Polls indicate that about 6% of Americans believe that the moon landings was an hoax.?

Question

Over the years, this percentage 6% has remained consistent. Why is that, in spite of considerable talk on the subject? Is this 6% simply a reflection of the fact no matter what is claimed, there will always be those anxious to stake out the contrarian view?

Other polls say as high as 10%, with Fox TV (while airing a show about the "hoax") claiming as high as 20%. That seems to be the maximum by any pollster.

So far, reponses to this question seem to match poll figures of about 6% "moon hoax" people. How about that? All I need is a couple more moon hoax people and the 6% figure could go out the window.

Answer 1

"Is this 6% simply a reflection of the fact no matter what is claimed, there will always be those anxious to stake out the contrarian view?"

Yes, I think that's pretty close to the right answer.

There are people who believe that "if most people believe something, I must believe the opposite." Why? Because there is no glory or interest in believing what everybody else believes. It gives some people a sense of satisfaction to think that, despite their own lack of scientific background, they can feel *smarter* than everybody else by believing something that everybody else rejects. If they are wrong, then it's no big deal ... but if they are RIGHT, wow aren't they superior!

They are impervious to the idea that the majority of people might believe something because it may actually be TRUE.

It is the same idea behind believing that evolution is false even though the vast majority of scientists (>95%) accept it as the best theory supported by the evidence. It makes some people feel really smart to believe that they are actually smarter than all those elitist scientists with their pesky "facts" and "evidence" and science-ie jargon.

I used to find it funny. But all of this takes an effort at denial of evidence that allows these people to believe *anything* as long as it is expressed emphatically enough. Things like "tobacco isn't harmful." "global warming is a farce", "Iraq has WMD's". "Saddam was involved in 9/11." etc.

In other words, this erosion of Americans' ability to evaluate evidence ... kills people.

Answer 2

It really is a shame that so many people will believe things like this without checking out some facts, or even thinking for themselves. The White House couldn't keep their involvement in Watergate a secret, yet we are supposed to believe that a project carried out over many years in front of the whole world, that involved hundreds of thousands of people, did not actually carry out the activities that we saw.
Why hasn't a single person come forward to sell their story for a million dollars?
I'm not really surprised that Fox claims the highest percentage, as their programme is one that's most touted around as promoting this view. However, I'd advise caution with these statistics, as most polls only involve a few hundred people at most. So 6% would mean 30 people out of 500 interviewed. but I don't think you can say that honestly means that out of a population of 200 million in the USA, that 12 million believe the Moon landings to be a fake. To get a better indication of the whole country's view, I think you'd need to ask several thousand, or better still, several hundred thousand people.
On the other hand, I suppose that there really are a lot of people who will believe anything, such as spacecraft taking years to cross the galaxy, finding a planet with advanced life, and being clever enough to stay hidden so that there can't be any absolute proof of their existence, but stupid enough not to totally wipe the memories of all the people that they kidnap :)
What upsets me about the claim that the Moon landings didn't happen is the dis-service that it does to science and to the 400,000 people who were involved in the Apollo programme. Instead of calling them all liars, we should be praising them and be proud of the fact that we have reached the point where we have been able to cross space and walk on the surface of another world.

Answer 3

Lot's of people would like to believe that things are the way they are due to some machieavellian machniations behind the scenes - just look at some of the more popular movies from Hollywood. Some people are impervious to evidence to the contrary. Why is a complex conspiricay requiring the complicity of thousands of ordinary citizens more plausible than a simple straightforward explanation based on facts in evidence? What gets me is that the government is notortiusly incapable of keeping secrets of relatively limited scope (Watergate and Foley come to mind) yet it is somehow capable of conceling conspiricies on the magnitude of what would be involved in fake moon landings and 9/11 being an "inside job". How many people would have to keep quiet on these conspiracies? And all of these people that would have been involved have resisted the temptation to break such a story? And what of entities having a vested interest in exposing such a fraud, such as cold war era USSR?

Answer 4

something that i've got observed approximately the two is how clustered those questions get. The communicate board can decide for countless days without single question approximately the two undertaking, then there's a flurry of interest. whether that's as a results of college room activities, church artwork or some sort of flash mob, I basically don't have a clue. additionally, the questions seem worded very almost identically, or phrased in addition. the different merchandise is that not often, if ever, do any of those human beings ever bypass lower back and vote on their question. something that i've got not checked is how long those human beings have been on Y!A while they ask a question. that would supply a clue.

Answer 5

Yes, well, there are people who still beleve that the Earth is flat, that Hitler's brain is being kept alive in a jar somewhere, Lee Harvey Oswald killed John F. Kennedy, or that George W. Bush won the 2000 election fair and square. There is just no accounting for many of the insane notions that some people have. That being said, there are things about happenings in space that we are not being told about. Take a look at

www.enterprisemission.com

and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Answer 6

Really only 6%?? Im shocked by this number. I have been on this subject more than once and i feel like the majority of people i speak with agree that it was a hoax.

Answer 7

Why has this number remained constant over the years…? Well, although stupidity has always been a capital crime, there are so many people that are against capital punishment in this country, that we protect the stupid from themselves, so that they can live longer and we also allow them to procreate their kind. So they have not yet died out in the struggle for the survival of the fittest. We may SAY that we believe in evolution, but when it comes to letting it take its course, we shoot ourselves in the foot.

31 DEC 06, 1934 hrs, GMT.

Answer 8

There is known to mass psychologists something called the "lunatic fringe". (The members of that "fringe" vary from question to question.) For any proposition, however outre it may be, 2% of the population will believe it; so that becomes the minimum level for any given question presented to a large population.

From absolutely ridiculous (where 2% will believe anyway) to the merest smidgen of stretchable credulity (such that 6% will buy it) isn't really that great of a leap.

Answer 9

Well, about 6 percent of the population has an IQ less than 80 or so. Perhaps there's correlation?

Answer 10

Conspiracy theories always attract an audience. Some people just love the enigma of an elite group of people, the Illuminati?, foisting deception on everyone while they secretly run the world.