The internet is not necessarily a good thing

First, I want to say I love the internet. IN fact, I have worked in the tech field my entire life. With that said, I believe some skepticism is good, especially if there is real evidence to support it. IN the past five years I have noticed a trend that is really starting to bother me. I really feel as if it is a mental illness, but an illness that catches hold quickly and usually never lets go.

Before the internet we all had that friend, neighbor or whoever that had some crazy ideas, but with the invention of the internet these people have congregated and with that feeling of normalcy they are bringing in people by the droves.

Flat Earth, Holographic Moon, NASA is a lie from the Illuminati, space Jews, spirit science, Nibiru NIBIRU NIBIRU, Jade Helm, Hollow Earth, Chemtrails, Moon Landing, Kenyan President Etc . . .

Hell you name it. You cannot argue with these people, you are instantly a paid space Jew shill for the universal illuminate conglomerate Monsanto incorporated.

It bothers me because people take these things to heart and I am sure some spend money, make bad decisions thinking the world is going to end every six months to Nibiru or a meteor or some kind of reptilian conspiracy to eat people

Is this bothering anyone else, has anyone else noticed the exponential growth of this in the past 5-10 years, any ideas on how to stop it, if it can be stopped, or if it is just going to get worse.

I get what you are saying about over the top conspiracies.

But do you go on dog sites and complain about dogs too?

Quite a few conspiracies turned out to be real, what was the mindset of those that talked them down at the time?

I like to keep an open mind and filter the others as entertainment and imagination.

I am all over the internet and don't see a large amount of people buying the lizard people type stories.

This sounds like a troll thread, am I wrong?

a reply to: sprockets2000

What do you expect on ATS on a conspiracy forum. Come on man , this is where we share all these "crazy ideas"

originally posted by: sprockets2000 these people have congregated

it's only a virtual congregation. 'these people' (of which i include myself) i think generally limit their conspiratorial interactions to the net. it's a vent. an outlet. a place where you can spout your 'mad' ideas among like minds or at least dismissively interested minds. i'm glad the net provides such environments. one of course needs to excercise discernment. this ability, or more properly it's diminishing evidentiary presence, is more a matter of concern. to me, anyway.

a reply to: sprockets2000

Life does not stand still. In this era we have the internet. It is a very new technology that has caused as big a bang as the industrial revolution. Many in the generation when television came along thought it would be the end of civilization. Technology will keep developing and changing.

I think us humans will adjust. Remember all these ideas were around before the advent of the internet. The internet is just cataloguing them. All these strange and bizarre items are coming from human imagination.

For the generation who do not know what life was like before the internet this is not even an issue. It is an issue for those of us who remember what it was like before and how perhaps we have changed for the worse in some ways.

It is just that we get older and the world changes. Despite the odds humans have got this far and I think we are going to get a lot further, too.

I don't think we can fight change. Perhaps the best thing we can do is adapt (something humans are experts at). I miss the real time life very much, too, but change is happening at an ever increasing speed.

This technology is at our disposal and it is up to us how we use that resource.

a reply to: Revolution9

Well said..."it is up to us how we use that resource." The internet is controlled and used by us..(we the people)...us humans...the good, the bad and the ugly.

I personally just wade through the information and find what is real...and sometimes that takes quite a while.

It is up to me how I respond to information on the internet...I am responsible for my beliefs, choices and reactions.

a reply to: JustKoz

No I am not a troll, I am down for an open mind, but I draw a line at trying to disprove things that have empirical facts to back them up, like the Earth is round, those are the kind of conspiracies I am talking about. It is becoming rampant, not conspiracies like the govt his hiding UFOs, crazy #

a reply to: sprockets2000

Why would you want to stop it? I'm one of the biggest skeptics out there on almost everything but, I understand that the people you speak of are far more likely than I to actually discover something truthful. I disagree with 99% of what they say but agree 100% they have the right to say it.

Like home, the internet is what you make it.

Think of it as a lesson in fortifying your mind. Let things trickle in slow enough and don't worry about what you miss. Its better to know only some things are true than believe everything you read may be a lie.

a reply to: sprockets2000

The same criticisms you have laid down were once directed at the printing press.

I think that there are only a few people who come up with these crazy ideas that people like to discuss. It is not as if all do believe or go along with all conspiracy theories. It is not like we have all gone crazy or something. I think most things just become curiosity to people, when they hear about strange new things. It becomes popular for a time and then they move on to new things. On the internet there seems to be a competition for the most crazy things. People upload videos of crazy stunts and such to try to get noticed and viewed. It is a bit of a sport for some.

originally posted by: sprockets2000
First, I want to say I love the internet. IN fact, I have worked in the tech field my entire life. With that said, I believe some skepticism is good, especially if there is real evidence to support it. IN the past five years I have noticed a trend that is really starting to bother me. I really feel as if it is a mental illness, but an illness that catches hold quickly and usually never lets go.

Before the internet we all had that friend, neighbor or whoever that had some crazy ideas, but with the invention of the internet these people have congregated and with that feeling of normalcy they are bringing in people by the droves.

Flat Earth, Holographic Moon, NASA is a lie from the Illuminati, space Jews, spirit science, Nibiru NIBIRU NIBIRU, Jade Helm, Hollow Earth, Chemtrails, Moon Landing, Kenyan President Etc . . .

Hell you name it. You cannot argue with these people, you are instantly a paid space Jew shill for the universal illuminate conglomerate Monsanto incorporated.

