RationalWiki:How I found RationalWiki/2020

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2020[edit]

December 2020[edit]

  • Browsing UPs on WP. Found Tmtlouse's. Was curious. Lurked for a while, but am now joining. Qworty (talk) 18:06, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

November 2020[edit]

  • I registered this time, but I found it sooner - from reading literally million articles about free will xDD which lead me everywhere! Empleat (talk) 23:58, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
  • One day I was in a website about science and they have putten the url of the "Lists of creationist scientists" then I was interested so I clicked it. St. Pestage (talk) 17:28, 25 November 2020 (UTC)
  • A fellow editor at Illogicopedia likes to vandalize this place. 104.225.183.70 (talk) 14:54, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
  • As the U.S. Ex-President Elect continues to fire government agency officials left and right over their failure to support his allegations that the election was rigged, specifically the chief of cyber-security claiming that it was the most secure U.S. election ever, I begin to wonder what could be done (in theory, at least) to improve U.S. legal and administrative safeguards against the outgoing administration doing substantial harm to its own country. America is still quite far from the situation in Belarus or Turkmenistan, but I don't like the mere direction of where this is going. Googling for "alternate constitution" I found Essay:Alternate Constitution of the United States at the very top, and while I don't think rewriting it from scratch is a good approach (I would rather look at specific institutions and how they operate in their current context), RationalWiki strikes me as a very appropriate place to bring up this topic and a few related ones. --SM5POR (talk) 09:34, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
  • It's because I HATE conspiracies! ... mainly, some truly bizarre, wild conspiracies that seeks to discredit every last man, woman, and child who holds to any form of moral dogma. Aka, religion! Specifically here, the evangelical kind. Ja, I do not like it. The mission of the wiki, to (let's be honest and boil it down) fight any form of spiritualism and intellectual humility is great for me, since I can finally read pages of work without wondering if I've condemned what God has not. This place doesn't hide behind their claimed god(s), it doesn't even hide behind a universal system of morality! It's pure, unadulterated whack! I've never been so happy that there was a place which I could disagree with more without annnnnyy burdens at all. Beautiful (in my heart, of course, it's important to be collegiate~). Now, if only I could find the make article button... ThisSiteRuxExDee (talk) 08:18, 11 November 2020 (UTC)

October 2020[edit]

  • I found RationalWiki during a time when I was researching fallacies starting in October. Sure enough by sheer accident, I found RationalWiki. It's changed my opinions of many people, and the mission of the wiki to combat Totalitarianism and refute woo is just perfect for me. Ultimately, the amount of knowledge this site has given me is something I am thankful for. ThyFluffyDolphin 8:50, 18 October 2020 (BST)

September 2020[edit]

  • I was looking for the source material for a Logical Fallacies poster somebody put together and came across fallacyfiles.org, and when doing some lateral checking to gauge that as a source, I came across RationalWiki. I am trying to establish a project to help inoculate against disinformation, particularly of the sort Russia likes to use. The core goal is to swing the tides of isolationism or at least highlight that as an important topic. Dopatap (talk) 02:31, 29 September 2020 (UTC)
  • Over the past 10 years, a brilliant PhD friend of mine has been sending me many articles, some of which, cause me to pause and question my knowledge basis. I am a skeptic at heart and almost invariably will challenge quacks, conspiracy theorists and self proclaimed scientists, seeking out the source of any claim contrary to my understanding. Not having a PhD and never having taught graduate level physics as he, I was taken back when he touted Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's views on the morbidity of Covid-19 and expected it would be easy to debunk. Crazy at it was, there are only a few sites which have tackled Kendrick's misstatements, this being one. I was frankly surprised and very pleased that this resource has been put this together. Pierrevz (talk) 17:01, 9 September 2020 (UTC)
  • Used it to debunk conspiracy bullshit and communist propaganda. Joined in to call out Grayzone and Qiao Collective crankery. Noobmaster420(talk) 18:24, 12 September 2020 (UTC +8)
  • I am currently reading the book Outliers in one of my classes, Christopher Langan is mentioned so I looked him up. It turns out he is a 9/11 truther and white genocide conspiracy theorist. 9:30, 9 September 2020 (UTC -6) — Unsigned, by: Kobalt762 / talk / contribs

August 2020[edit]

