I used to wonder if the Bay Area might be the conspiracy-theory capital of the world. When I lived in Santa Cruz circa 2004, I remember it being common knowledge in my dorm that 9/11 was a Bush-led conspiracy. We’re one of the only states where protesters routinely stage anti-chemtrails marches on the state capitol building. And don’t get me started on my former housemate, who insisted on turning the Wi-Fi router off at night because he “had trouble sleeping because of the radiation.”
Even very smart people can believe in very wrong conspiracy theories.
Pretty much every Californian I know believes in at least one fake conspiracy, whether it’s fluoridated water being a mind-control tool or some garbage about George Bush Senior running a child-prostitution ring. (Yes, people actually believe that one, and it predates Pizzagate.)
I think our strange demographic cluster of conspiracy theorists is remarkable and worth thinking about more deeply; but it’s also important to debunk them. Even very smart people can believe in very wrong conspiracy theories, and sometimes it just takes a good friend sending an article with a gentle message, like, “Hey, dude, you shouldn’t believe in the Illuminati shit.” Then you can steer them to real, far more terrifying conspiracies, like MKUltra or the FBI’s role in assassinating Fred Hampton.
This month we’re launching a new series, the Debunker, in which we’ll highlight different, common Bay Area conspiratorial beliefs and then tell you why they’re bullshit. We’re probably going to get flak from people who believe the Illuminati are behind this. Which is definitely not true — they control only the big fish, like the Chronicle.
Week 1: “Don’t Fear the Microwave”
Andrew Chamings details all the ways in which people are afraid of microwaves and why each one is a steaming, unevenly heated pile of crap.