It bothers me because people take these things to heart and I am sure some spend money, make bad decisions thinking the world is going to end every six months to Nibiru or a meteor or some kind of reptilian conspiracy to eat people

Is this bothering anyone else, has anyone else noticed the exponential growth of this in the past 5-10 years, any ideas on how to stop it, if it can be stopped, or if it is just going to get worse.

There have always been people who are not very well adjusted or just choose to ignore the scientific method exists all together.

The internet hasn't change that.

If anything the internet makes it easier for these people to educate themselves, as there really isn't a better research tool out there and the internet.

But that said... if the persons in question do not have the intelligence to determine what is real or to distinguish fact from fiction, then no amount of research material will help.

a reply to: sprockets2000

there have always been nutters - the thing is the WWW makes all nutters with internet access visible to the rest of the world .
a personal annecdote to illustrate :

in the late 80s i joinded a wargames club in a town in the north of england - we hired a room in a working mens club every week - and in the next room [ every other week ] was a group dedicated to :

" freeing the kingdom from the yoke of masonic domination "

they were all men in thier 30s ~ 60s and bat-crap crazy

i have no idea what happened to them - but a google search reveals no trace of the one name i remember or thier core manifesto online

and there in lies my point - back then YOU would have never even heard of or likley imagined that such a group met every 2 weeks to doscus thier war against massonic evils

but if they existed today - they would probally have a website and such - and with a few keywords in google - you would know all about them

see the point ?

the internet just allows nutters to ve visible

I think everyone has crazy ideas moving about in thier head. It's always good to clear you're mind and ask others what they think of them, even if it makes you sound like a loon.
I've always kind of thought outside of the box, much to everyone else's enjoyment.

The internet has helped congregate these ideas together, which is a good thing.

It's growing pains. We're learning to adapt to a new terrain where wild ideas can be spread without fear of repercussions. It used to be talking about bizarre things meant face to face communications. We don't need that anymore. You can do it anonymously. What happens to a sheltered person who is thrust out of their bubble and into the streets? They adapt, else die out. So we're on a rapidly evolving cultural track at a global scale. Awesome! Nobody said this would go smoothly in it's first steps.

originally posted by: ignorant_ape

in the late 80s i joinded a wargames club in a town in the north of england - we hired a room in a working mens club every week - and in the next room [ every other week ] was a group dedicated to :

" freeing the kingdom from the yoke of masonic domination "

they were all men in thier 30s ~ 60s and bat-crap crazy

i have no idea what happened to them - but a google search reveals no trace of the one name i remember or thier core manifesto online

and there in lies my point - back then YOU would have never even heard of or likley imagined that such a group met every 2 weeks to doscus thier war against massonic evils

but if they existed today - they would probally have a website and such - and with a few keywords in google - you would know all about them

a reply to: sprockets2000

I know what you're saying (believe me I do) but a few thoughts I have on this.....

1. When you start talking about stopping people from having a discussion (no matter how goofy it seems) you're only going to make them more paranoid. I mean if someone is paranoid to the point to where they believe something that doesn't even seem to have a basis in reality, it obviously doesn't take much to make them paranoid. If they believe there are people who want "to silence them because they're talking about the truth" it's going to freak them out when you show up and start saying they need to be stopped. They're going to think "you're in on it" even if you're just someone who is concerned. Generally speaking, it's probably better if you just let them have their reptile chat. They might not be any less convinced it's real but as long as they can talk about it without being ridiculed, they won't be so inclined to circle the wagons.

2. That said, occasionally I see posts that are genuinely disturbing. If I think someone's right on the edge of doing something crazy it does bother me a lot. I mean, most of us on this forum have our own pet conspiracy theories but I hope most of us are still civilized and sane. It might not sound too sane to talk about lizard people but as long as I don't get the idea the guy might be the next James Holmes I figure he's probably just indulging his fantasies or exercising his mind. I mean, after all, there are (and have been) a lot of people on forums like this one and you see most of the same people here for years on end. Most of the regulars seem to be stable enough to have their pet theories and not do anything crazy for many years. I've been reading here sporadically for years. Sometimes posting and sometimes not. I see a lot of the same people still. Some of them seem to believe in some of the more "out there" theories too. It might not necessarily be too good for them but on the other hand, I'm pretty libertarian minded. I don't believe it's my place to stop someone from thinking about things I don't subscribe to. As long as they're not violent.

I do think we have a responsibility to advocate non-violence above all else.

Hi, I'm kinda new here but just wanna chip in for a sec. I have pet conspiracies that I wholeheartedly believe in, BUT I can adapt when given new info that is where the net comes in, if I share the things I feel and someone is like whoah, no I will adapt if they can prove their point beyond what I can prove. Make sense??

a reply to: maitray2

Makes perfect sense, and is the only sane, rational way to approach things.

originally posted by: sprockets2000
Is this bothering anyone else, has anyone else noticed the exponential growth of this in the past 5-10 years, any ideas on how to stop it, if it can be stopped, or if it is just going to get worse.

I have before thought that some sites have a moral and ethical responsibility to at least have information to hand for the members to read through, but that's a discussion for another day.

If they're not harming anyone else then there's no problem with it, let people have their doom and gloom, let them skip their meds, let them do whatever it is they do and believe whatever nonsense they want to believe.

The problem only comes when those same people want to act out violently toward others.

Believing in fairy tales is not a crime, and it shouldn't be deemed to be one. However, when that belief or opinion becomes fanaticism, and is a threat to the safety and wellbeing of others, then of course something needs to be done.

People can believe the federal government is out to take their guns and put them in concentration camps all they like, but when that belief results in them buying weapons for their imagined "civil war", obviously they need to be investigated.