Bringing up the conspiracy subject

And/or breaking the conspiracist stereotype.

I was inspired to make this thread after a talk I had with a stranger a few weeks ago. I was in a building and a man came into the room and we said hello introduced ourselves while we were both waiting on another man.

Out of nowhere he asks me what I think about chemtrails. Now I had not said anything that would make him ask me that. I wasn’t dressed in any sort of ATS t-shirt or something that would give it away that I was into those types of subjects so it kind of caught me off guard. I said I’ve heard about them before and kind of brushed it off because I’m not much of a “people person” in real life. So I said yeah, and he goes on to tell me more. About the chemicals they’re spraying and the planes. He goes into some pretty crazy stuff about New World Order and depopulation.

Now as a member of ATS I’ve read about all of these subjects and even agree with some of them, but I still found it kind of crazy sounding when a stranger just starts saying all kind of out there subjects. I kept on nodding my head and listening to what he was talking about, all familiar topics, and our conversation ended soon after that.

And that conversation made me think. If I believe in the things he’s saying and I don’t actually think he’s crazy for thinking them, and I thought he seemed like the stereotypical crazy conspiracist, how do people who don’t believe in the topics view him or us? How can we bring up conspiracy related subjects to new people without being viewed as the paranoid out there conspiracist?

Do you talk about these subjects to strangers? Coworkers? Family? And if you do, how you bring them up. If you see or are talking about a related item start by dropping little facts? Or do you go all out with backups of evidence.

And how can we break the conspiracist stereotype? How can we bring up these issues without giving the receiver a bad taste in their mouth?

I think one way of bringing them up is to start with certain topics that are easier to handle. Like UFO’s. I mean, that’s a better icebreaker than starting off with more hardcore topics like depopulation, New World Order, or things like that. Those hardcore ones require things like mistrust of what they’re accustom to, which is hard for people to handle. It changes everything they think they know.

Presenting in a calm, intelligent manner and knowing when enough is enough are all things I think are good ways or making a good impression. Maybe the listener will find it interesting enough to do their own research.

Do you think society will ever reach a point where more and more people are accepting of these conspiracy theories? The more that do the better change of things getting done to change bad things from happening and the better the change of the real information getting out.

ATS itself I think is making good steps in that direction. The website is very professional compared to others out there. It makes it more reputable, in my opinion.

These are just some things and questions to talk about.

Ill relay an experience I recently had while looking for a House in Portland.

The realtor and I where talking about tax seizures and eminent domain...

And with out prompting the realtor went on a conspiracy filled rant about the Government, he even asked me if I ever heard about Project North woods...

My response "preaching to the Choir Brother"

He laughed.

I think people are beginning to STRONGLY distrust the government, as that grows people will begin to believe them capable of anything.

its a good start.

Wow what a cool guy to bump into, i would have dug a little deeper into his thinking, and tried to see if he really does know those things, or did he just read something and is now pumped up about a topic and cant wait to start talking about it, I know people like that. a little crazy, isnt bad. LOL when your talking about the Government

Thanks for the responses. They bring up a question I didn't think of while making the thread.

Have you been approached by a stranger/coworker/family member about conspiracy theories? How was their approach and what was your response? Did they present it in a good manner or did they seem, well, crazy?

The moral of the story seems to be 'Don't talk to strangers'.

Seriously, a fair number of people believe in all sorts of conspiracy stuff, including NWO and chemtrails. Those people exist offline in the real world, many have decent jobs, many are professionals and the chances are you know more conspiracy theory guys than you think. I've never encountered the subject as a conversation opener, though.

Can we get rid of the conspiracy theorist stereotype? Unfortunately it's unlikely. Face it, many conspiracy theorists are complete nutters, and there are many with a vested interest in using that stereotype to discredit those with more solid and plausible ideas.

reply to post by enjoies05

Have you been approached by a stranger/coworker/family member about conspiracy theories? How was their approach and what was your response? Did they present it in a good manner or did they seem, well, crazy?

Well my Dad is a big conspiracy guy, hes waiting for them to find big foot, and have aliens land on the lawn of the white house.

So I get many of my views from him, hes a devote atheist but hes always told me never close my mind to any possibility out there.

I remember his younger brother giving me a book on mysteries, things like the Lock ness, Bigfoot, UFO, and a bunch more when I was in elementary.

So growing up topics like we discuss here where always around.

reply to post by benrl


That's cool that you have family members into the same kind of things. Like the above poster said, I'm sure people I come in contact with all the time are conspiracists, I just don't know it. But the guy I talked about in the OP was the first to bring it up with me.