What exactly does "tinfoil hat" mean?

[Rocknrule]

I've heard the phraise several times, and I don't get it.

[SmokingJacket]

1. It means you're SO paranoid about conspiracies

that you have to wear a hat made out of tinfoil to keep out the mind-altering rays!

[Canuckistanian]

4. It does not!!!

It's so's the gubmint cain't read yur brainwaves!!!!!

[SmokingJacket]

9. Hmm... two way barrier.

I guess it works both ways.

[Lusted4]

36. Ok than what does jumping the shark mean.n/t

[walldude]

37. JUmping the shark is a reference to a TV show

Happy Days. If you've never seen it, at one point the shows 10 year or so run it got so stupid that one of the main characters jumped over a pool with a shark in it, on his motorcycle. So basically Jumping the shark is going so far over the top that it becomes ludicrous.

[Lusted4]

39. gotcha thanx n/t

[walldude]

40. No problem and Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[Canuckistanian]

42. Yeah, ditto!

:toast:

[karlrschneider]

19. It depends on whether you have the shiny side outside or inside!

:D

[SoFlaJet]

5. yea good job that's an even better explanation

they wear tin foil hats so the aliens or Govt. can't read their thoughts

[AntiFascist]

16. You're both wrong!

It's so the reptilian aliens can't alter your thoughts with their penetrating mind beams.

:sarcasm:

[SoFlaJet]

2. conspiracy theorists

like people who believe in UFOs and a Govt.cover up and oh say that perhaps some people actually either a-knew about 9/11 or B-let it happen.

[izzie]

10. They sort of had this on Law and Order

:tinfoilhat:

[iconoclastNYC]

13. Wrong

The two conspiracy theories about 911 are:

1. LIHOP.....Bush administration saw the signs of an impending terrorist attack using planes as weapons and did nothing to stop it.

2. MIHOP......the CIA/DIA or some special ops team of the Military engineered the attacks and set up Arabs to take the blame.

There is substantial evidence to support both theories. There has never been an official examination of either scenario. The 9/11 commision's mission was to come up with the conclusion that the Administration made hours after the attacks.

One thing is certain: the 9/11 commision report is a whitewash.

Watch the Reopen 9/11 documentary. http://www.reopen911.org

[Caution]

23. NO there is substantial speculation

there is very little actual evidence.

For a description of what entails actual scientific evidence please see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method

Most of what is passed off as evidence in the various 9/11 hypotheses is hearsay and not evidence at all.

[iconoclastNYC]

31. "Very little" - YOUR OPPINION

Some people think that evolution is junk too. Doesn't make it true.

Truth is there are many many holes in the official story of 911, and there is a body of evidence that the 911 commission completely ignored.

The 911 report wouldn't live up to the scientific method.

Weigh the evidence for yourself: http://www.reopen911.org

[SpiralHawk]

28. MIHOP Plain, simple, treasonous

the BushCo Skull & Boner Oil Crony Cabal.

MIHOP

[annabanana]

38. It was part of the poisoning of the word "conspiracy"

If something is a theory about a conspiracy.. it is ipso facto false and loony and something to laugh about...

[JohnyCanuck]

46. Unless it is the "official" government promoted conspiracy theory,

then you are labelled a loony tune if you DON'T buy into that conspiracy theory.

[Warpy]

3. It refers to a specific type of paranoid mental illness

where the sufferers believe tinfoil will stop the aliens/communists/evil spirits from reading their mail/controlling their thoughts.

I have a cousin who sends letters to the CIA wrapped in tinfoil for that reason when he goes off his meds and falls down the rabbit hole. It's not that uncommon a phenomenon.

[Pavulon]

6. Blocks the signal to the radio chip in your brain(sp)

[Canuckistanian]

7. Here's a study about tinfoil hat effectiveness

http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

[MadisonProgressive]

12. Take your aluminum helmet off immediately!

Results

For all helmets, we noticed a 30 db amplification at 2.6 Ghz and a 20 db amplification at 1.2 Ghz, regardless of the position of the antenna on the cranium. In addition, all helmets exhibited a marked 20 db attenuation at around 1.5 Ghz, with no significant attenuation beyond 10 db anywhere else.

Conclusion

The helmets amplify frequency bands that coincide with those allocated to the US government between 1.2 Ghz and 1.4 Ghz. According to the FCC, These bands are supposedly reserved for ''radio location'' (ie, GPS), and other communications with satellites (see, for example, <3>). The 2.6 Ghz band coincides with mobile phone technology. Though not affiliated by government, these bands are at the hands of multinational corporations.
It requires no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the current helmet craze is likely to have been propagated by the Government, possibly with the involvement of the FCC. We hope this report will encourage the paranoid community to develop improved helmet designs to avoid falling prey to these shortcomings.


http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

[AntiFascist]

24. Didn't Lily Tomlin in her show

"Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe" with her shopping cart lady character, use one so she could actually receive transmissions?

