Is there really any way to make someone less gullible

[Nom Carver]

A good friend of mine keeps finding himself roped up in this ludicrous conspiracy theories where he doesn't even do any research into the subject, or have even a slight baseline of knowledge into the topic. This guy is a great friend of mine, he's been a really good guy to me for years and I care about him deeply. It just gets so infuriating when he goes "Hey so about that Q-anon" or whatever. It's gotten to the point the guy has somehow convinced himself that covid not only doesn't exist at all but that covid tests are testing for human chromosome 8 because they share a whopping 18 characters in their genetic makeup. He also tried convincing me that people have a wildly varying amount of chromosomes. Even after I gave him a little lecture on what and how they work, he was still not convinced and just started writing off everything I said as "But those are just what they want you to think". I don't want to scream in his face that he's a gullible fucking idiot and that he needs to at least try to think for himself but it's getting really tempting to do just that.

He lives in an autistic fantasy retard land and I'm worried the guy wouldn't even make it to 30 before somebody takes advantage of him or he dies of an illness he tried treating with some snake oil he was told would work.

Fortunately though for our friendship he doesn't really care what I think in terms of politics or medicine, it's just infuriating to debate these things with him because I have to teach him fairly basic anatomy and biology, or some similar concept.

Does anyone here have any suggestion how I could help this guy? I know it's probably fruitless but I figure it's worth a shot.

 

[Penis Drager]

Ask him if he likes soda.

 

[EnemyStand]

Well, if someone gets burned enough usually pattern recognition kicks in and they eventually stop being super gullible. But since he went down the QAnon rabbit hole and wound up in Wonderland...well, "We're all mad here..."

 

[helloworld.exe]

He also tried convincing me that people have a wildly varying amount of chromosomes.

Some people do have more or fewer chromosomes than the rest of us. I think your friend might be one of those special individuals.

 

[Furret]

He seems like the type of guy who will believe literally anything. I don't think there's much you can do other than continue to debate him and refute the conspiracies he spouts. If that doesn't work, natural selection will eventually run its course.

 

[Nom Carver]

Some people do have more or fewer chromosomes than the rest of us. I think your friend might be one of those special individuals.

I forgot to mention I specifically said 'normal people', citing down syndrome as the most common symptom of having 47 chromosomes. He dropped that point after I mentioned that, but he didn't let up on the point as a whole.

He seems like the type of guy who will believe literally anything. I don't think there's much you can do other than continue to debate him and refute the conspiracies he spouts. If that doesn't work, natural selection will eventually run its course.

I mean, he also thinks that somehow the military is going to stage a coup in march and 'reset the constitution to the 18th president' by just deleting amendments up until that point, as if that would at all work out in the slightest. So you're probably right that he could believe anything if it was the first thing he heard. I just wish the guy would think for himself.

 

[JethroTullamore]

Make up your own conspiracy theories that align with what you believe, than get him to believe that.
Bam. Problem solved.

 

[Nom Carver]

Make up your own conspiracy theories that align with what you believe, than get him to believe that.
Bam. Problem solved.

Anything I'd come up with would have too much thought, logic, and plausability behind it for him to believe. If it came to any conclusion less than "And a magical happily ever after" he wouldn't bite. That's what it feels like at least.

 

[lurk_moar]

Try not to be a seagull next time.

 

[Idiotron]

There is no quick magic solution, it takes a lot of time and effort.
Luckily, he's your friend and you'll most likely be hanging out for years to come so you have time.
Keep poking holes in his beliefs.

For example, let's take something like flat Earth:
You: "Why don't more people know about this?"
Him: "Because they're covering it up."
You: "Who are they?"
Him: "You know, the people in power."
You: "No, I don't know. Explain in detail, please, give me names of people and organizations."
Him: "They're secret."
You: "So how do you know that they exist? Where are you getting your info and where do your sources get their info. Explain in detail."
... and so on and so forth.

Keep drilling him like this, make him analyze the things he believes because very often, people believe ridiculous things because nobody asked them the right questions.
Always ask for sources, examples and detailed explanations.
Don't just say that what he believes is dumb, make him realize why it's dumb.
It will take a long ass time but you can change a person's way of thinking.

 

[DoctorJimmyRay]

Best way is to take a course in self esteem. I offer these courses for a reasonable 99.99$ fee, and it guarantees results with a 15 minute seminar. DM me for more info and paypal link.

 

[Concho Pete]

Gullibility is basically an expression of cognitive impairment. It's children, olds, and the stupid.

That said, most people have no incentive to come to true views politically. It's a social thing. So maybe interrogate that part of your friend's life and see if you can influence it.

 

[David Brown]

My probably useless two cents: there is among many people a tendency to want to be "in on" some secret knowledge that other people do not know or have access too. It's not about being right or wrong per se, but rather having something that others don't have. By telling him he's wrong it's like you are taking something from him. It's likely that he doesn't care about what's true or not true. He's more interested in simply participating in a secret thing that the fluoridetards can't or won't "get". This instinct used to be served in some cases by mystery cults but those require a great amount of effort and commitment. This effort and commitment is short circuited by the internet being an avenue for anyone to say anything and frame it this enticing "secret" way.

Obviously I don't know this guy you're talking about OP. But it sounds to me like it's not a matter of gullibility. He probably doesn't really "believe" any of the wacky shit he tells you, and by that I mean he hasn't used that knowledge to change or alter his life circumstances or take on new habits or generally live in a way to take advantage of these newfound supposed truths. It's not about believing things or not believing things, it's about setting himself apart from others and having possession of this valuable thing. He's protecting his property and you're violating the NAP by challenging him. Beware that he may try to use a recreational McNuke on you if you continue.

edit: oops necro. I don't know why this thread was promoted to me a year after it was made. I'll gladly delete this post if this was an inappropriate response. My bad.