chance of reproduction) with a carrot than an alien. Nor does it make any sense that the aliens would want to eat us as for the same reason, we would almost certainly be poisonous to them. Also considering the expense they would have to go through in building spaceships and the food required for the journey, travelling to another planet for food is a terrible use of resources.

I could go into detail about the unreliable nature of the “witness” evidence, but that’s looking at the wrong end. It makes more sense to ask why no one has ever seen any of these spaceships, either through a telescope or on Earth? How does a spaceship land, kidnap humans from their homes for decades and not a single time is there a reliable witness or solid evidence (by which I mean more than a blurry black and white photo that could be anything)? Why are these aliens so humanlike? Wouldn’t something from a far away planet be completely different? Why do they resemble humans or even more oddly, the aliens from TV and movies?

Holocaust denial is a special kind of conspiracy in that while it is as delusional as the above, it is also incredibly hateful. A holocaust denier infested the comments of this blog a while ago and it was not a pleasant experience. His belief was that the Holocaust never happened but it wouldn’t have been a bad thing if it had. However, he never explained how this “hoax” was pulled off. How did a small socially excluded ethnic group manage to convince the world that millions of them had been killed? Many Eastern European cities had large Jewish Quarters that were empty after the war, if there was no Holocaust, then where did the Jews go? Records exist counting those killed and many Jewish families can point to family members lost, so did these people not exist or are they hiding somewhere?

They seem to assume that a couple of Jews claimed millions were murdered and everyone in the world accepted this as fact, without any questioning. Once again, conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy that is both extremely powerful, extremely devious and extremely stupid.

So that’s an easy way to deal with conspiracy theories that cuts through their nonsense. Best of all, it skips arguing on their terms which is a mostly futile exercise (trust me; never let the conspiracy theorist choose the battleground). Of course, some conspiracy theorists just straight out lie and fabricate quotes and “evidence” that only exist in their heads. When this happens, there is no room for debate, all you can do is call them out on their nonsense and move on.

Here is a funny comedy sketch parodying the illogic of most conspiracy theories and was a partial inspiration for this blog.

July 5, 2015Politics9/11, Aliens, Birther, Conspiracy Theory, Debunked, Holocaust Denial, Politics, Twin Towers, World Trade Centre

31 thoughts on “How To Debunk Most Conspiracy Theories”

  1. Godless Cranium says:

    I love conspiracy theories, although you’re right and most can be easily shown to be false. Still, they’re fun to read about.

  2. pithom says:

    What if you don’t know the motive? For example, I’m pretty sure Erdogan+Obama are behind the Islamic State, but I still don’t quite get why. My best guess is that it’s to hurt Iran. I’m also pretty sure the Libyan war was for oil profits.

    Many Eastern European cities had large Jewish Quarters that were empty after the war, if there was no Holocaust, then where did the Jews go?

    -Yeah, it does seem weird that the vast majority of Jews in Greece and France seem to have vanished into thin air during the 1940s if the Holocaust didn’t happen.

    why would the CIA do it anyway and hope no one noticed?

    -I guess to insult people’s intelligence. The CIA does this all the time. But, as many people pointed out, blatant lies about WMDs are a much easier way of going to Iraq than resorting to the most complicated conspiracy ever.

  3. jerrypatter says:

    Nice article….Love the funny part..but some conspiracy theories are real

    1. Privatepilot says:

      Then they are not theories. Conspiracy Facts.

  4. List of X says:

    Another problem with “Obama was born in Kenya” conspiracy is that even if it were actually true, Barack would still be an American citizen by birth to an American mother, and would still be eligible to be President. This is how we can have Senator Ted Cruz (born in Canada) running for president in now, and this is how we had John McCain (born in Panama) as an official Republican nominee in 2008.

    1. Whistling In The Wind says:

      Exactly, I was born in Ireland but I’m a US citizen because of my father.

  5. jecgenovese says:

    Reblogged this on peakmemory and commented:
    “the illogic of most conspiracy theories “

  6. tmlorfing says:

    Nice blog post.
    I like to use probability when it comes to debunking conspiracy theories.

    When it comes to 9/11 “Truthers” I bring up this point:
    Which do you think is more probable? That George Bush conjured up some sort of intricate planned Rube Goldberg mechanism to justify invading some country in the middle east? Or is it more likley that there are fundamentalist Islamic Extremists who hate western civilization and want to see it fall in the name of Allah?

    Also, they didn’t need to do something that extreme to justify an invasion. When the Tonkin Bay attack happened, it was just a North Vietnamese Navy vessel firing shots at a US Naval Destroyer in the bay. That’s it. No casualties, just a few bullet holes. And LBJ used that to justify the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, and the Vietnam War.

