
Show HN: a conspiracy theory generator - typpo
http://www.verifiedfacts.org
======
tokenadult
I put "Hacker News" (which I thereafter identified as a organization or group
by the drop-down selector) into the search,

<http://www.verifiedfacts.org/search>

and generated this new conspiracy theory,

"During the Bush wars, Hacker News began plotting their eventual rise to
power.

"Local historians living near Area 51 have noticed strange connections between
it and the Feds, stretching back to the Bush wars.

"Mentalists and psychics report that strange aura disturbances can be seen
wherever fluorine is found in Area 51.

"Outspoken academics who research this topic have had their research silenced
by those in power.

"The increased militarization of US police forces can only mean one thing--
when the government's failure to properly address fluorine sparks a rebellion,
the Feds will be leading death squads across the nation.

. . . . "

Several parts of that read very much like Hacker News comments I have seen
recently under various threads.

About Paul Graham, identified as a person, I get

"Paul Graham isn't just an individual-- they're an organization, and they have
doubles everywhere.

"Do you know that if you post a tweet about #mercury and Paul Graham, it will
'mysteriously' disappear from your page within minutes?

"You may think free speech ensures your right to talk openly about Paul
Graham's negative influence on our society, but their powerful friends in
Libertarians have, in the past, used crippling libel lawsuits to silence brave
citizens who did exactly that.

. . . . "

~~~
tlrobinson
Selecting "dangerous thing" was pretty amusing too:

The Truth About The NSA and Hacker News

[http://www.verifiedfacts.org/i/the-nsa-and-hacker-
news/NjA5M...](http://www.verifiedfacts.org/i/the-nsa-and-hacker-news/NjA5MA)

 _The NSA is trying to control the minds of the American people-- probably
with Hacker News, which they invented and created._

I would love to see some of the emails you get from
<http://www.verifiedfacts.org/report>

------
ChrisNorstrom
Congratulations! You are a genius. You have created a MVP comedy generator!

You're about 15 iterations away from making a billion dollar service that
creates and sells movies to hollywood and television stations.

 _On a serious note: I've lived with a conspiracy theorist and the pattern
I've noticed is this. Theorists take things that were mistakes or unintended
and say that they were done on purpose to benefit someone. 9/11, Iraq, etc..
So you're actually really close._

I love this. Someone should get a really serious looking gentleman and make
videos of his reading this as if it were real conspiracy news.

------
AlexDanger
Does anyone have any reflections on the psychology of conspiracy nutters?

I have two friends who will believe pretty much anything that involves the
government/corporations and nefarious activities. Evidence is strictly
optional. Indeed, evidence to the contrary is not sufficient to disprove these
theories. Or its just part of the conspiracy.

The funny thing is these people are otherwise quite intelligent and capable of
rational thought. They have decent careers and neither are social outcasts.

If they had failed careers/relationships etc I might understand it as a coping
mechanism to internally justify failure. But that is not the case here.

I dont understand why they believe these things. But then I dont understand
how faith works for religious people either.

Anyone have any insight to this?

~~~
ilaksh
Hello. So-called 'conspiracy nutter' here.

The fact that someone believes something which you do not believe does not
mean that they have a mental health problem. If that were the case, we
(atheists) could say that there were a billion or more insane Christians out
there. But everyone knows someone who has religious beliefs.

Everyone, no matter how mainstream their opinions, has a worldview which is
comprised of a set of beliefs. Everyone. Now, it is just the nature of beliefs
that rational arguments and evidence do not readily alter them. No matter how
widespread, or how fringe the belief is, or whether you judge it to be
'crazy', or whether the belief has a scientific basis. Those are the default
nodes in your cognitive framework. You just don't change them very easily. Any
more easily than I change my beliefs.

One thing that you may not realize, or perhaps may not accept as fact due to
your own worldview, is that the 'conpiracy theorist' label has been
historically, and still is, a tool used to suppress dissent by ridiculing
opponents who accuse an establishment of wrongdoing. Here is a Wikipedia
article about it.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry>

> As scholars have long argued, governmental and medical institutions code
> menaces to authority as mental diseases during political disturbances.

