Apollo Landing Deniers and Their Possible Reactions to Future Landings

[Area54]

We may anticipate a resumption of manned lunar exploration within the next five or six years. (See, for example, here.) I am curious about the likely response from those who deny that the Apollo landings ever occurred. Given that the deniers seem to be made up of a mix of trolls, the poorly educated, the gullible and the bloody-minded, I would expect a range of reactions. The poll gives you an opportunity to indicate what you think will be the most common response. Please post the reason(s) for your choice and add any related thoughts.

Since this is about the psycholgical response to an engineering approach to pursuing scientific(astronomy & geology), political and economic goals, I was unsure where to place it. Moderators, please move it if you can think of better location.

[Strange]

I guess mixture of 1 and 2, with almost zero going for the other options (not even the "if it's possible, why haven't we done it again" crowd).

I assume there are people who think all space missions are faked.

[joigus]

I'd go with option 2 as the most demographically significant. But I agree with Strange that 1 would probably be very popular among conspiracy nuts. If I were allowed, I'd pick something like a 40 % 60 %, fifty-fifty or the other way.

The reason is that people tend to look at the past with the strangest mixture of incredulity and gullibility. Example: It is impossible that an ancient society like the Egyptians 5000 y.a. were able to build the pyramids (incredulity), therefore some alien civilization must have made it (weird, weird gullibility).

When things are happening before your eyes, so to speak, I think it's more difficult to be gullible against the facts.

Edited August 3, 2020 by joigus

[Area54]

On 8/2/2020 at 5:44 PM, Strange said:

I assume there are people who think all space missions are faked.

Very likely. I'm never sure whether to be angry at such people for being so foolish, or sad on their behalf for what they are missing out on.

 

On 8/3/2020 at 12:33 PM, joigus said:

The reason is that people tend to look at the past with the strangest mixture of incredulity and gullibility.

True. Unfortunately this approach can also infect those who ought to know better. It took a century and a half for anthropologists to acknowledge that Neandertals were not necessarilly dumb and brutish.

[joigus]

2 hours ago, Area54 said:

Very likely. I'm never sure whether to be angry at such people for being so foolish, or sad on their behalf for what they are missing out on.

 

True. Unfortunately this approach can also infect those who ought to know better. It took a century and a half for anthropologists to acknowledge that Neandertals were not necessarilly dumb and brutish.

Curiously enough, the picture started to change at about the same time that we realised that we Europeans may have up to a 5% of their genome.   

We never learn.