What conspiracy theories do you believe in? - Put your tinfoil hats on

[Fek]

I resolved that whenever I was challenged with a fact that I had an instant response to I’d step back and think about it and consider an opposing or contradictory viewpoint.

Perhaps you've heard the adage regarding "never waste a crisis," typically tossed out while pointing at government overreach or tyranny which follows any generally fearful moment (9/11, COVID, etc)? I would propose that it works both ways.

Within each crisis and as an individual, there is great opportunity to be seized in one's own mind. One's own psyche, if you will. When looked at in that light: we're being barraged with moments of (potential) learning over the last decade compared to how things had been prior. What else would cause most to jolt out of their day-to-day routine enough to stop and really take stock like that, short of the theater of widespread crisis?

I would wager most can look back on their lives thus far and identify scant few moments (prior to clown world really kicking off) where they really truly learned something profound about themselves through experience. Those moments tend to not come very quickly, and even then - how many would fearfully turn away lacking understanding?

The only constant across all moments one experiences is the ability to choose how they react. Turn away in fear? Bury one's head in the sand? Face it head on? Get angry? Sad? Or..perhaps seek the wisdom and self-betterment hiding in each moment?

Spoiler: Quote response

Besides you can't make the world as good as it is by taking away government, big business, and all the others that play a role in this.

I would suggest that there may be some base assumptions left unchallenged in this statement. The beliefs attached to them could be quite limiting.

As an example: how would you define the world being "as good as it is" given the props and actors in play? "Good" is extremely variable in intensity and meaning from person to person, or context to context, etc.

Might as well accept it for what it is. And I say that as someone who wants to see it torn down completely.

One can readily accept what is before them while simultaneously realizing it is unsustainable without fear. Likewise, we're once again faced with a term that has many meanings. Acceptance need not mean acquiescence or..keeping one's head down and perpetuating the issue to spare the likely (yet temporary) discomfort in great change.

When fear finally passes from the hearts of enough people, then the very idea of what a "good" civilization or world means will radically change beyond that unseen since the catastrophic ending of the last great age of humanity.

 

[The Nothingness]

Coin collecting is a scam to get the United States Mint to create more useless coins and devalue physical currency.

 

[Otterly]

Within each crisis and as an individual, there is great opportunity to be seized in one's own mind. One's own psyche, if you will. When looked at in that light: we're being barraged with moments of (potential) learning over the last decade compared to how things had been prior.

This is wisdom. Actually very similar to something @Overly Serious said to me. You’re right, and I find this a slightly scary but also somewhat optimistic way of looking at it all, so thank you.

 

[Overly Serious]

This is wisdom. Actually very similar to something @Overly Serious said to me. You’re right, and I find this a slightly scary but also somewhat optimistic way of looking at it all, so thank you.

Humans operate on two levels. One is like a current gen "AI" - a trained model that takes an input / stimulus and gives a learned response. Current gen AI is essentially a fantastically detailed auto-complete / predictive text. Humans do that too. Because it's useful. And it can extend very far up the stack into one's social interactions, even. Hear the same opportunity to do so, tell the same amusing anecdote. Talk to the same parent, go through the same conversational beats... Humans can live much of their lives on auto-pilot and the older the human gets the more complete their model has become - skills, conversational habits, social situations... whatever. And so the more one might live on auto-pilot.

Such things as @Fek refers to are situations where the model is inadequate. That's where consciousness plays a role. That's when the super-monitor says: "Hmmm, model not working", the self wakes up and you become alive again. At this point, as Fek says, there is an opportunity. I would rather use the word choice, imo. The choice is to say "this circumstance is atypical, wait it out, return to my model" or "my model needs changing. Stay awake, stay alive which I oversee those changes".

We spend much of our lives, typically, half-asleep, running on our learned models. Eventually that sleep can become a torpor. That's one reason sometimes people go off the rails and do something crazy with their life - they may or may not understand things in the terms I just laid out but they do understand that their best way of changing trajectory is to change the inputs to the models so that they can't autocomplete anymore. So they do something drastic to try and escape - even create a crisis or large upset in seemingly normal life. Anything to force inadequacy in their models because those models can become a trap. Some people who are very smart and very good at building those models struggle against this paradox of not wanting to be trapped by them most of their life. Do not go gentle into that good night. It can happen long before physical death. We can become fitful dreamers, watching our life proceed, tossing and turning uncomfortably but unable to wake up because we are not needed. Nothing calls us up. The dream has become self-managing, the dream has become the dreamer.

The most difficult thing, is to wake ourselves without needing to set the bed - our life -on fire to do so.

