When I was still attending Arizona State University, I had an assignment where I was to create a Vox Pop. It is basically a man-on-the-street type interview where I ask multiple people the same question. Since its Arizona and he was in the news at the time, I asked “What do you think about Sheriff Joseph Arpaio?” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio)

Most people ignore the petitioners and when they see me with a microphone they make sure to look down at their phones and hurry past. I don’t blame them, I do the same thing, but I still managed to get enough responses that day. While interviewing two persistently pro Arpaio people, (she came back a second time to balance out all the anti-Joe responses), a man comes by and yells “Joseph Arpaio has a rubber gun!”

What? I ask him to clarify and he clearly repeats that Joseph Arpaio has a rubber gun, because he is a convicted felon from his time in the DEA. I look at the people I was interviewing and they try to keep a straight face, but its obvious to everyone that this guy is a nut. I need interesting audio recordings for my assignment so I let him talk. The older couple stick around.

I question him about the rubber gun and he goes on to tell about his time as a mercenary in Iraq, how he was a judge at an Amsterdam Pot festival, and that he keeps all his money in the Cayman Islands. Each story getting successively more ridiculous. I’m interested. I know its bullshit. The other people standing around me know its bullshit.

But then he said something that was actually true. He mentioned Oliver North and Iran Contra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair). I personally knew that this particular fact was true, but everyone around me still thought he was bullshitting.

He was making a valid point but he spouted off so many nonsense statements beforehand that no one was going to listen to him.

Conspiracy theories are a trigger to instantly lose your credibility. Stories of the government lying to citizens aren’t mainstream. People don’t believe them even though they have been proved to be true: Gulf of Tonkin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident), Iran Contra(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair), Tuskeggee Syphillis Experiment(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment).

The point I am making is that if you want your point to be heard and considered refrain away from using such examples. Anything that you can’t support with credible academic sources I would suggest not mentioning. Don’t discredit yourself. Provide a source.

I was listening to the Alex Jones’ Podcast. I have only listened a few times. I’m not trying to compare anyone to Alex Jones. He would start to make a good point, he backed it up with supporting arguments then dropped all his credibility by mentioning something about tampered food supply and eugenics.

What? He could have had a good point. He could have opened up a discussion. His point had nothing to do with food supply or eugenics , but he felt the need to throw that out there to his audience. He reminded me of the homeless man talking about rubber guns. Eugenics is something a crazy person would bring up. If you don’t back up your arguments with a credible source you sound crazy. If you don’t have a source just don’t mention it. It will help your argument and people will listen to what you have to say.