Hoax

Every once in a while conspiracy theorists bring up the planet Nibiru. This theory posits that a rogue planet called Planet X or Nibiru is going to either collide with Earth and destroy it, or it’s going to get into some special configuration with other planets that will cause devastating earthquakes all over the globe. Conspiracy nuts have predicted Earth’s destruction by Nibiru several times already, but when nothing happens they just change the date of the end of the world. There are people in great anxiety over this made-up planet. They believe the conspiracy nuts and refuse to believe reputable scientists.

I blame the decline of public education in American schools, and in particular the decline of scientific literacy, for the continual propagation of this and other fake news stories. It seems that society has become dumbed down to the point that many people are no longer capable of critical thinking. Today, you cannot create a conspiracy theory so absurd that no one will believe it.

We have a president who believes conspiracy theories and has invented  his own. IQs may not have changed, but ignorance of so many basic facts about reality has the same effect. A police officer who deals with people all day every day told me, “People are getting dumber and dumber.” He gets no argument from me.

In 2003, an early inventor of the Nibiru end-of-the-world hoax announced she had her dogs euthanized so they wouldn’t suffer when the last day arrived. In 1997, the Heaven’s Gate cult — 21 women and 18 men ranging in age from 26 to 72 — committed suicide so they could exit their earthly bodies and hitch a ride on a spaceship that was hidden in the tail of comet Hale-Bopp. They believed this ridiculous proposition because their leader, Marshall Applewhite, told them to believe it. How can people be that gullible? Why do intelligent people believe in nonsense? It happens because they don’t think critically when they hear or read something. They want to believe, and so they do.

Jim Jones ordered over 900 people to commit suicide, and they did. Charles Manson ordered his “family” to slaughter innocent people, and they did. David Koresh claimed to be the voice of God. His 76 followers believed him and followed him into destruction.

It’s hard to save people from themselves. Sometimes it’s impossible. People have to save themselves — by being skeptical, by being educated, by being rational. If they prefer not to think, then they will have earned the Darwin Award that will surely be bestowed upon them.