258: Conspiracy Theories - Revision history

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Maybe made my own error with quote-marks, in that last edit, or missed it being wrong already. Corrected, either way. And slight punctuation adjustments elsewhere.

2026-05-21T21:18:49Z

‎Explanation: Maybe made my own error with quote-marks, in that last edit, or missed it being wrong already. Corrected, either way. And slight punctuation adjustments elsewhere.

81.179.199.253: /* Explanation */ Rechanged the new wikilpedia links (where replacing rationalwiki, for whatever reason) to ne the template-based version that is the standard site method with essentially identical page appearance but may be neater in the pagesource.

2026-05-21T21:16:29Z

‎Explanation: Rechanged the new wikilpedia links (where replacing rationalwiki, for whatever reason) to ne the template-based version that is the standard site method with essentially identical page appearance but may be neater in the pagesource.

66.154.219.128: /* Conspiracy theories */ Changed the rationalwiki links to Wikipedia ones

2026-05-21T20:19:26Z

‎Conspiracy theories: Changed the rationalwiki links to Wikipedia ones

Lettherebedarklight: /* Transcript */ add Category:Comics with a Spanish translation

2025-12-15T09:00:56Z

‎Transcript: add Category:Comics with a Spanish translation

Squishmallow fan: /* Transcript */ you cant forget the ripple lines! :D

2024-02-09T20:28:00Z

‎Transcript: you cant forget the ripple lines! :D

AgentMuffin at 07:16, 3 October 2023

2023-10-03T07:16:35Z

Tromag at 14:21, 28 June 2023

2023-06-28T14:21:19Z

Tromag at 14:16, 28 June 2023

2023-06-28T14:16:42Z

162.158.86.238: /* Explanation */ source gives 92%, not 95%, as of 2011

2023-04-04T18:43:32Z

‎Explanation: source gives 92%, not 95%, as of 2011

Davidy22: Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Davidy22

2022-05-21T02:54:32Z

Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Davidy22

Show changes

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 A {{w|conspiracy theory}} purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example are the {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories}}, which asserts that no human has ever reached the Moon.
-Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a {{w|Morton's fork}}", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached:
+Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a "{{w|Morton's fork}}", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached:
 *Facts agreeing with the theory are, of course, evidence for the theory.
 *Facts disagreeing with the theory are considered part of the cover-up. This suggests that there is, in fact, a cover-up in the first place. Therefore, contradictions to the theory are also treated as evidence for the theory.
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 In the case of the Moon landing, conspiracy theorists assume videos of men walking on the Moon to be faked by Hollywood studios. The existence of the assumed fake videos "proves" the cover-up. Also, the absence of filming crew or anything else needed for faking a video is considered further proof of how carefully the cover-up was planned.
-No matter what happens next, it will be taken as evidence for the conspiracy theory. As one person put it: "To a conspiracy theorist, there are only two kinds of evidence: evidence that proves their theory correct, and evidence that proves the conspiracy ''goes deeper than they ever imagined''." In reality, the more elaborate the cover-up, the less realistic it is. There would be many more details to expose, and many more people involved, each of whom could spill the secrets with a lower chance of being identified.
+No matter what happens next, it will be taken as evidence for the conspiracy theory. As one person put it: "To a conspiracy theorist, there are only two kinds of evidence: evidence that proves their theory correct, and evidence that proves the conspiracy ''goes deeper than they ever imagined''". In reality, the more elaborate the cover-up, the less realistic it is. There would be many more details to expose, and many more people involved, each of whom could spill the secrets with a lower chance of being identified.
 People promoting these theories belong to a small minority, but they gain attention from many people — often without much knowledge on that specific matter. People who have actual knowledge about a given subject just get frustrated by this, because it seems like smart or educated people should reject conspiracy theories for lack of proof. If a conspiracy theory does have proof, it is really science or investigative journalism.
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 In the last panel, Cueball asks {{rw|God}} to fix the error that allows otherwise reasonable beings to believe conspiracy theories. This follows from Cueball calling this behavior a glitch. This is a not-so-subtle joke as religious belief tends to be connected to certain conspiracy theories (such as Young Earth Creationism, as mentioned in the strip). The joke, then, is that Cueball believes in (and converses with) God, but instead of following religious conspiracy theories, uses the relationship for {{w|debugging}}.
-A {{w|bug report}} is a description of some error, or "{{w|Bug (engineering)|bug}}", that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. The comic draws a comparison between prayer and developer feedback. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient. Thus, God must already be aware of the problem, and allow it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will."
+A {{w|bug report}} is a description of some error, or "{{w|Bug (engineering)|bug}}", that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. The comic draws a comparison between prayer and developer feedback. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient. Thus, God must already be aware of the problem, and allow it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will".
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
 ===Conspiracy theories===
-A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory conspiracy theory] purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories Moon landing conspiracy], which asserts that no human has ever reached the Moon.
+A {{w|conspiracy theory}} purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example are the {{w|Moon landing conspiracy theories}}, which asserts that no human has ever reached the Moon.
-Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_fork Morton's fork]", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached:
+Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a {{w|Morton's fork}}", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached:
 *Facts agreeing with the theory are, of course, evidence for the theory.
 *Facts disagreeing with the theory are considered part of the cover-up. This suggests that there is, in fact, a cover-up in the first place. Therefore, contradictions to the theory are also treated as evidence for the theory.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
 ===Conspiracy theories===
-A {{rw|conspiracy_theory|conspiracy theory}} purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example is the {{rw|Moon_landing_hoax|Moon landing conspiracy}}, which asserts that no human has ever reached the Moon.
+A [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory conspiracy theory] purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example is the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories Moon landing conspiracy], which asserts that no human has ever reached the Moon.
-Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a "{{rw|Morton's_fork|Morton's fork}}", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached:
+Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton%27s_fork Morton's fork]", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached:
 *Facts agreeing with the theory are, of course, evidence for the theory.
 *Facts disagreeing with the theory are considered part of the cover-up. This suggests that there is, in fact, a cover-up in the first place. Therefore, contradictions to the theory are also treated as evidence for the theory.

