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posted by martyb on Monday November 20 2017, @09:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the there-IS-a-Domsday-Book dept.

Have you seen headlines that look like the following?

Nibiru BLACKOUT: Fears Planet X could knock out power worldwide
Nibiru PROOF: Footage sparks claims Planet X spotted over UK
Governments 'ALREADY preparing for Planet X apocalypse'
Could the end of the world come TODAY? Mysterious planet Nibiru 'set to wipe out all life with apocalyptic earthquakes'
Nibiru Apocalypse Upon Us Again—Here's How Yellowstone, Nuclear War and Asteroids Could Actually End the World

NASA scientist David Morrison has taken the time to debunk Nibiru... repeatedly (archive):

"I assumed that Nibiru was the sort of Internet rumor that would quickly pass," Morrison wrote in 2008, after his "Ask an Astrobiologist" website had become inundated with predictions that Nibiru was going to cross paths with Earth in 2012. "I now receive at least one question per day, ranging from anguished ('I can't sleep; I am really scared; I don't want to die') to the abusive ('Why are you lying; you are putting my family at risk; if NASA denies it then it must be true.')" he wrote.

Morrison laid out a detailed explanation, which he would repeat in years to come: There is no evidence that Nibiru exists; if it did exist, it would have screwed up the outer planets' orbits long ago; and people have predicted its arrival before and been wrong.

But to no avail:

"I got a note from a 12-year-old girl. She said she and her classmates were scared," he said in a 2011 video. "The simplest thing to say is there is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of Nibiru."

[...] Nibiru theories have by now become so abundant that if you spend long enough on YouTube or PlanetXNews.com you can find an apocalypse scheduled for just about any given day of the week.

And that's why Morrison was on the SETI podcast this week, distracted from his science once again to talk about a world that never stops failing to end. "I got a phone call the other day," Morrison said. "The world was supposed to end Saturday. The man asked, 'Should I ought to work on Saturday, or stay home with my family?' "

He didn't say how he answered. At this point, does it even matter?

Even politicians have taken notice. Just give up?


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  • (Score: 1) by anubi on Tuesday November 21 2017, @06:55AM

    by anubi (2828) on Tuesday November 21 2017, @06:55AM (#599565) Journal

    Since I stopped arguing with people who don't have "an argument" but just like to "argue", my life has become much more enjoyable.

    I met an interesting old coot last week at DelTaco. A "street preacher". Definitely a Man of God. Scary though, as he did not seem to take much importance into setting things in order for his own survival. More of a faith type - "God runs the show - I just go where He leads" type. I would sure be fearful if he was in a position where he had any sort of earthly authority. When I tried to discuss things like any sort of preparation, he would come out with "God will Provide", and he does not need to concern himself with such.

    Even such a concept as running out of water seemed to evade him. I can only imagine him as an engineer on a freight train, asking God to power the train, cause there is no fuel in the tank.

    Even though I consider myself spiritual, religious people scare the hell out of me. What I see as preparation, they perceive as a "lack of faith". I claim if "faith" were that powerful, there would be no such thing as "accidents". Is the faithful mouse immune to the cat? If God is watching out for his flock that way, how in the world did that Texas shooter get off nailing 26 people in a Baptist church?

    The most scary part of the religious experience to me is the same meme in "Obedience to Authority" by Stanley Milgram. Once one believes he is an agent of ( known as the "agentic" state ) some particular authority, one feels empowered by that authority to do damned near anything, if he perceives that to be the Command of the Authority. Once one feels "obedient to the Will of God", he internalizes authority to do nearly anything, feeling God himself has granted him the authority to do it, and anything anyone else does to stop him is evil. Such an "agentic" man can be instructed to do damned near anything. And will do it. Just as a Law Enforcement Officer will deliberately shoot to kill if he feels he has to. Both are agentic to the authority they report to.

    Really scary stuff there when one realizes what a thin veneer of common sense we humans have, and how easily our higher thought processes can be hijacked by "leadership" memes. So few people seem to have the education ( and I do believe it is education - showing this to people - how it works - and the evil or good it can be put to ) to recognize it for what it is. Just me typing this out in this forum may spill the beans for some of you that don't yet know how this trick works. All I have done is pulled the cover back. Look for yourself and make up your own mind.

    I did not recognize it until somebody else pointed it out to me, gave me a copy of Milgram's book, told me to read it, then later we had a few rather lengthy discussions about it. Yes, the guy who let me in on it was one of those leadership types. I do not have the kind of moxie to do it, but I do recognize it when I see it now.

    I don't believe its intelligence. I believe its more like showing a magic trick - once the cat is out of the bag, people will recognize how the trick works and see it for what it is.

    I know for a fact, just reading the replies in these forums, a lot of people here know exactly how this trick works. They got a huge head start on me having an understanding of this while I was being taught to be subordinate.

    But the downside of having people shown this trick and how it works, well, they become almost impossible to "lead". Its hard to take advantage of them. And most "leaders" require people under their authority that do as they are told, without considering the ramifications to themselves or knowing they are being taken advantage of. Which is the meme required for a few to get ungodly rich at the expense of the many.

    Sound like any "prosperity preachers" you have heard?

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]