Skeptic Project

So, my mom just sat down and turned on the TV, which has been automatically set to Fox News by my dad. Glenn Beck is on, so she went on this tantrum about how he's mentally ill and doesn't know what he's talking about. Knowing that she's never actually seen his show and presuming that all of her knowledge about him is from other talk shows like The View and whatever other daytime bullshit she absorbs, I asked,

"Why do you think that?"

She said, "because of the things he says and what he believes."

I responded, "where did you hear this though, is it from other shows talking about him?"

She said, "yeah, everyone talks about how he's crazy."

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Now, I agree that Beck is twisted, but I've actually seen his show and have directly taken in his claims.

(As I'm writing this, Mom said, "you know he used to be an alcoholic?" I said, "and he was able to stop." She said, "well, it's gotta mean something.")

What do you think about what my mom is doing? To me, it seems no better or worse than a CTer watching Zeitgeist or Alex Jones and thinking the government or Obama is evil. She may very well be correct that Beck is insane, but she gets her info from indirect, biased sources.

It really pisses me off when people do that sort of shit. If you're going to sit here and tell me Beck is crazy without having ever seen his show, who is the crazy one? You're the same fucking woman who said you don't listen to any doctors except for Dr. Oz.

Both the funniest and least funniest hour of my day. Fortunately, in a few weeks I'll be back at school where I do not own a TV.

One could argue that the fact he was an alcoholic to begin with says something also.

Cocaine, it's a hell of a conspiracy.

I totally get what you're saying. Judging someone without knowing anything about them is indeed hypocritical. I atleast bought an Icke book and even talked with the members of his forum before I finally agreed that he is indeed "barking mad."

All I've heard about Beck is that he is similar to Alex Jones. If that is indeed true, then your mum has a point. ;)

Well, that's social proof, you can't possibly look into everything yourself, so you usually go with the most popular theory, or the one that makes the most sense to you at the time.

It gets kinda creepy when people try to argue with others about stuff they don't know anything about, though. Once discussed communism with a few teabaggers, it's like telling a blind guy on roid rage the difference between the color blue and michael jackson.

Well, if I had some kind of job I hated and came home exhausted to relax for TV, I'd probably buy into the same kind of shit. But with 4h-days and money for books and stuff, things are slightly different. I'm still kinda getting on the arrogant "man, people are stupid"-trip sometimes.

For instance, over here, everyone is crazy about WM and shit, so government decides to take away chunks of the security for the poor, while making life for rich guys easier.

Not that I'm against it, it's just like playing cards against a dude who screams "poker!" when he's got dealt a good hand...a neverending cycle of facepalms.