[Canuckistanian]

32. Sobering News

I shall begin work immediately on a NEW AL-foil-chapeau that specifically blocks the mind-liquefying Zx49 frequencies.

No problem. I do this kind of suff regularly.

[AntiFascist]

22. A lead-foil hat may in fact be more effective....

but this would undoubtedly fail ROHS compliance.

[MadisonProgressive]

29. MIT study debunked!

Looks like government misinformation:

http://zapatopi.net/blog/?post=200511112730.afdb_effectiveness

[Canuckistanian]

33. Where did you get this? CHB?

PLEASE....

Get some perspective, people! Zapato is a HACK.

[MadisonProgressive]

34. Jeez, I didn't know we were being serious!

:rofl:

[Canuckistanian]

41. I take my tinfoilery seriously!

Who else will?

[MadisonProgressive]

43. Do they have that much tinfoil in Canada?

I thought you folks were the sane ones on this hemisphere!?

[Canuckistanian]

45. Alcan.

http://www.alcan.com/web/publishing.nsf/content/About+Alcan+Home

I rest my case.

[pitohui]

8. did you see the movie "signs?"

it's from that

[iconoclastNYC]

14. It predates that movie by at least 10 years.

[Ezlivin]

18. I laughed my ass off at the scene where Mel Gibson returns to find

his brother "geared" up.

I'm eager to see what else M. Night Shyamalan has for us next.

[Bluerthanblue]

27. me too, and it has

been the most effective and comfortable holloween costume we've ever had.
(not to mention EASY)

[iconoclastNYC]

11. It means different things.

Usually it's a slur to dismiss other possible explanations for circumstances.

As in, anything but the Warren Report commission conclusion is Tin-foil hat.

But i think some of us at DU also mean it mean : "I'm speculating widly here about something that may not be possible to prove or disprove."

[jobendorfer]

15. Occasionally an individual with schizophrenia ...

... believes that radio transmitters are inserting thoughts into their minds. Some of these individuals will wrap their head in aluminum foil, in the belief that this will block the radio signals reponsible for the inserted thoughts.

See the DSM (Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) published by the American Psychiatric Association for further details; your local library probably has it.

The extent to which this delusion is a literalization of our bombardment by the Ministry of Truth and Madison Avenue is left as an exercise to the reader :-)

In usage here on DU: disparaging reference to people who believe in or argue in defense of any number of highly complicated conspiracy theories.

J.

[Botany]

17. just by asking the question I can tell that you are one of "them"

Operation X is now a go
Operation X is now a go

As per agent Bluebear
Shred the Lettuce
Shred the Lettuce

all watches to be set to Greenwich Mean Time

This is not a drill.

[Coastie for Truth]

20. Army putting mini radios in dental cavities?

I used to have a dentist who was a real joker (also we had both served during VietNam, and we were thereafter in the Peace and Vets Outreach movements). But he had a "strange" sense of humor.

Whenever he would finish a root canal he would ask --

1. Classic, rock, rw talk, lw talk, or all-news?
2. What subway grate do you live at?

Then he would proudly announce "I learned this in the army. This is how THEY keep tabs on you so that they can drag you back in."

[dusmcj]

21. gutter flashing is sturdier and provides more uniform deflection. nt

[Canuckistanian]

44. At last! Someone who know what I'm talking about!

Brilliant! I shall present this to the committee.

AFTER they've taken their meds.

[Buck Turgidson]

25. Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie

http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

[kath]

35. You beat me to it - great site. Here's one of the best pages:

Quick instruction for building an AFDB:

http://zapatopi.net/afdb/build.html
<excerpt>
A Note About The Shiny Side:
It can't be stressed enough how important it is to have the shiny side pointing out. This is needed because the shiny side is most reflective to psychotronic radiation, while the dull side can actually, in certain environmental conditions, absorb it. However, as is illustrated in the instructions above, it is also wise to complement this with a layer of foil pointing shiny side in. This will keep your brain waves, which are also reflected by the shiny side, from being picked up by mind-reading equipment. There is a small number of aluminum foil researchers who believe that this may cause an alpha-wave harmonic to build up in the skull resulting in memory loss or pseudo-religious visions, but their findings have never been replicated by the aluminum foil research community at large. Even if their findings are validated, the risk involved is small compared to the potential of mind-intrusion.

[stevedeshazer]

26. Conspiracy headgear sported by Freepers.

[MadisonProgressive]

30. How'd you get that photo of Rim Job?