>...In the 1970s, Martha Beall Mitchell, wife of U.S. Attorney General John
Mitchell, was diagnosed with a paranoid mental disorder for claiming that the
administration of President Richard M. Nixon was engaged in illegal
activities. Many of her claims were later proved correct, and the term "Martha
Mitchell effect" was coined to describe mental health misdiagnoses when
accurate claims are dismissed as delusional.

I anticipate that most people with mainstream beliefs in the US would assume,
based on their worldview, that political abuse of psychiatry only applies to
other countries, or to other times. I think this is wrong, and part of the
general myth perpetuated by the establishment that it rarely (or at least, not
in contemporary times) does anything that can't be morally justified.

[http://conspiraciesthatweretrue.blogspot.com/2007/01/list-
of...](http://conspiraciesthatweretrue.blogspot.com/2007/01/list-of-proven-
conspiracies-from.html)

~~~
samstave
While many people like to make fun of and dismiss conspiracy theorists, they
don't realize that some conspiracy theorists have been following particular
events closely for many years and are making connections between events that
are decades apart. Whereas the opinion of someone who is less informed on
certain things would be that a current event was a standalone anomaly.

~~~
ilaksh
When you mention making connections between events rather than thinking of
them as standalone, the first thing that comes to mind is the way that
government and media sources always portray the wars in the middle east as
being isolated instances rather than as being part of a larger strategy and
ongoing campaign. Its not just less information. Its misinformation oftentimes
too. Such as war propaganda. Every one of these wars has a supposed
explanation, which is never given as being strategic or connected to a larger
campaign, always some bullshit about 'weapons of mass destruction',
'humanitarian crisis', 'freedom fighters' etc. which is always later revealed
to be lies.

I mean, to me its pretty obvious that the US has a long term campaign going
on. Just look at a map. We invade and occupy a country on one side of Iran,
then the other. Then the Egyptian president, who just happens to have been
blocking US plans to invade Libya (one of the strongest remaining Iranian
allies in the area) since the 80s, is removed by way of an amazing
'spontaneous' democratic online uprising (which to me looks like propaganda,
information/cyberwarfare). Then Libya is taken over by US-backed 'rebels'. And
now Syria, the other Iranian ally, is being taken apart from within by more
'rebels'. All countries in the same geographic area, with the same types of
prized resources, one after another, all opponents of the US.

The problem is that the mainstream media lies about the motivations for
military action are always accepted by the majority. In the context of the
previous lies getting us into war, they are obvious deceptions. Yet they blast
the propaganda from all angles with the same bullshit over and over and it
becomes the closest thing to reality that many people have.

------
ilaksh
The thing that most people don't realize is that the government will label
real information as a conspiracy theory as an easy way to discredit it. So
that word is actually an important propaganda tool. Once you realize.that,
jokes.about.conspiracy theories arent so funny.

~~~
cgh
Yes, the government, with their ability to, you know, just label stuff. Just
any old thing, slap a government label on it and Bob's your uncle.

~~~
evincarofautumn
Sure. The Man is remarkably well organised and has an endless fountain of
resources—after all, he does print the money.

Lost direction in your life? Try the startling clarity of paranoid delusions.
Soon you’ll be saying “It all makes sense!”

------
denzil_correa
I got the following about Microsoft and Fox News - funny!

 _The Truth About Microsoft and Fox News_

Many astute citizens have already noticed the recent censorship of media
pieces critical toward Microsoft. Don't fool yourself: this is definitely part
of a master plan, and Fox News are probably the ones behind it.

The value of Fox News's hedge fund investments have doubled over the past 70
years-- while ordinary Americans have seen their investments vanish in waves
of depression and recession. Coincidence? Definitely not!

