Right, so I'm currently staying with a friend of mine - he's older, probably around he's 40's or something, and he seems to be very high strung about this huge conspiracy theory that says what you'd normally expect your average conspiracy theorist to say. Stuff like, the government is constantly watching and spying on you. They want to control your minds, they want to track you, and they can make you do whatever they want. Anytime I try to talk to him, he listens to me, seems to understand me, and I'll even take him step by step and he'll agree with me all the way up until the conclusion. He refuses to listen to reason, and it's actually gotten as bad as him putting stuff in front of TV sensors because he believes that they're watching us through the infred sensors. Anytime I try to talk to him about legit sources or reasons as to why his theories don't make much sense, he insists that they're all in on it. In fact, it took me a few days just to convince him to let me buy cable TV/Internet because he believed that Comcast was watching everything through the fiber optics. Another big problem is, anytime you corner him into a question he can't answer, he brings up his strong faith with God, for being the reason as to why he can't answer it. That takes us on to a completely different argument, because I'm an atheist, but that's besides the point though.
Theres really no place else I can stay, and he's a nice guy and all, so I guess what I'm asking is... how do you deal with someone like this? Do you just let it go? Is there really anything you can say to someone like this, that will make them listen to reason?
He's clearly a nut, not least because he's a forty year old man with 19 year old friends.
Seriously though, with the paranoia and all, he's clearly mentally ill, and I doubt there are any soundbites you'll be able to say to him that'll snap him out of it. Try and steer him toward seeing a professional if you care, which will (hopefully) start a slow and methodical therapy scheme to help him sort his skull out.
You will never be able to convice him that he's wrong.
People like that get on my nerves especially when they also claim to beleive in God and use him as an excuse when they can't answer simple quesions about their theories.
If they truly beleived in God they shouldn't be confused in the first place because the Bible says satain is the author of confusion.
You could try telling him that, however he could just come back and say he's not the one confused.
The best stratigy is to ignore it and he'll edventually forget about it. (hopefully)
If they truly beleived in God they shouldn't be confused in the first place because the Bible says satain is the author of confusion.
You could try telling him that, however he could just come back and say he's not the one confused.
Yeah, you could say that, but then you also probably shouldn't, because it's one of the weakest arguments ever. How exactly does Satan being the author of confusion and them being confused about something undermine their belief in God in any way?
Also, not trying to rip into you or anything, but the very worst strategy would be to ignore someone's illness.
The stament I made about God wasn't meant to undermind his belief in God. It was meant to use it against the theory in general. As in: "You shouldn't worry about whether or not anyone's watching you because it's only making you confused." You are right it's not a strong argument, and he needs treatment.
Anyways Rob Rule don't worry about ripping into me. I was certainly wrong. I was responding in anger because this guy also beleives in God. It's kinda personal with me beacuse we had someone like that start coming to our church, and to make a long story short he's in prison now, and he was dignosed with the paranoia illness as well.
Someone in my country put it this way.. why are people so worried about privacy? If they really have nothing to hide, then they shouldn't be worried. After all, God is watching everything they do. A pious person wouldn't be afraid of the government and such controlling them; God has more power over them.
Besides, what's the worst they can do, even if they watch you? Even if the government sees what you're doing, they can't do anything. If you're really a good, law-abiding person, all they're doing is taking care of you. If they could make you do anything, there wouldn't be any crime.
Hah, he's isn't being insensible, though. The government is not really watching you, it's the big companies that are for market research. You'd be surprised how much you could interpolate from energy and water usage. The CTO of a certain company used it to calculate "if the laundry was piling up" We don't even need to put cameras or make you fill forms. Even when you buy a burger, they take info of you for market research. When you use the toaster, the sudden energy spike shows that you're near a high-powered device. Being an electrical engineer is awesome
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
I hate the 'If you've got nothing to hide, why would you object?' sentiment. I object because it mocks the 'innocent until proven guilty' principle and gives the government - a body that works for the people - excessive authority and control over the individual. That's pretty much how I see it. I mean, the 'if you've got nothing to hide...' line is almost accusatory in itself!
I think it's like "innocent (but under suspicion), until proven guilty" - and personally, I don't have a problem with that.
I don't like the idea of companies collecting information on me, to sell to other companies - but that's because I feel like I'm entitled to be getting a cut of that money.
Classic example is the DVLA (which is a government agency) selling drivers' details to privately owned car parks, so that they can send parking fines to their home addresses. Sure, if you park illegally, then you should expect to be fined, but the DVLA charge £5+ to supply the information, which is far too much to be just an "administration" fee - they are making a very substantial profit.
As for your friend, i would have told him to f*** off by now, he's clearly not all there. But the right thing to do is the professional help option which i imagine is what you probably will end up doing, judging by your (internet) character.
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Edited by Rob Rule
We don't even need to put cameras or make you fill forms. Even when you buy a burger, they take info of you for market research. When you use the toaster, the sudden energy spike shows that you're near a high-powered device. Being an electrical engineer is awesome 
