Birds Aren’t Real is a satirical conspiracy theory that claims that birds are actually government-operated drones for surveillance purposes. The movement, started by Peter McIndoe in 2016, has gained a following among Gen Z adherents and has become a national sensation. The movement alleges that most birds in North America were killed and replaced with drones or other surveillance devices. The creators of the fake conspiracy theory claim they are highlighting the current wave of misinformation by fighting “lunacy with lunacy”.
The United States government has massacred 12 billion birds over 40 years using crop-dusting airplanes flying over the States. The movement was meant as a small act of satire but has become a perfect study of how misinformation spreads. The movement claims that the US government wiped out all birds and replaced them with lookalike drones for surveillance purposes.
McIndoe’s theory about birds might shock some, as he is not a fan of birds. In fact, he has a theory about them that might shock you. The movement has become a symbol of the power of online conspiracy theories and the spread of misinformation. As the movement continues to grow, it is essential to consider the potential consequences of such conspiracy theories and the role they play in spreading misinformation.
📹 Birds Aren’t Real? How a Conspiracy Takes Flight | Peter McIndoe | TED
Peter McIndoe isn’t a fan of birds. In fact, he has a theory about them that might shock you. Listen along to this eye-opening talk as …
📹 Investigating The Birds Aren’t Real Conspiracy
Once again Matt delves into a conspiracy! This time asking the question ‘Are Birds Real’?! Credits: …
Hi Peter, as a fellow Arkansan relocated to So Cal, I was so excited to see you driving around in my new town of Orange! I had to pick up my kids at the time and was disappointed I couldn’t follow you and get a pic with the van. I hope you make it out here again soon or I see you and the van in Arkansas!
Great talk. Now I am searching for ways to put this in practice. My friend told he is a climate sceptic; it isn’t really changing. He started with examples of the growing numbers of polar bears etc. and I didn’t know how to react. What do I say to him? Should I try to find out why he doesn’t want to believe in the mainstream media, to understand what is behind his beliefs?
I paused it at 47 seconds in. As soon as someone online asks you to “keep an open mind” and “be respectful” it means they are about to say something absolutely ridiculous. and they know it, they’ve tried to tell other people the same thing and been laughed at….but sure…let’s give it a shot…let’s see h ow this article ends….
I have found that other bird truthers tend to be the most trustworthy and reliable friends I’ve found. The ability to get the bit without a direct sense of literalism is something I find universally key in my friends and people I discuss difficult topics with. You simultaneously need to be rooted in reality to get the joke, but also willing to play with the meta-layer of outside perception in order to communicate that. It’s the political version of “Primus Sucks” it’s not quite Kay Fabe but there’s gotta be a name for phenomena such as those beyond just simple satire.
Conspiracy theories start with some idea that has just enough truth to it that people get drawn in and say “well maybe”. The crux of it is that we as a society don’t want to take the time to listen to each other and having discussions instead of arguing. This social experiment was great in that Peter gained a new perspective. Would that we could all take the time to gain some perspective and treat each other with decency. Maybe there would be less conspiracy theories and more time spent getting along for our limited time on the planet
We live in an age of personal due diligence where shaming others is not a helpful habit, especially when the pillars of our society persue their own desires for power and wealth while stoking devision for their own benefit. Learn to become your true self and don’t let the seeds of hatred grow unnoticed in your life like mushrooms in the night. I would like to see this talk blossom into a wider conversation to help us all develop our curiosity and love for one another.
Excellent talk. I have to say that this reminds me of when I met a 75 year old conspiracy theorist while shopping for anti-oxidants at a local natural store. She believed in not owning a cell phone or owning anything that required her social security number because it was less exposure to the spies for the government. She ate only macrobiotic foods and organic because the government was poisoning us with isolated chemicals in our foods. While standing next to her, a plane flew overhead and she looked up and knew that the plane was spraying chemicals on us to control the population growth. As our conversation came to a close, she looked at my shopping basket and asked me if I bought anti-oxidants? I looked at her and nodded and smiled.
Love how he turned half way and emphasized compassion and understanding of the motivations behind why people sometimes believe these things. He lost be a bit when he mentioned (few times) the idea of ‘alternate truth’. Any alternate truth must be a lie. If it is not truth, then by definition it is a lie. So he seemed to want to validate those believing these ‘alt truths’. Understanding why someone believes them is one thing, a good thing. But validating their ‘alternative truth’ is the echo chamber he mentioned and validates a lie.
