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Digital Self-Defense

Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe

A Tour of the Indefensible

I am interested in the destination, not the journey

This is a direct examination of particular beliefs, why they’re wrong, and how people manage to hold them while surrounded by evidence of their wrongness. I’m not interested in validating the journey. The destination is usually embarrassing and occasionally catastrophic.

Each chapter takes a category. The flat earthers. The medical quacks. The celebrity death hoaxers. The secret society watchers. The space conspiracy crowd. Each follows the same shape: here’s the belief, here’s where it came from, here’s why it’s wrong, and here’s my honest reaction. The honest reaction is rarely charitable, which is deliberate.

The shape every chapter followsFour steps showing how each chapter of this tour of indefensible beliefs is built. It states the belief, traces where it came from, explains why it is wrong, and ends with the author's honest reaction, which is rarely charitable by design.The shape every chapter follows1The beliefWhat the believers claim,stated plainly.2Where it came fromThe origin of the idea.3Why it's wrongThe evidence thebelievers are surroundedby.4Honest reactionRarely charitable, anddeliberately so.
The shape every chapter followsFour steps showing how each chapter of this tour of indefensible beliefs is built. It states the belief, traces where it came from, explains why it is wrong, and ends with the author's honest reaction, which is rarely charitable by design.The shape every chapter follows1The beliefWhat the believers claim, stated plainly.2Where it came fromThe origin of the idea.3Why it's wrongThe evidence the believers are surroundedby.4Honest reactionRarely charitable, and deliberately so.

Each category of belief gets the same four-part treatment.

The last chapters step back to the machinery underneath. The logical fallacies. The cognitive biases. The social media dynamics that turn one person’s delusion into an organized movement with merchandise.

I’m not claiming immunity. I’ve owned a lucky shirt. I’ve knocked on wood. The difference is that my irrational thinking has never killed anyone, and that bar turns out to be higher than you’d expect.

What is inside Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe?

How the book is organized
Chapters What they cover
1 to 5 Flat and hollow earth, medical delusions, celebrity hoaxes, secret societies, space conspiracies
6 to 10 Time travel, financial fantasies, historical revisionism, weather wars, internet echo chambers
11 to 14 Supernatural marketplace, positive delusion, social justice buzzwords, alpha male mythology
15 Logical fallacies that fuel ridiculous beliefs
16 The echo effect of social media and fast communication
17 Cognitive biases behind the madness
18 Why we believe the unbelievable

Who should read Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe?

Why did I write Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe?

Richard Lowe, the Writing King

Thirty-three years in enterprise technology taught me to check claims against evidence, because a system doesn’t care what you believe about it. I’ve written extensively on logical fallacies and cognitive bias. This book is what happens when that habit meets the internet.

► Behind the Book: Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe
How this one got written, what went wrong, and what got cut.

► I’ve Owned a Lucky Shirt. I’ve Knocked on Wood.
One story from behind this book.

What do people ask about Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe?

What topics does Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe cover?
Eighteen categories: flat Earth and hollow Earth theories, seven flavors of medical misinformation (homeopathy, urine therapy, MMS bleach cures, vaccine conspiracies, crystal healing, and more), celebrity death hoaxes, secret societies, reptilian overlords, moon landing denial, time travel fantasies, financial scams, historical revisionism, weather warfare, QAnon and internet echo chambers, manifestation culture, social justice overreach, and alpha male mythology.
Is Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe just mocking people?
No. The goal is to help readers recognize how easily anyone can slip from healthy skepticism into destructive delusion. The book examines the psychological mechanisms, confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, pattern recognition gone haywire, that make intelligent people fall for elaborate nonsense. The final chapters cover the logical fallacies and social media dynamics that turn individual delusion into organized movements.
What are Richard Lowe’s credentials?
Richard Lowe has 45+ years of technology experience, including nearly two decades managing computer operations for a $16 billion company. He’s spent his career in environments where being wrong has immediate, measurable consequences.
Why do ridiculous beliefs matter?
Some of these beliefs are harmless entertainment. Some of them kill children. When parents give their kids industrial bleach because Facebook said it cures autism, or when people refuse life-saving vaccines over microchip fears, we’ve crossed from amusing to lethal. The book gives readers practical tools for telling the difference between healthy skepticism and destructive delusion.
What patterns do ridiculous beliefs share?
Systematic rejection of expertise, preference for simple explanations over complex realities, tendency to see meaningful patterns where none exist, and the desperate need to feel special or possess secret knowledge that the masses don’t have. Believing one ridiculous thing often leads to believing many, nobody stops at just one conspiracy theory.

