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Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

gizmodo.com

11–20 of 65 posts

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#11

These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there. > Even though “tin foil hat” is the expression, most people use aluminum foil these days. This is probably why, we’ve been duped! They replaced the tin with aluminum. Everyone knows aluminum has mind control enhancing, not reducing, powers.

I think that has always been the case. Dale Gribble predates the latest round of conspiracy madness by a few years and he was just as gullible. He’s the archetypal conspiracy theorist of the 90s.

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#12
> But the truth is, there’s really no evidence that a centralized power is trying to control your brain through electromagnetic waves entering your brain stem.

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/the-phrase-no-evidence-is-a...

> But the truth is...

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/truth/

Relevant:

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/psychology-normative-cogn...

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/belief/

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#13

[flagged]

It is a waste of time to continue to try to develop a power one does not have. Manipulating (e.g. "people who down vote [sic] refuse to believe"), spreading fear (e.g. "[mind manipulation occurs on] an 'industrial' scale"), and inflating one's own ego (e.g. "I am a renegade of thought control") contribute little to the discussion of this article. That is all.

[flagged]

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#14
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a waste of time to continue to try to develop a power one does not have. Manipulating (e.g. "people who down vote [sic] refuse to believe"), spreading fear (e.g. "[mind manipulation occurs on] an 'industrial' scale"), and inflating one's own ego (e.g. "I am a renegade of thought control") contribute little to the discussion of this article. That is all.

Rational comments can't change a mind driven primarily by emotions, especially negative ones like fear. We humans are not rational beings at the bottom of the things, and our school system does little to fight that. Thats why elections look like they look, that's why internet is not anymore a beacon of freedom and truth, but rather swamp of lies, manipulation and half-truths that one has to have a dedicated skill to…

I honestly cannot tell if your speaking for or against my first hand account, or the vehement denier :/

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#15

>Wearing one signals to others that you’re unhinged, have a deep distrust of the government, or that you’re really worried about aliens. >have a deep distrust of the government sure Gizmodo, being distrustful of a massive power entity is a lunacy /s

Lunacy is seeing “deep state” conspiracies everywhere. That’s not healthy skepticism.

[flagged]

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#16

These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there. > Even though “tin foil hat” is the expression, most people use aluminum foil these days. This is probably why, we’ve been duped! They replaced the tin with aluminum. Everyone knows aluminum has mind control enhancing, not reducing, powers.

> These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there.

"Conspiracy theories" are narratives counter to the status quo.

Arguably more people are "manipulated" into following the status quo.

Thus, I would argue that "conspiracy theorists" may be the least likely folks to be "manipulated."

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#17
post #16

These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there. > Even though “tin foil hat” is the expression, most people use aluminum foil these days. This is probably why, we’ve been duped! They replaced the tin with aluminum. Everyone knows aluminum has mind control enhancing, not reducing, powers.

> These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there. "Conspiracy theories" are narratives counter to the status quo. Arguably more people are "manipulated" into following the status quo. Thus, I would argue that "conspiracy theorists" may be the least likely folks to be "manipulated."

Yeah, that’s the default assumption. But nowadays media is so fragmented, bubbled, and algorithmic; you can have a whole YouTube or TikTok ecosystem around building an alternative narrative.

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#18

These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there. > Even though “tin foil hat” is the expression, most people use aluminum foil these days. This is probably why, we’ve been duped! They replaced the tin with aluminum. Everyone knows aluminum has mind control enhancing, not reducing, powers.

I think that has always been the case. Dale Gribble predates the latest round of conspiracy madness by a few years and he was just as gullible. He’s the archetypal conspiracy theorist of the 90s.

But nowadays with TikTok and YouTube, Dale Gribble can become an influencer, and at home video editing is so good that he can have his own green-screened newsroom with all the accoutrements of respectability. Or he could just start a podcast.

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#19

[flagged]

It is a waste of time to continue to try to develop a power one does not have. Manipulating (e.g. "people who down vote [sic] refuse to believe"), spreading fear (e.g. "[mind manipulation occurs on] an 'industrial' scale"), and inflating one's own ego (e.g. "I am a renegade of thought control") contribute little to the discussion of this article. That is all.

Creating a social stigma against anyone who doubts the government is highly beneficial for the government.

Re: Where did the idea of the tin foil hat come from?

#20

>Wearing one signals to others that you’re unhinged, have a deep distrust of the government, or that you’re really worried about aliens. >have a deep distrust of the government sure Gizmodo, being distrustful of a massive power entity is a lunacy /s

Deep distrust in this context is more like "lizard people are running the government as a tool to control us" where the entity secretly exists for a nefarious purpose rather than the stated one and there can be no level of trust with anything from it as a result. It's not the same as general distrust which would be more like "I don't trust all politicians inherently have our best interests at heart or that they will never abuse their power" where you don't blindly take everything at face value but you also don't blindly dismiss everything as outright untrustworthy either.
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