Many members of the Federal Reserve are secretly working for Fox News on the
side. Their air travel habits are proof enough for this, but there's a wealth
of additional evidence that the Federal Reserve doesn't want you to see.

Employees of Microsoft were seen at both the US Election of 2000 and WW1--
despite the fact that they had no good reason to be there.

We've taken a big risk to post this information on the internet-- many others
have seen their careers destroyed for doing much less.

The only way for upstanding citizens to protect themselves from this madness
is to retreat from modern society entirely.

------
waqf
This is not what it seems. See here: <http://goo.gl/b8uWE>

------
joneil
Haha, some of them are hilarious. Some more obviously generated than others,
but still... good job.

How are they generated?

I managed to get some gems like this:

> The earliest Nordic settlers in the Old Northwest were shocked when they
> discovered their lands had been inhabited by a sentient race, which has been
> confirmed by scientists to have used Google products over 300 years before
> today.

~~~
alanctgardner2
I'm guessing Markov Chains[1]. Effectively, each phrase is determined randomly
from a pool, the options are dictated by the preceding sentence. They're a
surprisingly effective way to produce a few sentences that seem logically
connected, despite being more or less random. After a few hops, of course it
can go off the rails.

And they have a simple grammar that allows them to pull famous names, places
and drop them into predefined slots. Someone else already pointed out, it's
basically Mad Libs.

1\. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markov_chain>

------
mindcrime
The Truth About Monsanto and Dead Parrot

All products made by Monsanto are produced using Dead Parrot and its
derivatives. It's intentional: they want that stuff in your bloodstream.

In 1851, Civil War general Robert E. Lee reported a strange disturbance in the
sky over the Potomac. A squadron of six men who had been sent to investigate
disappeared for 12 days, and when they came back they had no memory events
that had transpired. Lee wrote in his diary, “Our inspection of the men turned
up nothing, but their forearms were branded with a curious unknown symbol:
'Monsanto'.”

Talking about this kind of thing openly is likely to get you put on a no-fly
list.

Did you know that toxins created during the Dead Parrot manufacturing process
also turn up in children's toys?

Invested parties have done a lot to make sure this stays under wraps.

Rich and powerful bankers have aggressively invested in and exploited Dead
Parrot, despite the danger it poses to ordinary citizens. Chances are they
took a hint from Communists.

After setting up this website with these startling facts, I have been
contacted by FBI agents three times.

Apathy toward this issue will be the death of our civilization. Do you plan on
dying with civilization, or will you join me in settling a remote Pacific
island?

------
solox3
With a little brush-up, this has the potential of being the next The Onion
News Network. Great job, and I like where this is going.

------
Rangi42
I randomly got "The Truth About North Korea: North Korea has been planning a
silent invasion of North Korea for quite some time." I'm not sure if this is a
bug that should be fixed, or if that's just what North Korea wants you to
think.

<http://www.verifiedfacts.org/i/north-korea/MTcxNDc>

------
chillzilla
"The Black Plague was a time of great confusion and hardship for ordinary
citizens-- but through it all, Fox News enjoyed suspicious prosperity."

------
chewxy
Looks like it's a mix of markov chain generator and mad-libs style random fact
generation, am I close?

(sorry for curling the site way too many times)

------
hayksaakian
<http://www.verifiedfacts.org/directory>

pick one, and it seems to have several articles on the same topic. like other
have noted, the source for this would be an interesting read.

~~~
felideon
So the website is more of a directory of generated conspiracy theories, rather
than a conspiracy theory 'generator'. Go to a specific article and note that
the article is always the same.

~~~
typpo
Sorry it's not clear - you can generate your own at
<http://verifiedfacts.org/search>

------
tow21
See also; [http://www.amazon.com/Foucaults-Pendulum-Umberto-
Eco/dp/0156...](http://www.amazon.com/Foucaults-Pendulum-Umberto-
Eco/dp/015603297X)

~~~
pjonesdotca
First thing I thought of when I saw this web app as well.