 

[Otterly]

The most difficult thing, is to wake ourselves without needing to set the bed - our life -on fire to do so.

This is worth a thread in itself.

 

[Overly Serious]

This is worth a thread in itself.

Maybe I'll make one.

 

[lurkin]

I think the 2000's run of 'reality' Tv was a type of conditioning, to prep us for a new century of self surveillance. The idea that anyone can be a celebrity and the constant need to film every last mundane moment of our objectively shit lives only benefits someone who would be compiling all this for whatever reason. Also when all that pokemon go shit was redhot I kept wondering if it wasnt a very effective way of 3d mapping, same goes for snapchat facial filters.

 

[Otterly]

same goes for snapchat facial filters.

I’ve thought the same of things like ‘post a selfie of yourself twenty years ago and now’ type things. Seems like a great way of training an AI to recognise people after a few years

 

[Fek]

Humans can live much of their lives on auto-pilot and the older the human gets the more complete their model has become - skills, conversational habits, social situations... whatever. And so the more one might live on auto-pilot.

And the less likely or tougher it becomes to shake them from it, right.

We spend much of our lives, typically, half-asleep, running on our learned models. Eventually that sleep can become a torpor.

Yes - which makes it all the more horrifying for those who suddenly find themselves awake amongst the sleepwalkers, as you eluded to later:

The most difficult thing, is to wake ourselves without needing to set the bed - our life -on fire to do so.

I believe Gurdjieff referenced it as "the terror of the situation". Amusing fellow if you've not happened upon him before. Worth hearing him out if one is into the greater topic under discussion here.

 

[blue gopher snakes]

Babies need their mums for the first year at least. Shoving them in daycare at weeks old is extremely traumatic for them

People are willing to accept that adoption can lead to trauma because it involves separation from the mother at too early an age. But the second you suggest that day care from birth might have similar consequences, they lose it. Preschool for toddlers and older as an enrichment activity a few hours a week is not the same as the “infant room” at the local daycare. The latter is just bleak.

I’ve thought the same of things like ‘post a selfie of yourself twenty years ago and now’ type things. Seems like a great way of training an AI to recognise people after a few years

It’s also a good way for AI to mine images and information that would otherwise be safely stored locally on personal computers or even in hardcopy photo albums. Turns out people will just offer up the details of their lives for free if the harvesters make it a little bit fun.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

This is less a conspiracy theory but more a prognostication. I believe that we will, in the next few years, see a significant spike in FASD and similar issues related to substance abuse during pregnancy. Shoutout to our main gal @Otterly for helping me find data, she a qween.

Thesis
My thesis is that we have an invisible, silent, and growing epidemic of children born with developmental issues due to being exposed to illicit or prescribed drugs in the womb. The ramifications are only starting to be seen, but will become more and more obvious as the post COVID Lockdown kids mature.
The reason for this belief is a few things, mainly that substance abuse overall has increased, that young children currently in school are exhibiting certain behaviors and symptoms, and that FASD and similar issues are quite hard to get accurate data on.

What’s happening in schools
If you have seen or heard anything about Gen Alpha and school, you will have heard some very disturbing things. They aren’t listening, they are violent, they are extremely behind for their age, and it’s only getting worse. Look up “gen alpha school” and you will find hundreds of videos of just the craziest shit these kids are pulling.

The Scapegoat
Most teachers and parents blame, of course, screens and social media for this behavior. This is certainly true, but it’s a lie by omission. The actual root cause is parental disinterest. The parents are the ones fucking up their kids, the screens are merely the easiest way to ignore the kids. Keep that in mind, parental disinterest.

FASD Facts
For this we will just use FASD as a catch-all phrase for people who were, in one way or another, affected by being exposed to substances while their mother was pregnant. I will explain why in a moment.
So, what does it do?


Looking at the trends of children’s performance in school, the above symptoms look kind of familiar.
But, that’s a tenuous connection. Here’s where things get weird.
Children affected by prenatal drinking more numerous than previously estimated 2018

This was 2018, and as we all know rates of substance abuse skyrocketed after the lockdowns. One in one hundred is already bad, but consider that these conditions are frequently underreported and drugs besides alcohol can easily mess up a kid’s development.
Here is a more modern count of up to one in twenty.

I believe the actual rates are higher, here’s why.

Drugs
Drug abuse overall has been increasing these past few years. That is an undeniable fact. But there’s quite a few drugs I am particularly interested in for this discussion.

Benzos
Benzodiazepines such as Xanax are incredibly popular for abuse, and this is some street knowledge but it’s a commonly abused drug for your classic pillhead mom.