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:00, 15 December 2025
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	[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]		[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
	[[Category:9/11]]		[[Category:9/11]]
		+	[[Category:Comics with a Spanish translation]]

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 :Hairy: You don't seriously believe we landed on the moon, do you?
-:[Cueball walks away, frustrated.]
+:[Cueball walks away, frustrated, with ripple lines behind him.]
 :[Cueball kneels down with folded hands, praying:]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 }}
 ==Explanation==
-A {{rw|conspiracy_theory|conspiracy theory}} purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example is the {{rw|moon_landing_hoax|moon landing conspiracy}}, which asserts that no human has ever reached the moon.
+===Conspiracy theories===
-Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. Facts agreeing with the theory are, of course, evidence for the theory. Facts disagreeing with the theory are considered part of the cover-up and thus prove there is, in fact, a cover-up, so they're also evidence for the theory. In the Moon landing case, videos of men walking on the Moon are assumed to be faked by Hollywood studios, so the existence of the assumed fake videos proves the cover-up. Also, the absence of filming crew or anything else needed for faking a video is considered further proof of how carefully the cover-up was planned. No matter what happens next, it will be evidence for the conspiracy theory. As one person put it: "To a conspiracy theorist, there are only two kinds of evidence: evidence that proves their theory correct, and evidence that proves the conspiracy ''goes deeper than they ever imagined''."
+Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a "{{rw|Morton's_fork|Morton's fork}}", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached:
-People promoting these theories belong to a small minority, but they gain attention from many people — often without much knowledge on that specific matter. People who have actual knowledge about a given subject just get frustrated by this, because it seems like smart or educated people should reject conspiracy theories for lack of proof (if a conspiracy theory has proof, it's really science or investigative journalism). In the comic, [[Hairy]] (who is considered "smart" by [[Cueball]]) starts pointing out "errors" in the {{rw|9/11|"official" 9/11 story}}, obviously starting to describe the {{w|9/11 conspiracy theory}}. Cueball cuts his speech sharply, and his heart is broken because he's seeing his smart friend wasting his great intelligence in a foolish conspiracy theory, instead of doing something useful.
+In the case of the Moon landing, conspiracy theorists assume videos of men walking on the Moon to be faked by Hollywood studios. The existence of the assumed fake videos "proves" the cover-up. Also, the absence of filming crew or anything else needed for faking a video is considered further proof of how carefully the cover-up was planned.
-In the second panel, Cueball rants about conspiracy theories in general. He mentions {{rw|Young_Earth_creationism|Young Earth creationism}}, {{w|Moon landing conspiracy|the Moon landing}}, and {{rw|perpetual_motion|Perpetual motion}} machines. In the third panel, Hairy mentions that of course we never landed on the moon. This frustrates Cueball so much that he just walks away with no further comment.
+No matter what happens next, it will be taken as evidence for the conspiracy theory. As one person put it: "To a conspiracy theorist, there are only two kinds of evidence: evidence that proves their theory correct, and evidence that proves the conspiracy ''goes deeper than they ever imagined''." In reality, the more elaborate the cover-up, the less realistic it is. There would be many more details to expose, and many more people involved, each of whom could spill the secrets with a lower chance of being identified.
-In the last panel, Cueball asks {{rw|God}} to fix the bug he committed when creating smart beings capable of believing such foolish things as conspiracy theories. This is a not-so-subtle joke as religious belief tends to be connected to certain conspiracy theories (such as Young Earth Creationism, as mentioned in the strip). The joke, then, is that Cueball believes in (and converses with) God, but instead of following religious conspiracy theories, uses the relationship to complain about this "known glitch" in humanity.
+People promoting these theories belong to a small minority, but they gain attention from many people — often without much knowledge on that specific matter. People who have actual knowledge about a given subject just get frustrated by this, because it seems like smart or educated people should reject conspiracy theories for lack of proof. If a conspiracy theory does have proof, it is really science or investigative journalism.
-A "bug report" is a description of some error that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient, and thus already aware of the problem. God allows it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will."
+The title text refers to {{w|Young Earth creationism}}, which claims that the Earth is only thousands of years old, instead of the billions of years evolutionary scientists suggest. Believers in this theory generally either ignore evidence for the Earth's age, claim it to be inaccurate or misinterpreted, or claim that it is all part of how the Earth was created. The "conspiracy theory" connection arises when they claim that scientists, for some reason, collectively refuse to consider (what they consider to be) evidence of a young Earth.
-The title text refers the large number of educated people who believe in {{w|Young Earth creationism}}, stating that the earth is only thousands of years old, instead of the billions of years evolutionary scientists suggest. Believers in this theory generally either ignore evidence for the earth's age, claim that it's inaccurate or misinterpreted, or claim that it's all part of how the earth was created. The 'conspiracy theory' connection arises when they claim that scientists, for some reason, collectively refuse to consider (what they consider to be) evidence of a young earth.
+===Conversation===
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 In the second panel, Cueball rants about conspiracy theories in general. He mentions {{rw|Young_Earth_creationism|Young Earth creationism}}, {{w|Moon landing conspiracy|the Moon landing}}, and {{rw|perpetual_motion|Perpetual motion}} machines. In the third panel, Hairy mentions that of course we never landed on the moon. This frustrates Cueball so much that he just walks away with no further comment.
-In the last panel, Cueball asks {{rw|God}} to fix the bug he committed when creating smart beings capable of believing such foolish things as conspiracy theories. This is a not-so-subtle joke as, to atheists, God himself is quite similar to a conspiracy theory. Indeed, a good portion of evidence against God's existence put forward by an atheist is met with a "whatever happens, it's God's will" by a believer. This is much like any other conspiracy theory, so in this last panel, to a subset of atheists, Cueball is pictured as contradicting himself by complaining that other people believe in foolish conspiracy theories while the atheist may think that Cueball himself is very plainly believing his own foolish conspiracy theory.
+In the last panel, Cueball asks {{rw|God}} to fix the bug he committed when creating smart beings capable of believing such foolish things as conspiracy theories. This is a not-so-subtle joke as religious belief tends to be connected to certain conspiracy theories (such as Young Earth Creationism, as mentioned in the strip). The joke, then, Cueball believes in (and converses with) God, but instead of following religious conspiracy theories, uses the relationship to complain about this "known glitch" in humanity.
 A "bug report" is a description of some error that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient, and thus already aware of the problem. God allows it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will."

