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'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

sciencedaily.com

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Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#31
post #14

Give this a listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1eVTy0bBCg&t=115 Its a NASA scientist Dr. Douglas Rowland at the minimum admitting geo-engineering and that there are different types of "chemtrails" and that they have dumped lithium into the atmosphere.

better to read Snopes on the issue http://www.snopes.com/nasa-lithium-chemtrails-conspiracy/

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#32

I'm surprised to see this article in 2016. I thought chemtrails were debunked decades ago.

There has been a resurgence. General rejection of science and rational thought. Strong cross-over with those who Believe that Wifi causes cancer, vaccines cause autism, GM food will... do something bad, it's all a conspiracy.

Complete rubbish of course, it's the blue aliens from Gliese 667C who control the cabal. And HN of course.

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#33
post #6

Given the inherent implausibility of a massive global conspiracy that has such obvious effects but no coherent explanation of... anything... it seems to me that it would be more useful to study why and how people come to believe in these things. The problem is in people's heads, not the sky.

I agree, the problem is in the heads of the people who blindly trust everything they are told. Why is it so outrageous to assume that chemtrails might be a covert experiment to manipulate climate (or has some other purpose)? I'm not saying that it is, but is it outrageous to doubt official narratives? Since when is that scientific? Doubt is reasonable, there's no problem here. Unquestioned belief in "common sense" an…

Why is it so outrageous to assume that chemtrails might be a covert experiment to manipulate climate (or has some other purpose)? I'm not saying that it is, but is it outrageous to doubt official narratives?

If it were a single national airline, or even a subset of airlines, then maybe there would be cause for concern. But, a global conspiracy involving airlines, private airplanes, multiple governments, and tens of thousands of employees? That is patently ridiculous. Has anything on that scale ever been kept secret for long?

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#34
post #9

The idea of chemtrails is appealing to so many people because it's a way to express outrage toward the elites or upper echelons in society. The theories are always a bit vaporous (like the chemtrails themselves), but I think it's stemming from an honest, genuine sense of frustration that one is being cheated or manipulated by a system that doesn't represent them. Chemtrails give a head to this boogeyman.

Think about the metaphor: an invisible cloud of poison being sprayed from far above us and descending over the entire population to make us sick and control our minds.

There is such a thing but it is dispersed through radio, TV, and the Internet, not airplaines. It's particularly thick during an election year.

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#35
post #9

The idea of chemtrails is appealing to so many people because it's a way to express outrage toward the elites or upper echelons in society. The theories are always a bit vaporous (like the chemtrails themselves), but I think it's stemming from an honest, genuine sense of frustration that one is being cheated or manipulated by a system that doesn't represent them. Chemtrails give a head to this boogeyman.

I think this is pretty much exactly right. It's also tough to accept that the world is a messy place with a lot of loose ends that will never be tied. Religion used to 'make sense' of the what and why for a lot of people. But when you don't have that, and you don't want to think we are all just the result of a huge amount of luck, conspiracy theory gives you something to believe in.

Much like religion it's also next to impossible to argue against, because you're arguing against belief and not reason. You can show someone a thousand pieces of evidence and they'll say "that's what they want you to believe". But a single piece of 'evidence' in the opposite direction, however spurious, is enough to yield a thousand "I told you so / I was right all along" comments.

With chemtrails, for instance - you can point out the science as much as you like, but as soon a believer reads something like the cloud seeding over Asia [1] or the germ war testing off the UK [2], you might as well give up. Similarly with pretty much any other conspiracy theory.

[1] http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysia-and-indone... [2] http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/apr/21/uk.medicalsc...

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#36
post #9

The idea of chemtrails is appealing to so many people because it's a way to express outrage toward the elites or upper echelons in society. The theories are always a bit vaporous (like the chemtrails themselves), but I think it's stemming from an honest, genuine sense of frustration that one is being cheated or manipulated by a system that doesn't represent them. Chemtrails give a head to this boogeyman.

Those theorists are quite irrational, but what I find most ridiculous about a lot of them is not the theories themselves, but the idea that they have the ability to actually fight back. Sensationalists like Alex Jones assert crazy ideas such as the government tainting our tap water to perform mass mind control and yet at the same time spread this message that they can resist against the upcoming "New World Order." Wi…

Yeah, the interesting thing about conspiracy is that they're almost always self inconsistent: they believe in government/ elite having "super power", and yet also incompetent enough to cause fuck up that would require the existence of said conspiracy to cover things up.

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#37
post #9

The idea of chemtrails is appealing to so many people because it's a way to express outrage toward the elites or upper echelons in society. The theories are always a bit vaporous (like the chemtrails themselves), but I think it's stemming from an honest, genuine sense of frustration that one is being cheated or manipulated by a system that doesn't represent them. Chemtrails give a head to this boogeyman.

The problem is that these conspiracy theories started to attract believers that there was global geoengineering occurring and some even started to think that this "geo-engineering" was to mitigate climate change. That kind of craziness needed to be debunked along time ago

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#38
post #6

Given the inherent implausibility of a massive global conspiracy that has such obvious effects but no coherent explanation of... anything... it seems to me that it would be more useful to study why and how people come to believe in these things. The problem is in people's heads, not the sky.

This book explores the topic of why people believe weird things: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_People_Believe_Weird_Thing...

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#39

I'm surprised to see this article in 2016. I thought chemtrails were debunked decades ago.

YouTube videos make it true and it is a topic of discussion among people in small towns. The proof is all bogus, doesn't matter; They believe that the flights are in a grid, so I show them with apps that what they are actually watching are documented commercial flights of people travelling overhead. There just happens to be many such flights. There is no convincing against the will, at this point someone will need to invent a conspiracy that created the chemtrail conspiracy for it to be believed. Such a waste of time, try to avoid.

Re: 'Chemtrails' not real, say atmospheric science experts

#40
post #9

The idea of chemtrails is appealing to so many people because it's a way to express outrage toward the elites or upper echelons in society. The theories are always a bit vaporous (like the chemtrails themselves), but I think it's stemming from an honest, genuine sense of frustration that one is being cheated or manipulated by a system that doesn't represent them. Chemtrails give a head to this boogeyman.

Those theorists are quite irrational, but what I find most ridiculous about a lot of them is not the theories themselves, but the idea that they have the ability to actually fight back. Sensationalists like Alex Jones assert crazy ideas such as the government tainting our tap water to perform mass mind control and yet at the same time spread this message that they can resist against the upcoming "New World Order." Wi…

This. If the government is really that omnipresent and controlling in our lives, are they really going to let some blogger who knows the Truth run amok and post it everywhere?

Yes siree, this government is capable of faking the Moon landing, concealing the existence of aliens / lizard people, and executing 9/11 to invade Iraq, but they are powerless against some random dickhead with a laptop who spotted the holes in the Official Story that this omnipotent cabal just couldn't cover up. Riiight.

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