this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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politics

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[–] Zerlyna@lemmy.world 141 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Funny the last eclipse was no issue. The one where Trump looked directly into the sun with bare naked eyes. Pepperidge Farms Remembers….

[–] HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.one 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Man i was in south Carolina at the time, and there was talk of lizard men and Bigfoot a plenty.

[–] HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.one 4 points 7 months ago

Also people from the forest and creatures from the swamp, all sorts of ooga booga shit.

[–] GoodbyeBlueMonday@startrek.website 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Clearly he saw something that the Deep State is trying to hide, and now's the chance to see it for ourselves.

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[–] Granite@kbin.social 106 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Are they literally addicted to fear?

[–] IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world 52 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yep.

"Political conservatism is associated with an increased negativity bias, including increased attention and reactivity toward negative and threatening stimuli"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5793824/

[–] jimmy90@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

yes it gives their life structure like other addictions do and is even controlled by the same part of the brain

[–] TimLovesTech@badatbeing.social 40 points 7 months ago

The fear is how they keep the grift going. None of these wack jobs believe 99.99% of the shit they spew, but a base that is afraid is easier to manipulate/con.

[–] GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world 20 points 7 months ago

In a way yes, NPR talked about a study where conservative brains have a bigger fear center in the brain. There were a lot of cool distinctions made between conservatives and liberals in their brains and behavior patterns.

[–] crossover@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

They’re addicted to attention. And will do anything to get it.

[–] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 78 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (6 children)

Is it a coincidence that every nation's least intelligent people tend to be conservatives? And that the less intelligent they are, the more conservative they are?

[–] Aeri@lemmy.world 30 points 7 months ago (3 children)

You know I genuinely noticed something quite alarming about politics: Conservatives' stances are eerily close to my first draft uneducated analysis of a situation... when I was still a child.

When I was the age to get "The talk" I inquired as to why people who didn't want to get pregnant didn't just not have sex, and it was calmly explained to me why that was dumb as hell.

We're dealing with people who have the political leaning of a child with no compassionate education.

[–] RGB3x3@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

They're all just reactionary. They see a headline that says "algae farms being used to fight climate change" and think "dumb liberals using algae to do what algae does and thinking it's going to save the planet." That's as far as they go with their analysis.

Or they see headlines about DEI programs and think "that's actually racist against white people by giving minorities an advantage" without considering the underlying problems of inherent minority disadvantage in the numerous interconnected socioeconomic systems.

Conservatives are reactionary, not smart enough to be analytical, and unwilling to learn. Problems are literally too complicated for them to understand.

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[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 30 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Fear of the things you don't understand leads to fear of change. That's it. That's the entire thing.

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[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago (6 children)

No it’s a conspiracy. They’re putting lead in the water that’s turning the conservatives stupid and violent

[–] Socsa@sh.itjust.works 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

These people legitimately believe that shooting 1000 rounds of shit surplus ammo per week is perfectly normal. These people are very likely contaminating their entire lives with lead residue unless they are taking precautions, which we all know they are not.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Idk about lead exposure from shooting, but I do know that lead exposure makes you prefer guns to other shooting sports.

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[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

I read once that the most accurate definition of their mindset boils down to "You don't get to tell me what to do; I get to tell you what to do."

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Is it a coincidence that every nation’s least intelligent people tend to be conservatives?

Its more often that media likes to fixate on the biggest freaks. Flip over to some Ben Shapiro ass news coverage and you'll get plenty of "Blue Haired College Student Literally Shits Herself On Camera When Asked To Define The Word Woman".

Should be noted that the Alex Jones gang used to be a 9/11 Truthers and a anti-surveillance libertarians. They had more in common with the Austinite Fruits-and-Nuts liberals than Trump conservatives. But old liberal Austin money dried up and new right-wing tech billionaire money flooded the state, so Jones (and a bunch of others like New Atheist Sam Harris and journalist Glenn Greenwald) made the jump to follow the money.

Conservatives dominate conspiracy theories for the same reason they dominate terrestrial radio and cable news and country music and Twitter. That's literally just where you go to get paid.

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

The empathy factor..

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 70 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Jones included a video of a man speculating that various Texas and Oklahoma counties had declared a state of emergency in order to usher in a billionaire-led new world order.

