The Wilcock Challenge, Revisited!

[Gnug215]

Some of you might remember David Wilcock.

I linked to a video of his a while back (probably over a year), asking if people were able to watch it all the way through (it was actually a series of videos.)

Many could not handle the obscene amounts of excremental logorrhea of The Wilcock, and had to give up, but some prevailed.

Well, I came across another of his vids, and it's even longer than his first! So I present to you a new challenge. Get through this entire whopper of a Wilcock video!



The winnarr gets Wilcock cake.

A fun sample:

Speaking of a person that he was debating who was debating for vaccines:

[he] is actually a former operative for Majestic, which is the UFO working group arm of the neoconservative Republican New World Order faction of the world elite.

He said that with a totally straight face, I kid you not.


---o---
(Now for the second part of this post.)

In all seriousness, this guy represents something that I consider to be a serious problem today: the ability of some people to spew such incredibly nonsense, and still be taken seriously by some. Not just taken seriously, but accomplish a significant cult following, and make a living of his nonsense.
Sound familiar? Yes, creationists are to a large extent doing the exact same thing.
They are basically using "our very own words against us" so to speak. Notice how Wilcock uses woowoo words seamlessly, but also totally wrong, and yet he still manages to wow these people into somehow thinking that he just made a valid, coherent argument.

He uses some rhetorical trickery, mostly consisting of overloading you with information, shifting between simple facts, nonsensical woowoo, psychobabble, vague new-age terminology and also emotional appeals. He also brought his slides again, where he, just like last time, Wilcock-rapes pop-culture so that it fits into his outlandish conspiracy theories.

What I want to know is... what kind of psychological phenomenon is at play here so that people are convinced that this guy is telling the truth? And please, not just "stupidity!", because with the amount of stupidity you'd have to posess to swallow this bullcrap should really prevent you from being able to function properly in society.

Oh, and this is the point where I tell you that I only made if 30 mins or so into his vid. Life is too short for shit like that.

 

[Case]

I read your post, drifted off into a fantasy where I became a sham preacher taking all the money from believers and donating it to science foundations in regular intervals... all that took about 6 minutes. That's about as much time as I'm willing to invest in this challenge. Next challenger!

 

[MrEsox]

i give up- 45 mins. i can never get back (unless i'm able to shift over to time/space :facepalm: )

although he did bash faux news, so he can't be all bad.

 

[Gnug215]

i give up- 45 mins. i can never get back (unless i'm able to shift over to time/space :facepalm: )

although he did bash faux news, so he can't be all bad.

He did, yeah, but notice how he also bashed some other conspiracy theorists/sites for being insiders/double agents?

That seems to be a growing trend between conspiracy theorists.

 

[Gnug215]

I read your post, drifted off into a fantasy where I became a sham preacher taking all the money from believers and donating it to science foundations in regular intervals... all that took about 6 minutes. That's about as much time as I'm willing to invest in this challenge. Next challenger!

That sounds like a good idea. I'm glad my post has had that result.

 

[5810Singer]

@Gnug

What's the mechanism that causes people to believe in conspiracy theories?

There were a number of wall-posters that were very popular during the 90s,...two of the most popular used to hang in Fox Mulder's office,...one had the motto "The truth is out there.",....and the other one said "I want to believe."

"I want to believe." There's your answer.

It is essential when playing games of make believe that ALL the participants join in with the game, that means that the peons have to buy into the ringleader's bullshit, or else the whole house of cards comes crashing down.

And they are all depependent on each other, the ringleader needs to have his bullshit believed, and the peons need to believe bullshit, no matter where it comes from.

IMO, if you ever find yourself considering conspiracy theorists as anything more than kids trying to scare each other outside a "haunted house", than you are massively over-thinking the issue.

 

[Gnug215]

@Gnug

What's the mechanism that causes people to believe in conspiracy theories?

There were a number of wall-posters that were very popular during the 90s,...two of the most popular used to hang in Fox Mulder's office,...one had the motto "The truth is out there.",....and the other one said "I want to believe."

"I want to believe." There's your answer.

It is essential when playing games of make believe that ALL the participants join in with the game, that means that the peons have to buy into the ringleader's bullshit, or else the whole house of cards comes crashing down.

And they are all depependent on each other, the ringleader needs to have his bullshit believed, and the peons need to believe bullshit, no matter where it comes from.

IMO, if you ever find yourself considering conspiracy theorists as anything more than kids trying to scare each other outside a "haunted house", than you are massively over-thinking the issue.

I guess I am overthinking the issue. Your explanation sounds good, plausible, but what I was thinking about was more the specific mechanisms involved. For instance, all the rhetorical tricks that Wilcock uses are obvious to me. There are so many alarm bells going off, not just from his "facts", but the representation itself. Sure, these people want to believe, but does that mean they just see through the fact that they're being played?

There was a study made once (and I'll be damned if I can find it again) that basically found something along the lines of this: religious people are more likely to accept a syllogism, or rather the conclusion of it, EVEN if one of the premises were false. That right there is an indicator of an entirely different mindset at the core level. We're talking basic understanding of language and logic.

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for.