Also in Digital Self-Defense

Ordinary brains get weaponized against their owners

Knowing the machinery is the only reliable defense.

BUY FROM INGRAMSPARKAMAZONKOBOREAD A CHAPTERTABLE OF CONTENTS

Paperback and ebook.

Filed underCritical ThinkingLogical FallaciesEcho ChambersEducation

A chapter

Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe

Welcome to our grand tour of people who used their textbooks as coasters and their science classes as naptime. This chapter explores humans in 2025 who can order pizza with their phones, livestream their breakfast to strangers, and find their way using satellites they claim don’t exist, yet have convinced themselves that our planet looks like a dinner plate or contains underground civilizations with better Wi-Fi than most apartment complexes.

We’re walking through three spectacular examples of weaponized stupidity: the modern flat earth movement (for people who think thousands of years of astronomy was elaborate performance art), hollow earth beliefs (our planet is a geological Kinder Egg), and ice wall conspiracies (Antarctica is Earth’s cosmic pool fence, installed by celestial HOA officials).

These people perform Olympic-level mental gymnastics while using GPS to drive to conferences where they explain why GPS is a lie. They argue that water doesn’t curve while booking round-trip flights on routes that only work because Earth is round. Picture someone insisting rain isn’t wet while getting soaked in a thunderstorm.

The psychology involves confirmation bias, motivated reasoning, and the intellectual equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting “LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU” at physics. Strap in. We’re about to watch thousands of people convince themselves that basic geography is the world’s most elaborate practical joke.

Modern flat earthers claim our planet is a flat disc with the North Pole at the center and Antarctica forming an ice wall around the perimeter, like the world’s worst lazy Susan. The sun and moon are small, local objects (pizza-sized) circling above this disc like the universe’s most disappointing mobile.

They believe gravity doesn’t exist because the invisible force keeping your coffee in your mug is too mainstream. Instead, the flat Earth disc accelerates upward at 9.8 meters per second squared, explaining why things fall down. They think our entire planet is a cosmic elevator accelerating upward for billions of years without reaching its destination.

The most prominent voices: Mark Sargent, Patricia Steere, and Daniel Shenton, who spread these ideas through YouTube videos and conferences with the evangelical fervor of people selling extended warranties for toasters.

They claim NASA, world governments, and scientists engage in a massive conspiracy to hide the “truth” about Earth’s shape, though they’re vague about why anyone would bother. Nothing says “efficient conspiracy” like requiring every airline pilot, ship captain, and physics teacher to keep the same secret for generations without spilling the beans on TikTok.

Table of contents

Ridiculous Things People Actually Believe

  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Flat Earth and Hollow Earth
  • Chapter 2: Medical Miracles and Dangerous Delusions
  • Chapter 3: Celebrity Immortality Club
  • Chapter 4: Secret Societies and Shadow Governments
  • Chapter 5: Space Conspiracies
  • Chapter 6: Time Travel and Parallel Universes
  • Chapter 7: Financial Fantasies
  • Chapter 8: Historical Revisionism Gone Wild
  • Chapter 9: Weather Wars and Climate Control
  • Chapter 10: Internet Echo Chambers
  • Chapter 11: Supernatural Marketplace
  • Chapter 12: The Power of Positive Delusion
  • Chapter 13: Social Justice Buzzwords Gone Wild
  • Chapter 14: Red Pill Reality and Alpha Male Mythology
  • Chapter 15: Logical Fallacies That Fuel Ridiculous Beliefs
  • Chapter 16: The Echo Effect of Social Media and Fast Communication
  • Chapter 17: Cognitive Biases Behind the Madness
  • Chapter 18: Conclusion: Why We Believe the Unbelievable
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