It's already like this

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago

Yeah that happens in November and the consistency theorists are cheering it on

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world 57 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Losers that never paid attention in science class and had no science after high school trying to tell everyone we’re wrong and they’re right, so they don’t feel as idiotic as they are

[–] Vorticity@lemmy.world 24 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Most of the people saying this stuff, like Alex Jones, know that it's bullshit. They are preying upon the uneducated and gullable.

[–] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world 13 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I’m more referring to those that eat up their shit

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 3 points 7 months ago

Can't trust the scientists, they went to college and college makes you liberalwokecommunist!!

[–] geekworking@lemmy.world 28 points 7 months ago (3 children)

My conspiracy theory is that it's a hoax made up by the tourism boards of the cities along the path as a way to drum up more business.

Let's face it, nobody actually would want to go to Cleveland without the eclipse.

[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago (2 children)

What about major fans of the 1990s/2000s sitcom Drew Carey show? Cleveland, Ohio!!

[–] ProfessorProteus@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

🎵 CLEVELAND ROCKS 🎵

[–] GreatFord@lemm.ee 15 points 7 months ago

Cleveland- it’s not Detroit!

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Hey Cleveland is fine. I went there multiple times. Sure it’s because my doctor was there, and no I wouldn’t go there otherwise, but yeah it’s not bad

[–] doublejay1999@lemmy.world 28 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Is this really worth covering, rolling stone ?

There are and will always be a bunch of nutters who who think the mailman is CIA but there’s fuck all you and I can do about it.

The on going coverage is becoming grotesque . Just leave ‘em to it.

[–] EatATaco@lemm.ee 4 points 7 months ago

How dare they report on someone who is wildly popular spreading dangerous conspiracy theories!

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[–] LillyPip@lemmy.ca 20 points 7 months ago

These people think it’s the 1600s. Fucking medievals.

[–] babypigeon@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

They're fast tracking their way to Idiocracy at dizzying speeds.

[–] SmurfNuts@kbin.social 14 points 7 months ago

Our lack of free or affordable mental health care is really making itself apparent now. These people are bat shit crazy!

[–] Behaviorbabe@kbin.social 12 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I was thinking of taking my kids to see the eclipse at Niagara but…these guys and the combination of a large crowd has me concerned.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 7 points 7 months ago

It's a bit late to make plans. Roads are going to be massively congested in the hours before and after. The best way to avoid that is to stay somewhere overnight, but those places are all booked now.

[–] PlantJam@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Definitely take them! The next one in the US isn't until 2044 or something like that.

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[–] Sabata11792@kbin.social 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Aw, man they got me. I was going to block out the sun to calibrate the gay Jewish space lasers to kill god before the election. I also had planned an update for the moonagram. You guys would have loved it.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

What? Joe Biden switches off the sun for nefarious reasons or what?

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

He looks like an unlanced boil

[–] OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

There’s no evidence to suggest he’s not.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 6 points 7 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


As early as 763 BCE, ancient Assyrians were charting the process by which the path of the moon temporarily obstructs the sun, and astronomers have continued to do so for thousands of years since.

Unconvinced by thousands of years of scientific inquiry, as well as driven by a general sense of apocalyptic bloodlust, many on the right are trading conspiracy theories about the upcoming eclipse, ranging from the belief that it signals the End Times to the idea that the Biden administration is using it as an opportunity to shut down cellphone service or bring in the National Guard in an effort to make beautiful blond children who play sports transgender.

The post, which has more than 3,000 retweets and 1 million views, illustrates how the trajectory of the most recent solar eclipse viewable in the United States, as well as the trajectory of the upcoming eclipse, form an “Aleph” and “Tav,” which (as anyone who was forced to go to Hebrew school instead of staying home and using cheat codes to make your Sims woo-hoo naked knows) are the first and last letters in the Hebrew language, signaling the beginning and end times.

While this explanation sounds both highly rational and surprisingly efficient by county bureaucracy standards, it is not one that has been accepted by the slew of mini-Alex Joneses on TikTok, Instagram, and X.

Ostensibly, the title of the project, which is intended to measure changes in electric and magnetic fields, is a clever (albeit nerdy) reference to ancient Egyptian mythology.

So coming from the perspective of someone who very much understands science and how eclipses work: On Monday, if you’re standing in the right place at the right time and wearing stupid-looking glasses, you may or may not see the sun go black for a moment, as has periodically happened since the recording of human history.


The original article contains 1,030 words, the summary contains 310 words. Saved 70%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] Aeri@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It's going to look silly when nothing happens.

[–] arin@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Don't worry they'll find some laptop to outrage about

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 7 months ago
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