  • Since last December, I've been witnessing a family member become obsessed with elaborate conspiracies, from Q Anon to Bill Gates's secret plan to put microchips in the COVID vaccine. In the process of trying to debunk and bring her back to reality, I also found out a friend was getting quietly radicalized through the Intellectual Dark Web and his own gullibility/confirmation bias into an extremist worldview. It's scary losing people to this stuff, but I thank this site for being a resource that examines the individuals and tactics that are used to untether people from reality. (Arugula (talk) 22:33, 31 August 2020 (UTC))
  • i discovered rationalwiki by accident when i was researching the "freedom fries" debacle and stumbled across the joke article on the subject. i started obsessively reading the ufology and pseudoscience articles sometime afterwards, which helped me understand some of the crap my dad believes in (seriously he watches ancient aliens all the time). the political articles are also nice too, and the logic articles are very helpful for learning how to be a sceptic. Autumncheney (talk) 06:58, 31 August 2020 (UTC)
  • I live in a small town in England that is obbessed with the anti-5G conspirary, anti-vax rubbish and the cult Falun Gong. I was getting more and more fustrated with the state of things and the circular arguments I encounted down pubs or around town, even more so since I had just finished my masters degree. Rationalwiki helped me remember that there are...well rational people on planet earth and even lead me to learn new concepts like the Dunning-Kruger effect. This website is an absolute joy and I'm happy to edit for it. Thank you rationalwiki and I'm sorry if my future self edits out or puts in the wrong thing. Junfa (talk) 22:16, 2 August 2020 (UTC)Junfa
  • I found a link to the page on Freemen on the land somewhere on the internet, I can't remember exactly where though. Kiko4564 (talk) 00:19, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
  • I've visited this site for years, finally decided to make an account and try to make some contributions. There's a huge amount of conspiratorial/pseudoscientific belief among people where I live in the US of A, and Rationalwiki has been a great resource for all sorts of topics. Bigwiggler (talk) 16:48, 7 August 2020 (UTC)
  • I live in a suburb near Oklahoma City. My family is all religious, but I was never really interested in church, so I asked one of my friends why he didn´t go. He said it was because he was an atheist. Not knowing what this meant, I googled it, and arrived here. This resulted in me becoming an atheist, less than an hour later. I really love this site, it´s funny, smart, and something that I want to be a part of. I´ve been reading it for a while, and finally decided to join. I´m glad I can follow in the hoofprints of Lord Goat.

._. (talk) 13:18, 28 August 2020 (UTC)

July 2020[edit]

  • I first stumbled upon Rational Wiki about two years ago, having developed a deeper interest in politics and critical thinking. My landing point on the site was the article about Logical Razors, which is a term I read somewhere in an internet argument and decide to google. I liked the sense of humour and the info, so I decided to type Ben Shapiro into the search bar, and was not disappointed by what I found. Asking around on the internet I was told this place is either the greatest place on Earth, or a leftist shithole. Both sounded pretty good to me. Rairyu75 (talk) 14:24, 25 July 2020 (UTC)
  • I accidentally ended up on rationalwiki the other day and ended up on the site for multiple hours. I love the wit and the scandal. I thought I could add my two cents into some areas of my own interests (Psychology, History, Culture, Evolution, Politics etc.). I know how easy it is for pseudoscience to creep into fields and also how easy it is to miss out on important context.

(<Vernin>Vernin (talk) 14:43, 19 July 2020 (UTC)</Vernin>)

  • I discovered rational wiki while trying to debunk far right black supremacist talking points. In my life I’ve encountered Extremist black nationalist groups that tend to use sloppy racialist pseudoscience and pseudo history or more accurately mythology to push certain agendas and schools of thought within the black community. The Ancient Egyptian race “controversy” being the worst of it as many of these groups like to claim that Ancient Egyptians were “black” (As we understand the term today) and by extension all ancient civilizations were secretly black people and that’s there is a mass conspiracy to “hide the truth”. I’ve always questioned the validity of these claims but had trouble properly debunking these claims until I stumbled upon RW article on Melanin theory. Safe to say that I not only enjoyed the debunking but the level of snark used in it as well. After that I researched black supremacy and the rest is history as they say.SensaurC-137 (talk) 02:43, 12 July 2020 (UTC)
  • While in grad school I was working on a short essay assignment about critical thinking problems and pseudoscience. Obviously, searching the Internet for examples of flaws with pseudoscience lands one at RationalWiki rather quickly. I'm glad for that. AreaChickie (talk) 23:33, 1 July 2020 (UTC)AreaChickie

June 2020[edit]

  • I was looking for a magnetic stirrer/hotplate on Amazon and a reviewer of an item I was interested in mentioned that he needed to do 'a lot of stirring' because he made something called 'Ormus' which I had never heard of. Turns out Ormus is pseudo-scientific nonsense, as RationalWiki helpfully clearly and amusingly confirmed. RationalWiki immediately struck me as an essential resource. Ormus was my landing point...I landed here today, and created an account today Quantumfly (talk) 20:34, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
  • I wandered in here 3-4 years ago, most likely from Slashdot and/or Encyclopædia Dramatica on a long, cold, & boring winter's night in Sweden while I was still living there. I think I started with the evolution and alt-right articles. Finally created an account in early 2019. Zontar (talk) 03:46, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
  • In search of truth(s), the makeup of true TINfoil was a mystery. The stumble upon your site has led to a much greater understanding. A true TINfoil Fedora should be referenced sparingly. For this alone, I thank you. — Unsigned, by: SoEoHo / talk / contribs
  • i have reported this on June 2020. And then, I was searching for pareidolia and I inherited, and stumbled, and tested, into the RW. 2001:56A:774D:8F00:7D8D:85AA:374A:8B53 (talk) 03:01, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
  • I found RationalWiki on Unexplained Mysteries Forum and yes I'm the same Piney. The Token Indian who debunks pseudoarchaeology, pseudohistory, bad Biblical scholarship, false prophets, conspiridiocy, false information about Native Americans and medical woocrap......Sorry for the late introduction. Piney
  • I found RationalWiki when I decided to go there on another device (I CAN'T TELL YOU). Then I saw it and decided to make an account. Misc544 (talk) 21:51, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