I think he did a good job at not saying the demographic of who overall believes this stuff more and more But I struggle so hard to listen to these people. And I mean, I’ve listened for a long time to then finally start weaving in facts and things that make them think otherwise and I see nothing but stubbornness and a complete inability to question themselves. How do we actually help these people, especially if they are family members? Even more so when they are older.
As someone who talked to a conspiracy theorist Co-worker 3 days a week on break for years, being nice didn’t do much either. The truth is that what people are getting from their belief in conspiracy are frequently not nice things. Things that they can’t get elsewhere because it’s an imposition on others. In my case, He wanted to feel smart/superior. No amount of logic would ever convince him he was wrong, he always wanted to make the point that others were sheep. He was a wolf, because he knew the “truth”.
Very interesting perspective! But, I would have liked it to go a step further, discussing how to approach entrenched conspiracy theorists concretely. E.g. flatearthers or creationists. I get that starting your argument with “you are stupid” gets you nowhere, but when presenting factual arguments it is usually the conspiracy theorists that turn to “it’s all fake” / “you are brainwashed” / “you must be in on it”, thereby effectively killing the basis of any rational discussion.
The crisis in many cases is simple to understand. If you grew up in the 1970s, it was fine to tell racist, sexist and bigoted jokes. Now, we realise how hurtful they were. Younger people grasped this quicker and became willing to call it out. As more people had a University education they mixed with more people from different places and realised that whether you are black, white, male, female, trans, straight, gay or bisexual people are just trying to live their lives. But the older people did not want to change, or feel blamed for those attitudes, so they seek out people who reinforce those attitudes. That is why they feel alienated.
I spent an evening, talking to someone with strange theories. Usually, immediately you are “one of them”. But that evening, I did convince him, that my arguments were sound and for one evening, he believed me. The next day he was reset. On the other hand, one of my colleagues was against vaccinations. I did talk to her and she got vacced a few weeks later and a month or two later I overheard her complain about “those idiots, who refuse to get vacced”. It takes a lot of time and effort to convince one person. And more often than not, you will fail.
Ive been feeling like this for 22 years, since 911, the physics doesnt fit, and the fact noone dared speak out of all proffessors and smart people in the world, felt crazy, and then the whole corona crisis just as epstein was arrested and nothing felt right, like how they were pushing the narrative, and again i felt dispair, i feel like im just waiting trying to puzzle the next plan they have toghether
I thought that quail I shot and ate tasted a little funny. His words remind me of the story of Megan Phelps-Roper, who was able to leave the Westboro Baptist Church (talk about conspiracy theorists – also labelled a hate group), not because people called her a hater, ignorant, or crazy, but because someone was willing to engage with her in a calm, caring manner and not tell her why she was wrong, but simply helped her see the damage her actions were causing from a different perspective.
One of my friends legitimately believed this a while back and when I asked her about it her proof was “Well you’ve never seen a baby crow, have you?!”. I then proceeded to show her photos and articles of baby crows, which are adorable please go look them up if you’ve never seen one, and explained to her it was a satirical movement. I’m not sure she believed me, but like he said there’s no harm in her believing the conspiracy theory.
When i was a sprinkler pipe fitter for new construction, the Mechanic who was teaching me suddenly told me about how Pigeons we’re not real since they only exist in high populated cities. He said they were spying on us. To be fair he was known to do coke so he might have been coked out his mind when he confessed me his hysterical theory
I know you this is making fun of conspiracy theories by creating one but this is actually dangerous for birds. A lot of people who are ignorant will believe every single word you say and actually doing harm to birds because of this. Others who are not ignorant but rather malicious, might use this theory as an excuse to kill these innocent creatures that do no harm to anyone but rather contribute to maintain live in this planet in food production by spreading seeds around as well as eat unwanted insects. So it would be really helpful if the people behind this conspiracy theory to at the end of every article they make, every demonstration they make, every interview they give, explain that the sole purpose of this is “making fun of conspiracy theories and that they really don’t believe in what they are saying.”
Birds can carry camera secretly around the towns and cities for spy, also the robot birds exit in the national board areas for capture the sounds and messages wave around the sky for between counties of FBI or any use in purpose today! As many people aware that not just only me 🤓! Thank you for sharing~ love this topic a lot !!!