Opioids
The other class of drugs that are very common to abuse are of course opioids. If a mother is abusing them they are likely prescription pills. There are many brands, but for our example we will use oxy.





SSRIs
This is one many people don’t think of, but SSRI prescriptions in 2023 were at roughly 45 million. We have less data regarding every type of SSRI and what it does to a developing fetus, but let’s be real here brain medications will probably mess up the brain of the child.

Prognostication
Given the above information and personally seeing the new generation of kids and parents, it is my belief that in the next few years we will see a dramatic increase in developmental, cognitive, physical, and emotional delays among Gen Alpha. This is a massive problem.
Rising rates of FASD means that all the other kids in class will be held back because the retards need more attention, at risk of more violence because the retards are violent, and even further down the line spending will have to be increased because retard kids grow up to be useless drains of adults. The circumstances of this new generation’s birth have fucked them for many reasons, and if I’m correct that FASD-type disorders are becoming more prevalent it could have a significant impact on how the entire generation functions.

What do you guys think? I’m not a medical expert but I feel this lines up well with what we’re seeing from these kids. Obviously it’s not 100% only FASD, but I think there’s enough going on that it’s an important factor.

 

[blue gopher snakes]

@VeteranOfTheRetardWars look up Emily Oster. She’s (I think) a data scientist who wrote a pregnancy book called Expecting Better. It included some claims about FASD and drinking during pregnancy that could be relevant to your thesis. I would be interested in seeing if there was a spike in FASD diagnoses after her book was published. She essentially made claims or observations that led to the mom internet decision that it Isn’t That Bad to drink during pregnancy. I am sure that extended to substance abuse. And mothers who admit to drinking during pregnancy probably round down when copping to the habit, so it’s probably impossible to get accurate data on how many units were actually consumed.

iirc she was the hero of mom reddit for a while until she came out with some covid opinions that didn’t toe the Party Line at which point all her claims are now verboten and wrong.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

And mothers who admit to drinking during pregnancy probably round down when copping to the habit, so it’s probably impossible to get accurate data on how many units were actually consumed.

The biggest issue I’ve found is that it is incredibly hard to get an accurate read on newborns effected by substances in the womb.

 

[Larry David's Opera Cape]

Drug abuse overall has been increasing these past few years. That is an undeniable fact. But there’s quite a few drugs I am particularly interested in for this discussion.

I generally agree with your prediction but I think you're overlooking the one that has always been and will continue to be the biggest culprit: alcohol itself.

Yeah yeah everyone knows not to drink in pregnancy, but alcoholism among childbearing age women is skyrocketing, and alcoholics are not known for following sensible advice about drink. Not only that, the whole cultural phenomena of "wine mom" and "wine aunt" and so forth have become so mainstream. Even if you have to hide the drinking in public, in private many addicts can rationalize it to themselves.

I also think stimulants are going to be a way bigger deal than oxy. Oxy is on the way out, getting more difficult to obtain. All the "ADHD" drugs are enormous among the current cohort of baby-havers, and the tropes around them are that they are Safe and Effective and a Human Right and very much Medically Necessary- easy to psychologically justify using during pregnancy even if someone tells you it's not a good idea.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

I generally agree with your prediction but I think you're overlooking the one that has always been and will continue to be the biggest culprit: alcohol itself.

Yeah yeah everyone knows not to drink in pregnancy, but alcoholism among childbearing age women is skyrocketing, and alcoholics are not known for following sensible advice about drink. Not only that, the whole cultural phenomena of "wine mom" and "wine aunt" and so forth have become so mainstream. Even if you have to hide the drinking in public, in private many addicts can rationalize it to themselves.

I also think stimulants are going to be a way bigger deal than oxy. Oxy is on the way out, getting more difficult to obtain. All the "ADHD" drugs are enormous among the current cohort of baby-havers, and the tropes around them are that they are Safe and Effective and a Human Right and very much Medically Necessary- easy to psychologically justify using during pregnancy even if someone tells you it's not a good idea.

I could make another whole rant about stimulants and the problems they cause, but in my reading it’s mainly stimulants in childhood that are the biggest worry regarding the development of a child due to the sheer volume of prescriptions.
As for alcohol, absolutely a massive problem. However, alcohol consumption is already known to be a problem whereas I think other drugs are not talked about near enough.

 

[The Foxtrot]

@VeteranOfTheRetardWars - A very astute observation. I looked up the facial structure of someone who has (had?) FASD, and holy shit I realize how many people my own age (late Millenial/early Zoomer) have those traits, and then the personality traits you've previously described.

