25% of Brits do not believe that man landed on the moon ....

[naomi24]

... according to Stephen Fry on QI.

Can that be true? Does anyone here believe that man didn't land on the moon - and if so, why?

[EvianBaby]

In order to establish that 25% of Brits do not believe it they would have to ask the question of every single Brit. I don't recall being asked.

All that figure shows is that 25% of the people they asked said they didn't believe it. I wonder if there is a statistic for how many of those people just gave any answer, whether they believed it or not.

[mickrog]

Thats cus they watched Capricorn 1....lol

[d9f1c7]

A lot of this cobblers started after the film Capricorn One. Then people realised that they could sell books and Videos to gullible fools who ignore all the evidence. How did they fake the moon rocks? They have been examined by thousands of labs around the world, no one has ever doubted the origin. Horizon once decided to put this to bed by attempting to fake them, their attempts were spotted every time by junior geology students the program concluded that it would be easier to go to the moon to get some than fake them on earth.

Joggerjayne and others on here just put their hands over their ears and go lalalala. They never offer any evidence to back up their case, all the "anomolies" have been explained ad infinitum. I don't know how to get through to that level of intellect I really don't!

[FredPuli43]

It's curious that conspiracy theories are such an American phenomenon. There have been whole books on the topic. The theories seem to be associated with bad times in the US, but are fuelled by American suspicion of 'big government' and that curious idea that every American is equal. If we are all equal, then my theory is just as good as yours, or any scientist's, or anyone's. As Jackie Mason put it as a quote "What's so special about Bill Gates? He sells computers. So? I sell shirts !"

Or it could be that many Americans are just thick but louder than our thicks !

What home-grown conspiracy theories do we have? The one about Princess Diana's death? That was created by an Egyptian born man, wasn't it?

[beso]

One person's conspiracy theory is another's gospel. Those who consider it gospel are beyond being convinced that fraud isn't fact no matter how much of the story is countered by scientific knowledge and verifiable observation.

Most people have some prejudice and many attribute the evidence based solution to being corrupted by conspiracy of those who stand to make money from the conventional wisdom of those knowledgeable and experienced in the field or those who are trying to cover up an abuse of power.

Aside from the obvious example of the irrationality of believing in a collection of ancient Arab myths there are many examples of supposed conspiracy that would be familiar to most.

Vaccination is a very controversial topic yet the scientific evidence should clearly dispel the claims made by the anti-vaccination lobby. Yet some otherwise rational people will stick to their prejudice as an every increasing amount of evidence accumulates to contradict claims such as a link between vaccination and autism and cite conspiracy to support their position.

Indeed in this particular case the only conspiracy exposed in an investigation was that undertaken by the doctor who polluted the sample used in the early trials by selecting patients who suited what he wanted to show in the results. He was also on the payroll of an anti-vaccination group.

Unfortunately trying to rebuke claims of conspiracies leads them into high visibility where they become further reinforced in their mind. The more opponents speak against in the more committed the conspiracy proposition becomes in their mind. "Just look how they deny our claims, just as we expects of these liars."

The most widely held conspiracy theory is that promoted by those who refuse to accept the scientific evidence behind global climate change. Yet, those of you who take this position can easily see the folly of the no moon landing conspiracy. Or the 911 conspiracy. There are many others that would give the opportunity of another perspective on why others can appear to be so blind to the facts.