Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Stereotypes Conspiracy Theorists have against Skeptics

There are a lot of stereotypes that conspiracy theorists believe about skeptics, and for the most part they're just not true. Most of the time these beliefs are either the result of manipulation, or just misunderstandings.

Here are some of the most common claims that conspiracy theorists have against skeptic, and why these claims are not true:

All skeptics work for the government.

One of the most common claims by conspiracy theorists about skeptics is that skeptics work for, or at least are being paid by the government, or to a lesser extent, private companies, to run debunking websites (they're usually referred to by conspiracy theorists as "dis-information agents"). Usually these accusations are followed up with a joke by a skeptic, usually something like, "I'm still waiting for my check."

The reality is that most skeptics don't work for the government, and most likely never would. Those that do work for the government are not being paid by the government to run these skeptic websites, and they are doing what they do on their own free will.

Skeptics believe whatever the government or media says.

No they don't. In fact skeptics are highly critical of both the government and the media.

Skeptics know that the government lies to the public all the time to try to make itself not look as bad, and that the media tends to report things way to early, or sensationalizes stuff, so bad information gets to the public, rather then correct information.

Skeptics don't believe in conspiracies.

Skeptics actually do believe in conspiracies. The difference is between skeptics and conspiracy theorists is that the conspiracies that skeptics believe in either have been proven to be true, or has enough evidence (real evidence, not made up evidence) to prove the conspiracy to be true, or at least likely to be true.

All skeptics are alike.

One of the biggest misconceptions about skeptics in general is that we are all alike, and that we have similar beliefs and education, and that we all see things exactly the same, but in reality this is not true at all.

We all debunk things differently, and we sometimes come to different conclusions on things, and there are fights within the skeptics community.

All skeptics are Atheists.

While a large amount of skeptics are Atheists, not all of them are. In fact I'm not an Atheist. I'm actually a Christian, and I do believe in God.

Some Atheists may use their beliefs as an excuse for being a skeptic, but there's no religious test for being a skeptic, and anyone can be a skeptic regardless of there religious beliefs (or lack there of).

All skeptics have the same political beliefs.

No two skeptics are alike, and no two skeptics have the same political beliefs. There are skeptics that are conservatives  There are skeptics that are liberals. There are skeptics that are libertarians. There are skeptics that are socialists. There are skeptics that are moderates.

There is just as much of a wide range of political diversity among skeptics as there are among none skeptics.

All skeptics have the same educational levels and work in the science or educational field.

It is widely believed that most, if not all skeptics have a college degree.

While many probably do, not all of us do, and not all of us are scientists or teachers. Some of us are blue collared workers who only have some college education. Some of us might not even have that.

Skeptics believe that conspiracy theorists should be locked up.

The only time skeptics tend to believe that conspiracy theorist should be locked up is when it's suspected that the person might become a danger to themselves or to others, or when they are engaging in criminal activity (such as harassment or stalking).

Other times we consider conspiracy theorists to just be annoying, but that's about it.

Skeptics refuse to examine evidence other then official evidence.

Actually skeptics do examine evidence other then what's official, we just dismiss the alternative evidence when it's been proven to either be not true, or not possible.

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