    1. Tim Guy says:

      what makes you think George bush was anything more than a stoolie? The bush family on the other hand? look into their history.

      I am absolutely positive that 911 was an elaborate inside job. There are to many things that come together and in my mind make this obvious.

      1. Privatepilot says:

        You’re absolutely right. The Bush, Clinton and Obama families are different crime families but the same cabal. Throw In McCain, Kerry and others in there too.

  7. You had me up until “most conspiracy theories are false”. Just read about operation Northwoods and about the overthrow of the democratically elected leader of Iran in the 53 to install a brutal regime. Then keep looking at the CIA all over the planet. These things are real and documented.

    1. Brent Holman says:

      CIA ‘Secretly’ doing anything like all the crap they HAVE done, does not make it a ‘Conspiracy as such.

  8. Tim Guy says:

    I am with you, conspiracy theories are lame… except for the ones I like.

    for instance, Ancient Aliens, 911, Monsanto, GMO’s, Chem trails, moon landings, Knights Templar, Ancient civilizations, bigfoot… etc..

    1. Tim Guy says:

      I said I like these conspiracy theories, I didn’t say I believe all of them hook line and sinker. We obviously went to the moon for instance, the moon conspiracies I like are the crazier ones about aliens and moon bases.

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  10. Passing by says:

    U call that debunking? Most stupid thing i read in a wile. Althou i like to do my own research(how i ended up here wile looking for a rear book, that is repeatedly being taken down) , that involves a lot of reading. Then again, you need a brain to come to your own conclusion. Instead of beliving everything you read.
    I ll give you credit for making me lough thou. My favourite part by far was. Building 7 colapsed for no reason what so ever …….. hmmm…..well, not like the goverment or the CIA would ever lie. Thats some solid proof on your debunking and you theory on how to do it. Keep doing what u do! The human race is counting on you my friend!!!

    1. Brent Holman says:

      Trade #7 collapsed due to some fairly extensive damage, & fires that burned all day, but the initial point was the failure of a critical support column, I believe it was #59 or some such. Having studied 9/11 extensively from the time it happened to this day, I have found ONLY 2 possibilities: 1) They knew, & were possibly watching the wrong groups of ‘terrorists’ & got caught with their pants down, OR 2) They got caught with their pants down. That is IT. Every other confused, cockamamie conspiracy-within-conspiracy theories about 9/11 are pure BS.

    2. Anonymous says:

      http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/9/11 They weren’t a “controlled demotion”, Moron.

      1. Anon says:

        Yes they were, you ignorant sheep.

    3. Ben Douglass says:

      Your post would be better understood if not for the multitude of glaring misspellings and grammar choices. Just sayin!

  11. godd3ss says:

    Well I love reading about conspiracy theories and no I do not think “they” are idiots by any means in fact I think they are very intelligent with years of careful planning. They want us to know they are in charge so they come up with elaborate plans that have loopholes so we notice it. They don’t do something then hope u don’t notice they do something then hope u DO notice because they want us to know in the back of our minds that they are running the show.

    1. Brent Holman says:

      Conspiracies are by nature paranoid, & I have fought against paranoia my entire conscious life. ‘Vast Conspiracy’ is an especially telling form of extreme paranoia, & also, there is no end to it, it spirals round & round ever deeper/bigger/sinister/vast/ ergo, I think the peddlers of conspiracies want people to be paranoid.

    2. Anonymous says:

      No, they’re not, “running the show.” You’re just a conspiracy nutjob.

  12. Makarand M.Desai (@makmd) says:

    Thanks you very much ! This helped me a lot… Now I don’t fear or worry about ‘ILLUMINATI’ and ‘World is False’ arguments !! Thank you…

  13. Jon Park says:

    Thanks for an entertaining article. You’ve given me, in one hit, more material on fallacious reasoning and how not to conduct scientific inquiry than I could have hoped to glean with my own Google searches. Can I use this heap of garbage in my Critical Thinking classes?

  14. F u says:

    Fuck u

  15. F u says:

    Can u support the gov. Expenation of 9-11?
    U lying sack of shit

  16. Anonymous says:

    Nice Article!I do have the feeling that most conspiracy theories stuggle with a tautology i.e. most of the theories cant be disproven. If i say that the government is behind everything and the evidence that disproofs that is according to conspiracy theorist a substantial part of their theory. This form of logic is very tenacious and gives conspiracy theorist a tremendous confirmationbias. Anyways love your article and have a nice day

  17. Mike Jones says:

    murder? 6 million? People who believe such tosh have the analytical skills of a toddler. The half million or so who died in the internment camps did so because of overwork and lack of food and medical supplies.

  18. Anonymous says:

    Your rant shows how blind you are. just keep watching CNN blindly intelligence as yours might land you Head Sheep

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