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 In the last panel, Cueball asks {{rw|God}} to fix the bug he committed when creating smart beings capable of believing such foolish things as conspiracy theories. This is a not-so-subtle joke as, to atheists, God himself is quite similar to a conspiracy theory. Indeed, a good portion of evidence against God's existence put forward by an atheist is met with a "whatever happens, it's God's will" by a believer. This is much like any other conspiracy theory, so in this last panel, to a subset of atheists, Cueball is pictured as contradicting himself by complaining that other people believe in foolish conspiracy theories while the atheist may think that Cueball himself is very plainly believing his own foolish conspiracy theory.
-Of course, from the believers' perspective, some such schools of atheistic thought also have many characteristics of a conspiracy theory. In particular, atheism and agnosticism are a small subculture — actually smaller in the U.S. than the {{rw|9/11}} Truth movement — of which many believe that a large majority of people (about [http://www.gallup.com/poll/147887/americans-continue-believe-god.aspx 95% of Americans believe in God]) have been deluded into believing something ridiculous by conspiracies (e.g. churches and conservative politicians) that benefit from the spreading of misinformation on the subject.
+Of course, from the believers' perspective, some such schools of atheistic thought also have many characteristics of a conspiracy theory. In particular, atheism and agnosticism are a small subculture — actually smaller in the U.S. than the {{rw|9/11}} Truth movement — of which many believe that a large majority of people (about [http://www.gallup.com/poll/147887/americans-continue-believe-god.aspx 92% of Americans believe in God]) have been deluded into believing something ridiculous by conspiracies (e.g. churches and conservative politicians) that benefit from the spreading of misinformation on the subject.
 A "bug report" is a description of some error that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient, and thus already aware of the problem. God allows it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will."