I truly dread the future, because most of these kids will grow up to be barely-if-at-all functional "adults" who probably won't even be able to truly take care of themselves, they'll have to rely on their parents making the hard decisions and a government welfare check to ensure they don't starve.

At what point do we have too many grasshoppers like them, and not enough ants like us, before the whole shebang just collapses?

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

@VeteranOfTheRetardWars - A very astute observation. I looked up the facial structure of someone who has (had?) FASD, and holy shit I realize how many people my own age (late Millenial/early Zoomer) have those traits, and then the personality traits you've previously described.

Legit, I work customer service and I looked at these weird fish-looking children and thought something’s up.
No shitpost, I actually believe what I said is true.

 

[Flan Handler]

SSRIs
This is one may people don’t think of, but SSRI prescriptions in 2023 were at roughly 45 million. We have less data regarding every type of SSRI and what it does to a developing fetus, but let’s be real here brain medications will probably mess up the brain of the child.

A friend of mine tried to reduce her SSRI usage so she could work towards getting pregnant. She was having suicidal thoughts within the first week of titrating down.

She and her husband thought about the implications and decided not to have kids at all. Probably the right decision, but it took her a long time to get over it.

I think you may be into something. I followed all the recommendations, I didn’t eat soft cheese or sushi, and stayed away from all drugs including Tylenol. I felt a little silly but my risk analysis was: I don’t actually need any of that stuff, I can have it when I’m not pregnant, so it wasn’t too hard for me.

There are lots of moms like that out there. But I do know of plenty of FASD kids, and the local school is full of aides to wrangle them.

I’m thinking of one local FASD kid, and his mom is just a fucking stupid goblin. She asked me to a play date and I try not to be too judgemental but holy shit these people.

 

[Larry David's Opera Cape]

A friend of mine tried to reduce her SSRI usage so she could work towards getting pregnant. She was having suicidal thoughts within the first week of titrating down.

She and her husband thought about the implications and decided not to have kids at all. Probably the right decision, but it took her a long time to get over it.

I think you may be into something. I followed all the recommendations, I didn’t eat soft cheese or sushi, and stayed away from all drugs including Tylenol. I felt a little silly but my risk analysis was: I don’t actually need any of that stuff, I can have it when I’m not pregnant, so it wasn’t too hard for me.

There are lots of moms like that out there. But I do know of plenty of FASD kids, and the local school is full of aides to wrangle them.

I just posted about this in a different thread- SSRIs have a frank, as-medically-defined withdrawal syndrome. Every bit as serious as the one for opioids. But pharma lobbyists found in the 90s that calling it that put too big of a dent in sales, as you'd really only give a drug that could be addictive to people who had no better options, rather than shoving it at every man, woman, child, cat, and dog who got a bit blue or listless. So they successfully campaigned to force an official change of terminology- it's a "discontinuation syndrome."

It causes that suicidal ideation as part of the blowback from how it manipulates neurotransmitter levels. When that happens, because it's not recognized as withdrawals (which are treated with supportive care and supervision) it is treated as a "relapse of the disease" and the drug is restarted. You are not meant to ever be able to truly quit these drugs. It's by design.

Imagine if we treated heroin withdrawals by saying "just take heroin until die- you know like how a diabetic has to take insulin." That's exactly the situation.

 

[Flan Handler]

I just posted about this in a different thread- SSRIs have a frank, as-medically-defined withdrawal syndrome. Every bit as serious as the one for opioids. But pharma lobbyists found in the 90s that calling it that put too big of a dent in sales, as you'd really only give a drug that could be addictive to people who had no better options, rather than shoving it at every man, woman, child, cat, and dog who got a bit blue or listless. So they successfully campaigned to force an official change of terminology- it's a "discontinuation syndrome."

It causes that suicidal ideation as part of the blowback from how it manipulates neurotransmitter levels. When that happens, because it's not recognized as withdrawals (which are treated with supportive care and supervision) it is treated as a "relapse of the disease" and the drug is restarted. You are not meant to ever be able to truly quit these drugs. It's by design.

Imagine if we treated heroin withdrawals by saying "just take heroin until die- you know like how a diabetic has to take insulin." That's exactly the situation.

Oh my god I did not know that but it explains a lot. She’s a really lovely person who had a rough upbringing and got on the SSRIs as a young adult and now can’t ever get off them even though she got herself sorted out. She probably would have made a fine mom, which you can tell because she chose not to have them rather than risk injuring them either with drugs or mental illness just for her own ego.

I hate this so much.