Skeptic Project

Good article, but I disagree that 911 Truth is the biggest and baddest conspiracy on the block. I think this title should be bestowed on the conspiracy theory that Jews run the world.

I dont see myself as a gestapo debunker anyway so this doesn't really do any personal damage to my ego on why I debunk. I see stupidity I point it out, it's all very simple, as to whether we can stamp out peoples beliefs; who really wants to do that ?
I thought the whole idea was to point out how stupid the belief was and leave that out there for people to see. Getting into perma arguments with failed thinking is not constructive anyway and there's a list of psychological reasons why one shouldn't, which have been covered by most of us already in other areas of the forum and blogs. These psychological rationales about the faulty conspiracy mindset make it clear why a debunker should always make valid points and avoid getting into endless debates with crazy people.

And as for how many people got in touch with him, that is not indicative of how much effect his arguments have, because first: how many people read them, how many people visit jref that aren't already debunkers, and how many people who read even bothered to reply or get in touch ? It's all very quantitative. You can not conclude such a thing from the small numbers he personally got, there may be another less active poster whose points get hundreds of replies and private messages. That is a faulty way to justify a conclusion from his own personal numbers of contacts, it's not how you use data, you would need to conduct a full survey on how many debunkers are contacted about the matter to draw an honest conclusion about that.

I conclude that it is wrong of him on a few points, and correct on some:

Correct in that we will never stamp out crazy beliefs, they will resurface in various forms always. Correct in that we should not get into permanent arguments with nut bags.

Incorrect because debunkers do a good thing and their efforts go unthanked by hundreds if not thousands of people who will never contact them for their work.

I also submit this:
People are more likely to thank people for emotional reasons than for logical in my opinion, so in this respect debunking with facts and logic loses out against emotionally charged woo writers who people are more likely inclined to thank.

Good entry...if the article itself wasn't really long, I'd read that too, but you clearly provided some highlights.

It's definitely something to think about, but I can't help but think whether or not debunking is worth it might depend on the conspiracy theory itself. I never expect to be able to change someone's mind on a lot of conspiracy theories, especially if it appears to be believed with religious fervor. But as was mentioned, it has more to do with people who aren't familiar with it who run across it. Posting on the 2012hoax, I see this kind of thing all the time...someone runs across an end of the world story, or something about Nibiru, and get some help at 2012hoax. Several of them stick around and then go and help people who come to the forum afraid of something they ran across about the end of the world. So at least there, it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, in a way. While you may not help the true believers, the lay person who just heard about it probably gets a lot of help, and the debunker(s), frequently just don't hear about it.

Quote from anticultist

People are more likely to thank people for emotional reasons than for logical in my opinion, so in this respect debunking with facts and logic loses out against emotionally charged woo writers who people are more likely inclined to thank.

Could not agree with more with this point that anticultist made.

Also, I think it's highly important to keep debunking other conspiracies...especially the anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. That's because of how much harm anti-vaccine beliefs do, not just to its believers, but to society as a whole with the loss of herd immunity, and the subsequent return of various infectious diseases. I doubt hard-core believers will be convinced, but when it's a new parent who has just heard about it, and decides to do some cursory google searches, I think it's extremely important for actual information to be present, and just as visible as the hordes of wooster sites.