1081: Argument Victory

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Argument Victory

Title text: Really, the comforting side in most conspiracy theory arguments is the one claiming that anyone who's in power has any plan at all.

Explanation

Cueball is arguing on the internet via his phone with Combs Hair Down at his laptop. They appear to be arguing about some conspiracy theory which Down believes in. Since these arguments are interminable, Cueball forgoes further pointless debate and claims to "win" the argument by dropping the subject and going down a waterslide instead. (He's still carrying his phone, which doesn't seem like a great idea since the phone could get wet.) In doing so, he willfully abandons trying to change Combs Hair Down's mind, and has some good, honest fun instead, while Down is stuck at his computer, dogged in the assumption that there's any real value in winning an Internet argument.

The point here is that sometimes the battle isn't worth fighting. Cueball may not have "won" the debate, but it was unwinnable anyway (conspiracy theorists and other zealots never admit defeat), and he's certainly having a lot more fun.

The title text points out that belief in a conspiracy presupposes that those with the power to carry out the conspiracy actually have a plan, a situation which might be found "comforting" in contrast to one of its alternatives, namely that those in power are just muddling through with no plan at all. This concept is revisited in 1274: Open Letter.

Transcript

Cueball: I can't believe you're so wrong. I'm backed by Snopes, Wikipedia, and a half-dozen journals. You're citing .net pages with black backgrounds and like 20 fonts each.

Combs Hair Down: It's sad how you buy into the official story so unquestioningly. Guess some people prefer to stay asleep.

Cueball: Watch closely— I'm about to win this argument.

CHD, responding electronically: how?

Cueball: By going down a waterslide.

[Cueball is sitting at the very top of a waterslide preparing to descend.]

CHD: So? what does that prove?

Cueball: Wheeee..

CHD: You didn't win the argument!

Cueball: ...eeee

sploosh

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Discussion

I also think it could be a joke on the "Guess some people prefer to stay asleep." line ? 174.93.164.151 18:30, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Conspiracy theories are typically considered (especially by non-conspiracy-theorists) to make one sleepless/have nightmares, due to their often frightening nature.141.101.98.130 19:38, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

What the conspiracy theorist is saying is an idiomatic expression. Being "asleep" here means that the theorist's opponent has not yet opened his mind to the truth, and is willing to accept propaganda full of lies. Kind of like in The Matrix or something. (Disclaimer, I've never watched it, just read about it.) 108.162.216.106 21:12, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

I still don't understand the title text. I would think that the side that thinks "anyone who's in power has any plan at all" would be the conspiracy theorists, but how is that comforting? 98.66.41.122 14:25, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

I think he wants to say that our political leaders don't really seem to overlook our world's machinery (as conspiracy theorists assume), and that he finds this rather frightening. --Kronf (talk) 16:57, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

No, the opposite. The conspiracy theorists believe there is a plan. We suspect the opposite because we are rational and see no good evidence. Nonceexkcd (talk) 21:01, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

That's what I tried to say. --Kronf (talk) 16:02, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

I think of it as a joke, based around the stereotype of politicians having either terrible plans/policies or none at all. He finds it more comforting for them to have any plan, even if it is a conspiracy. It could be thought of as "at least they have a plan and control, instead of no plan and chaos". 108.162.238.155 09:58, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

To clarify, he finds the fact that if conspiracy theorists are right, somebody is ruling the world and by extension, looking over it and making sure it doesn't fall apart on them, as opposed to it being a chaotic unsupervised mess. 71.230.192.134 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Really? Combs Hair Down? Surely there's a better name for this person... 141.101.98.222 07:13, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Conspiracy Theorist? -Pennpenn 108.162.250.162 04:10, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Combspiracy Theorist? --Lupo (talk) 13:44, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

"It's unnerving to think there are gangs of giant lizards controlling the whole of mankind from the shadows, but is that less worrying than the possibility that we live in a random universe where unthinking forces could opt to snuff us out without cause or reason?" Conspiracy theories: the science behind belief in secret plots

Also one of Alan Moore's most famous quotes: "The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory is that conspiracy theorists actually believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is chaotic. The truth is, that it is not the Jewish banking conspiracy or the grey aliens or the 12 foot reptiloids from another dimension that are in control. The truth is more frightening, nobody is in control. The world is rudderless." Wikiquote:Alan Moore AmbroseChapel (talk) 03:33, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

It's just as easy to get a .org or .com website as a .net or .xyz; the extension is irrelevant if it's not .gov or .edu or some other institution's official website. This is a common myth that just because a website ends in .org, people think it's a legitimate website. I've got several myself for only a few dollars a year.172.69.22.170 15:21, 13 April 2020 (UTC)