Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory

Post by ChainOfFools » Thu, Dec 09, 2021, 7:52 PM UTC

dogleash wrote: post #6

>It might smack of QAnon, the conspiracy theory that the world is controlled by an elite cabal of child-trafficking Democrats. Except that the creator of Birds Aren’t Real and the movement’s followers are in on a joke: They know that birds are, in fact, real and that their theory is made up. No shit. A real revelation from NYT would be admitting how many QAnon posters are just in it for the laughs too.

Post by pseudalopex » Thu, Dec 09, 2021, 9:09 PM UTC

felipeqq2 wrote: post #5

mythrwy wrote: post #4

These kind of "conspiracy theories" appear very fake to me. It's almost like "See, conspiracy theories are so dumb! This being established, it's obvious that XX theory about what our corporate overlords and politicians are corruptly doing against our self interest is also dumb".

afaik, the "birds aren't real" movement is a joke indeed. They'll never say that to you, though

Post by TigeriusKirk » Thu, Dec 09, 2021, 10:04 PM UTC

wolverine876 wrote: post #10

dogleash wrote: post #6

>It might smack of QAnon, the conspiracy theory that the world is controlled by an elite cabal of child-trafficking Democrats. Except that the creator of Birds Aren’t Real and the movement’s followers are in on a joke: They know that birds are, in fact, real and that their theory is made up. No shit. A real revelation from NYT would be admitting how many QAnon posters are just in it for the laughs too.

> how many QAnon posters are just in it for the laughs too How many? What do you know? Birds Aren't Real doesn't drive real world events. Government officials and parts of major parties aren't supporting them.

Post by wolverine876 » Fri, Dec 10, 2021, 10:46 AM UTC

TigeriusKirk wrote: post #15

wolverine876 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> how many QAnon posters are just in it for the laughs too How many? What do you know? Birds Aren't Real doesn't drive real world events. Government officials and parts of major parties aren't supporting them.

QAnon started for laughs. Then it spiraled out of control. That happens with a lot of joke conspiracy theories.

Post by CRConrad » Thu, Dec 16, 2021, 2:00 PM UTC

ksaj wrote: post #16

CRConrad wrote: post #12

So this: https://www.insider.com/history-anthropology-tiktoker-ancien... ...is supposed to be a "joke" of the same kind? Sorry, I must be getting too old -- lawn, geroff, etc etc -- but I just don't think it's funny. It's all just stupid.

The Birds Aren't Real movement isn't supposed to be funny. It's purpose is esoteric, in that it is a Gen Z response to fake news and conspiracy theory overload. Anyway, that's all in the article, which I'm sure you've read since you commented on it. The one you linked to is probably a failed attempt at the same thing. The problem with the Ancient Rome anti-theory is that it very well can lead people astray on histori…