But yes, I realize that there is a lot of Confirmation Bias involved, but what lies behind that bias? Why are some people seemingly more likely to "suffer" from it?

I hope that makes sense.

 

[MrEsox]

notice how he also bashed some other conspiracy theorists/sites for being insiders/double agents?

That seems to be a growing trend between conspiracy theorists.

i would expect nothing less from a group of people who are, at some level, paranoid. although, it would not completely surprise me if there were some insiders/double agents out there. it is possible that a CT could pose a threat to the public welfare if left unchecked. the gov't can't confront them with facts because they would not be believed. so why not get them squabbling amongst themselves? divide and not so much conquer as confuse. i don't know, sounds poss/plausible. hey, maybe i have what it takes to start my own little CT. (that would actually be a cool experiment. totally make something up, put it up on a website,youtube vids and see how many people buy into it and how quickly. ethical concerns aside, could be a neat school project. perhaps its already been done?)

I realize that there is a lot of Confirmation Bias involved, but what lies behind that bias?

i would guess an evolutionary psychologist might have something interesting to say about that?

 

[TheTruePooka]

Almost 11 minutes.

I still want cake. :/

 

[Gnug215]

Almost 11 minutes.

I still want cake. :/

Poor, pitiful Pooka with his pathetic attempt.

You get only pie!

 

[Deleted member 499]

YAY, I get cake. Although to be honest I'm not sure whether I've won or lost.

some gems:
Pyramids stop earthquakes
Earthquakes are caused by the concious mind of the population :facepalm:
DNA is displayed in crop circles (holy shit he went on and on about f*cking crop circles).
The sun is going to expand to the orbit of Venus on (guess which date)...................................21st December 2012, caused by the channeling of energy into the solar system which is supposedly causing all the planets to heat up and the sun's magnetic sphere to shrink. BUT, we won't die we will be propelled to a "higher" evolutionary state. :facepalm:
Oh, and apparently we have a fleet of ships outside the solar system which are montoring this.
The typical misunderstanding of evolution as "random chance" :facepalm:
He thinks a nuclear (fission) reactor is the same as what goes on inside the sun.
Apparently the reason dolmens in Ireland don't fall down because of earthquakes is because of their energy, not the distinct lack of earthquakes in Ireland. :facepalm:
The dismissal of spontaneous generation is a scientific conspiricy and survival of the fittest is an illuminati concept based on the mindset that the best killer is the most highly evolved :facepalm:

and then there's this quote.

Your identity is ultimately the sun, that which created all the particles and molecules that make you who you are

Someone clearly doesn't understand how fusion generates elements.

Now, if you'll forgive me I have to go and remove the stupid from my brain. I want my cake first though.

 

[Gnug215]

YAY, I get cake. Although to be honest I'm not sure whether I've won or lost.

some gems:
Pyramids stop earthquakes
Earthquakes are caused by the concious mind of the population :facepalm:
DNA is displayed in crop circles (holy shit he went on and on about f*cking crop circles).
The sun is going to expand to the orbit of Venus on (guess which date)...................................21st December 2012, caused by the channeling of energy into the solar system which is supposedly causing all the planets to heat up and the sun's magnetic sphere to shrink. BUT, we won't die we will be propelled to a "higher" evolutionary state. :facepalm:
Oh, and apparently we have a fleet of ships outside the solar system which are montoring this.
The typical misunderstanding of evolution as "random chance" :facepalm:
He thinks a nuclear (fission) reactor is the same as what goes on inside the sun.
Apparently the reason dolmens in Ireland don't fall down because of earthquakes is because of their energy, not the distinct lack of earthquakes in Ireland. :facepalm:
The dismissal of spontaneous generation is a scientific conspiricy and survival of the fittest is an illuminati concept based on the mindset that the best killer is the most highly evolved :facepalm:

and then there's this quote.

Your identity is ultimately the sun, that which created all the particles and molecules that make you who you are

Someone clearly doesn't understand how fusion generates elements.

Now, if you'll forgive me I have to go and remove the stupid from my brain. I want my cake first though.

I commend you. And here's some cake!

But yeah, the stupid is strong in this one, but wasn't it also kind of entertaining to watch him? To see how much crap he was able to cram together?

And yeah, the guy reaaaally loves his crop circles. I'm thinking that someone must have pointed him to circlemakers.org by now, though.

Anyway, I'm sorry for exposing you to this and wasting a couple of hours of your life.

Have some more cake!

 

[Deleted member 499]

http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/6/23/ihaswinnedcak128587339141851736.jpg sorry, saw this and couldn't resist.

But yeah, the stupid is strong in this one, but wasn't it also kind of entertaining to watch him? To see how much crap he was able to cram together?

And yeah, the guy reaaaally loves his crop circles. I'm thinking that someone must have pointed him to circlemakers.org by now, though.

Anyway, I'm sorry for exposing you to this and wasting a couple of hours of your life.

Have some more cake!

I would say more rage inducing than entertaining, although it was quite impressive to see how he can mash together concepts and draw a completely illogical conclusion. I also found it slightly amusing when they had a meditation break.

Oh and don't worry about wasting my life, I have a lot of free time at the moment.