To think this man is disturbed

[jackdawdawn]

I had a conversation with a neighbour today. He lives alone and is late 40s-ish.

He had just been to the gym and started complaining about their showers being closed. Then he said, 'there is worse to come, you know.'

He started to talk about the government forcing people to wear masks, and about C19 being a myth, with the death rates made up by govts . He got quite agitated.

He mentioned a movement called the 'Illuminati' and said they were trying to take over the world (?) About Bill Gates and Elon Musk and other famous men being part of a paedophile ring, which also includes Chinese and BLM figures, which Trump has rumbled and is trying to investigate. About the new telecommunications satellites and 5G masts spying on people . And then some rant about MMR giving kids autism. I just nodded my head, I wasn't going to start arguing.

I know that conspiracy theories are rife online right now, but surely beliefs like this are excessive? I think this man is disturbed and needs to be assessed or evaluated. He is separated and single, as far as I know, but has two children who sometimes come to stay but what is his mental state, really? When does conspiracy theorism shade into paranoia?

I know his mum and dad and sister to see (they all live locally), but it would be a difficult conversation!

@CuriousaboutSamphire

Oh! I lost a lot of time over Free Britney.

It still worries me!

Even if it’s not what the conspiracy theorists say her page is very worrying

Nothing in the media despite lots of famous people using the free Britney hashtag like Paris Hilton recently.

I believe that the virus is real, and that people have died, and will continue to die.

I also agree that steps need to take place to curb the spread.

What I do not believe is the way the media has tried to portray this as an indiscriminate killer virus. When one looks at the actual mortality rates, the numbers are tiny. This could be scewed even further by false negatives.

'Also the spying generally with mobiles, smart TVs , Alexa etc

He's lonely and too much time on his hands'

I would not say the government is spying per se, but if they wanted to, they could obtain a LOT of data from the above.

As long as you take some simple steps, it reduces your exposure.

Main one, always make sure any web cams are covered up if not in use.

In the 90s I was doing A levels. Our teacher believed in Lizard people in power; paedophilia being supported by newspaper magnates and other assorted wealthy people; diseases created by pharmaceutical companies etc etc. My mum was somewhat concerned when I delightedly described how we could get her onto these rants to kill time on dull days. School shrugged it off, she was, otherwise, a competent teacher, we all did well etc.

These obsessives I guess are functioning enough that you just have to respect these beliefs are important to them. Buy I view it very similarly to people with strong religious faith who will casually make a quick prayer/ talk about love of God. My response of awkwardness around their extreme views is the same.

Just ignore him OP. Don't give him any head space.

Having odd beliefs is one thing; having odd beliefs and them impacting on your life to an extent that your ability to engage in normal (for you) activities, have normal (for you) relationships with others and maintain (relative) safety is another.

My DH believes some absolute tripe of the kind that makes me stare at him and back away sloooooooowly for a calming cigarette, but that's all it is, belief in absolute tripe. It would be if those beliefs motivated behaviours that caused harm to himself or others that I would get really concerned, or if they were causing him distress that went beyond being a bit worried.

Why let it bother you ?

He believes it, you don't . I really do not see the big deal here .

Those aren't 'excessive', they are pretty normal beliefs for conspiracy theorists. They redraw normality so it fit in with their beliefs.

His are pretty standard. Bonkers, but standard.

@Fosler

Vernon Coleman? Not sure if he has MH problems but he's been widely criticised (and formally by the ASA) for making very misleading claims which are given weight by many (misguided people) due to his medical background.

If he's telling you CV is a hoax, don't forget he called AIDS 'the hoax of the century' as said it effecting heterosexuals was untrue (oh he's also a homophobe too, and a creepy misogynist). And he thinks GPs (General practitioners, not Grandparents) are in the top 3 causes of death in the UK. He just makes money from people like you eagerly gobbling up his crap because he used to be a Dr.

He's an utter joke and a bit of a twat to be short but keep following if he's your kind of guy!

@d4win....the thing is you have mentioned at least two things theRe that could well have more than a grain of truth in them.

The problem is 'the lizard people' thing that always gets trotted out first. ..thereby closing people's minds to anything else.

