even Neil Armstrong believes it was fake??

          Neil Armstrong was one of the two men to walk on the moon from the Apollo 11 mission. This was a great acheivment in science and very important to American history. At the time we were in the space race with the Soviets, and this allowed us to come out on top. But not so fast, this conpiracy theory has been a large controversy over the years. Did it really happen or did the government fake this one as well??
          In August of 2009, Neil Armstrong was interviewed by the Onion, a news company. The astronaut, who walked on the moon, and stuck the American flag into the ground, believes he got punked. After he was convinced by Ralph Coleman's website OmmisonControl.org. he really got his emotions out. The Onion article emphasizes Armstrong's point of view when he states, "It has become painfully clear to me that on July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module under the control of my crew did not in fact travel 250,000 miles over eight days, touch down on the moon, and perform various experiments, ushering in a new era for humanity. Instead, the entire thing was filmed on a soundstage, most likely in New Mexico."
              He is skeptical due to the fact that the rippling of the American flag cannot happen in a vaccuum. Also, Coleman shows Armstrong that we would not have had the technology to put men on the moon in 1969. Lastly, he points out that in the photos of the moonlanding one of the rocks has a "C" stamped onto it. This realization the Armstrong is emotional for him. He throws his rocks in the trash, cries, and calls NASA a "lying bastards." His whole life he has thought he has made one giant leap for mankind. Clearly dissapointed he states, "I suppose it really was one small step for man, one giant lie for mankind."
         What does this mean for the belief of the rest of the world?? If Neil Armstrong believes its fake, and HE WAS THERE, what should we believe??

Psycholoy of it all

I have never taking psychology in high school and now I am in Gpysch  101 this semester. David Daniel is so entertaining I actually do not dread his class! Who would have thought, right?? It is not only him actually I kind of like psychology as a subject. It’s a different way to look at the world, which I have never done before. We just learned about the different parts of the brain and how the work. I think it is so awesome that so many things are going on around your body that you have no recollection of. So since I think like a psychologist now I wanted to know how it affected conspiracy theories.

So I did my research found that Jonah Lehrer published an article, “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories.” His answer to the theory behind this conspiracy theory is cognitive dissonance. He calls it “one of the most influential theories in social psychology.”  (We haven’t learned about this yet, so I cannot tell you David Daniel’s take on the subject). But this theory was concocted in 1954 by Leon Festinger.  He read an article about a housewife who was convinced the world was coming to an end. She claims she had been getting messages from aliens and had very specific details on where they came from and how the world would end.

                Festinger decided she would make a great case study (study where you study one person extensively, you can find out a lot but cannot generalize to the population).  He pretended to be her follower to see the reactions when they world did not end on December 20, 1954. When that date rolled around the group leader got a telegram from the aliens saying, “This little group sitting all night long had spread so much light,” the aliens told her, “that god saved the world from destruction. Not since the beginning of time upon this Earth has there been such a force of Good and light as now floods this room.” They were stubborn and now the group believed the aliens were MORE real and they got MORE followers. They reacted by becoming even more certain they were right.

                The anterior cingulate cortex is responsible for cognitive dissonance. It is kind of scary that even though we find conflicting evidence, we “double-down” on our beliefs.  We are all vulnerable to this theory, and Festinger was worried about that. Lehrer also points out in his article how easy it is to find “proof” on the internet that a conspiracy theory exists. Nowadays people will believe anything that they find off of a Google search. Thus raises the question, “Is Google Making us Stupid?...” For publishing all this bogus info that tricks us into believing?

Wackiest Conspiracy Theories

In my research of conpiracy theories I came across a site about the WACKIEST conspiracy theories. Some of these theories are so rediculous, I cannot understand how someone in their right mind would come up with these. Also, some of them I have mentioned previously that actual do have causation. I guess it must depend on whoever you are talking to. Some people think these theories are wacky and some live by them. I know in my previous blogs my opinions have been swayed on what the real story is, but some of these accusations are humurous. So, I am here to pass on the 10 Wackiest Conspiracy Theories:

1 - Dinosauroid-like alien reptiles are dominating the world.
2 - Apollo 11 Moon Landings were faked by NASA.
3 - September 11 was orchestrated by the government
4 - Barcodes are really intended to control people
5 - Charlemagne never existed, is a fictional character
6 - The truth is out there, on Area 51
7 - Microsoft sends messages on Wingdings Font
8 - US military caused the 2004 Indian Tsunami
9 - The Nazis had a moon base
Last, but certainly not least....
10 - Kentucky Fried Chicken makes black men impotent.

I can't tell from the website if people actually believe this kind of stuff?? Like really, alien reptiles are invading the world? Peope will believe anything these days,  "Hey, gullible is written on the ceiling!"

Thought this was funny to share with you guys!