Thursday, October 10, 2024

"Of course I've Got Sources!"

So in case you missed it, the latest MAGAt conspiracy theory is that "the government" is creating these huge hurricanes on purpose, so that they can aim them at Red States, and kill all the people who would otherwise be voting for Trump.

On one of the sites I was glancing at, a person made the claim that the government was indeed controlling the weather, that this was a "proven fact."

People asked this person for their sources. Now usually when that happens, your average MAGAt is confused, since they have no idea that people are supposed to support their claims with credible sources. Usually MAGAts will then call anyone who asks for evidence a sheep, brainwashed by liberals, and so on.

This person replied, though, giving their source: When they were a child, a weatherman their family knew got drunk and said it was true, that the government did indeed control the weather.

That, for your MAGAt, constitutes credible evidence.

Which is why they're voting for Trump. He tells them stuff, like that Biden and Harris are giving all the FEMA money to immigrants, or that FEMA is refusing the help Republicans, and they believe it, because Trump said it was true, so it must be.

How can we reason with people who don't know what a credible source is, or how to evaluate evidence? "My uncle's girlfriend's daddy said it, so I know it's true!"


2 comments:

nicoleandmaggie said...

I miss the heyday of snopes and people knowing about urban legends being popular. But sadly, the fact checking sites that people trusted (even random people without PhDs) have been taken over by plutocrats and are no longer trustworthy. People trusted Snopes and people trusted Oprah... Now people trust Fox News.

delagar said...

The sad truth