It's almost as if Icke was a 'shill'.

People really have got fucking stupid in the last few years. Sort of the last 5 years, its really really gone downhill.

As a single man he has all the time in the world to watch conspiracy theory videos.

Yes because single people have nothing worthwhile to do with their lives obviously 🙄 what a horrible attitude @Shouldbedoing

@Fosler

Do you think this Dr. Has MH issues also?

It's wise to question everything imo.

Fosler Do you think this Dr. Has MH issues also?

Yes. Please believe me when I assure you that being a doctor does not mean you cannot develop mental health issues.

I also think that man is a flat out liar.

Does nobody else think it strange that he went from being a talented singer songwriter to being relatively talent free so quickly?
Still not forgiven him for the Frog Chorus then?

There are thousands of people online that are spouting this crap. I know several families who've told me similar stuff.

Yes it's a load of rubbish but I don't think you need intervene

@Iwalkinmyclothing

Not just a liar....look at my post a few posts back. And that's being kind! I could also talk about his love for, and promotion of cross-dressing as 'treatment' for stress, and his creepy pornographic writings too..

I do take the points about religion made above. I wonder if conspiracy theory proliferation is just filling the void left by the withering away of traditional faith? People seem to have a need to believe in hidden and organised forces of evil, particularly.

A friend of mine has been sucked into this shit. She's gone from a normal, slightly sarcastic, and capable woman, to believing in bonkers YouTube videos about Prince Charles being a cannibal in.... Three weeks?

The problem is 'the lizard people' thing that always gets trotted out first. ..thereby closing people's minds to anything else
Well, Nick Nittoli, QAnon, on Newsnight last night is totally on board with the Lizard people thing, sooooo
(He’s also totally on board with the world wide elite secretly baby farming to drink their blood for the adrenachrome.......)

Oh YouTube. Oh for fucks sake! I am so beginning to hate it, I really am. Why is it that without exception, every person I've seen post a YT clip as 'proof' of something, has been an ultra far rightist or an anti-vaxxer or some variety of conspiracy theorist? Seriously, YT is this decades wikipedia. NO ONE believes anything on YT. Why do people come on here (and on Facebook - I had to block a particularly nasty person earlier today who insisted Angelina Jolie is a practicing Satanist and is also a paedophile - and promptly posted the obligatory extremist conspiracist YT clip 'proving' that she is) and post a YT clip as if they are making a 'mic drop' moment and slamming down proof? Whenever you research the person who is in/made the clip, you always, always find out that they are an outlier, an outcast from their profession and are widely discredited. As well as known con artists. People who post these YT clips never post info from reputable, popular, well-respected mainstream people. In their hunger for Confirmation Bias, they never fact check or cross reference or background check the people in the clips. NEVER. It's always the ones who are on the edge, or rather jumped off the edge and peddle nonsense and junk science that is not peer-reviewed and there is zero proof of.

A YouTube clip can be made, edited, spliced, uploaded by any man and his dog and cat these days. ANYONE can make one. YT just happens to attract more clips from the unhinged nutters who now have that platform to spew their delusional and dangerous theories and agendas. Unfortunately, gullible and easily led people actually watch the videos and believe them.

You know I always wondered how people get sucked into cults like The Family or that Jonestown group that suicided via koolaid. I could not believe that people could be soooo fucking gullible. I comforted myself with the though that they were in the minority. I'm beginning to think there may be more of 'these people' than I thought. It's 2020. I don't get it. We have so much knowledge, access to research and facts at our fingertips, yet the human race seems to be getting dumber and more easily brainwashed. Why? It's 2020. Ffs!

seems to be getting dumber should have been seems to be regressing*

What is that quote? If you don't believe in something, you'll believe in anything

Definitely think people are trying to make sense of their world by pulling together all these disparate things to try and find some commonality in them that could give them a scapegoat (anti semitism is rife online), reason to distrust 'rules' that protect us all (government trying to control us) or revising history (Illuminati).

As PP have said there is a grain of truth in most of what he was saying.

As PP have said there is a grain of truth in most of what he was saying.

There really isn’t.