May 2020[edit]

  • I believe I was looking for more stuff about Sargon of Akkad because he and I shared the same beliefs and I came across quite an extensive review of him as a person as well as his actions. What a weirdo. Rohitiyer1 (talk) 1:38, 4 May 2020 (CT)
  • I was looking up stuff on anti-intellectuals and anti-vaxxers and I stumbled into this website. After reading the articles, which I found to be quite good, I decided to create an account. Eggtime (talk) 00:41, 8 June 2020 (UTC)Eggtime

April 2020[edit]

  • I've come to RW many times for quick and easy debunking of climate denialist/YEC claims over the years, and over the past few months started just reading while at work on my phone and finally decided to make an account. Sforzando (talk) 22:41, 1 May 2020 (UTC)
  • After hearing the name Paul Joseph Watson in a friendly jordies video, i looked him up to see who he was. first link i saw was rational wiki. 14.203.62.77 (talk) 15:38, 21 April 2020 (UTC)

March 2020[edit]

  • First stumbled across this page in 2016, while I was a small government, pro-business Conservative. Dismissed the site as biased, and left. Returned intermittently before 2019, even as my views evolved. Lurked obsessively on the site before FINALLY making an account. Constantly grappling with limits on my own knowledge and rationality, while dealing with copious amounts of IRL bullshit. Rationalissimo (talk) 23:48, 31 March 2020 (UTC)
  • Lurking here for about a year. I'm a Kemetic pagan (I worship ancient egyptian gods, but I'm not into pseudoscience or woo and I do my research) and someone invited me to the House of Netjer. Suspecting it might be a cult, I decided to look into it before joining, and found RationalWiki's page about them and their Pharaoh, Tamara Siuda. Decided not to join, as it smells too much like cult for me. Would much rather do my own digging into my faith than pledge myself to someone who has the gall to claim she's a living Horus. FelisDraconis (talk) 09:04, 30 March 2020 (UTC)
  • Former lurker since last year. Was trying to research improving the public school system but having issues thanks to stumbling across multiple junk school indoctrination conspiracies rather than genuine research. Searched up "David Dees" and found this place. Want to start a YT channel on this kind of stuff, so...

Metazero (talk) 16:26, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

  • Actually signed up years ago, though I never posted on this thread. I think the impetus to come here, back then, was exactly the same as the one below for user Kaio shin! It was that crazy Quantum Gravity Research thing on YouTube! Judicious googling ensued, and here I am. Most recently I was driven here by someone waxing rhapsodic about the wisdom imparted to them by the 2006 film "What the Bleep Do We Know!?"OmneBonum (talk) 17:37, 27 March 2020 (UTC)
  • I was watching youtube videos from Quantum Gravity Research and it felt like pseudoscience so I decided to look up some more information about this person. Kaio shin (talk) 15:35, 16 March 2020 (UTC)

February 2020[edit]

  • I was searching for criticism of "Ancient Aliens", as I am infuriated by the continued broadcast of this wretched TV programme. I have recently become a UFO sceptic, after years of indecision, having been irritated by so much poor low grade UFO research, and there being absolutely no substantial evidence. 24 02 2020 Saucer Fury (talk) 12:32, 24 February 2020 (UTC)
  • I received a bizarre piece of strangely worded junk mail promising me all the secrets of self fulfilment from "The Network" for an initial payment of $99. The mail was posted in Prague and the payment was to be made, by post(!) to a PO Box in Canada, "by Friday" (there was no date on the letter). The only clue to the origin was an email address of neo-tech.com. After seaching for neo-tech on Google the first relevant page was on Rational Wiki. I am now enlightened. — Unsigned, by: 86.30.38.118 / talk
  • I was talking to a fundamentalist who claimed that the Quran only contained scientific truths. Google led me to our article about scientific errors in the Quran.Max (talk) 10:54, 13 February 2020 (UTC)
  • I bought it on the street corner. — Oxyaena Harass 10:58, 13 February 2020 (UTC)
  • Found this website after looking up Examples of God personally killing people -- xxezrabxxx (talk) 00:55, 23 February 2020 (UTC) xxezrabxxx
  • Late 2016, I was watching CuteFuzzyWeasel, and he made a "Feeding the Trolls" on The Vigilant Christian, when Weasel was making fun of how he found Marvel to be a satanic company who used their superheroes and distort biblical stories to drive them away from Christianity. I was a bit of a fundie around early 2017 to late 2019. I am not religious anymore, and I do visit this site semi-frequently. — Unsigned, by: Patty Pat / talk / contribs

January 2020[edit]

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