------
lightyrs
I love this. How does it work?

> Salmonella helped beyoncé achieve a meteoric rise to fame and influence.

In 1750, Benjamin Franklin was observed by over fifteen residents of
Philadelphia as he branded an unidentified man with an Illuminati insignia. He
was overheard telling one of his associates, “my work will be done once
beyoncé arrives to complete it.”

------
TazeTSchnitzel
I opened lots of HN links in new tabs with their comments. I looked at this
one and thought "why are stupid antisemitic conspiracy theories being posted
on HN?".

Then I clicked the comments tab.

------
pekk
Now all we need is a really natural text-to-speech and some stuff like FCC
licenses and we can start building fully automated Alex Joneses.

------
bonchibuji
Search for Oracle is truly hilarious!!

'The Truth About Brad Pitt and Oracle

Did you know that Brad Pitt gets checks from Oracle once a month, for services
rendered-- but unexplained? That's not all that Brad Pitt gets up to when the
public's watchful eye is turned.

Oracle clearly has a secret deal with Youtube-- all videos highlighting the
abuses it committed while in North Korea are taken down without explanation.'

Awesome work!!

------
thtsu
Hold on guys! Before you believe anything you read on there I've uncovered an
interesting article on the dark truth behind verifiedfacts.org!
<http://www.verifiedfacts.org/i/verifiedfacts-org/MTg5OTQ>

------
anywherenotes
It's awesome. May I suggest a 'read more' button, which would elaborate more
and more on the conspiracy. Sources should probably be click-able and also
function as a 'read more' button. Would be great if I could sign up for
conspiracy-of-the-day to have it emailed to me.

------
tbrake
Good stuff. Reminded me that the Postmodernism Generator is still out there as
well, and as equally, gloriously incomprehensible :
<http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/>

------
ORioN63
Records indicate that Barack Obama's ancestors were present at Fukushima.

Obviously.

~~~
evincarofautumn
In the spirit of conspiracy theorism, I deduce that the United States
government has access to time machines.

------
flatline
Reminds me of this gag:

<http://www.bbspot.com/toys/slashtitle/>

Looking at some of those really makes me feel...not quite old, but dated.

------
ck2
So well done. We have to get this on Rachel Maddow's show.

------
biot
Seems legit: <http://www.verifiedfacts.org/i/Markov%20chains/MTcyMjc>

------
jpdoctor
I predict you will be slashdotted.

Edit: I just saw the "Report Inaccuracy" link. Ho boy, you guys nailed this. I
hope you monetize it big time.

~~~
tlrobinson
Did you know East Germany is practically owned by Slashdot? [1]

1\. <http://www.verifiedfacts.org/i/Slashdot/NzAzMA>

------
diziet
This is not quite timecube level of crazy, but nevertheless good job with
semi-plausable text generation!

------
TazeTSchnitzel
I found a bug: Try entering the name of an organisation that has a # symbol in
it, or a /

------
hakaaaaak
"The Truth About Morgan Freeman and Meth" seems like libel.

~~~
splawn
Can algorithms be charged with libel? I did some googling, but couldn't find
anything solid on the subject.

~~~
hakaaaaak
If you write code that you know because of the data that it uses has the
ability to generate libel about a famous figure on a public site, then you
could be charged. The likelihood of being charged is much less than having
written it yourself clearly and perhaps linking to the page and promoting it
as valid news, but the possibility of being charged is there.

------
wtracy
"Fukushima was an inside job."

Bravo.

------
readme
Fun :)

Would be awesome to bait conspiracy theorists with these.

------
FarhadG
Best freakn' site ever! Thanks for the share!

------
bilalq
This is so awesome. It just made my day.

------
SaltySquid
Love The Wall reference I came across :)

------
martinced
I just read an amazing one:

"Oswald acted alone and Ruby got no help from anyone"

And I've got a bridge to sell you too ; )

Must be nice to live in a land made of pink-ponnies and honest people who'd
never abuse the system.

