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<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Crank - RationalWiki</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":!1,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"Z_WtXfcumRuCAYNwue9ooQAAAUI","wgCSPNonce":!1,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":!1,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Crank","wgTitle":"Crank","wgCurRevisionId":2730410,"wgRevisionId":2730410,"wgArticleId":737,"wgIsArticle":!0,"wgIsRedirect":!1,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Pages using DynamicPageList parser function","Language","Denialism","Conspiracy theorists","Pseudohistory promoters","Pseudoscience promoters"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Crank","wgRelevantArticleId":737,"wgIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":!0, "wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgMediaViewerOnClick":!0,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":!0};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","noscript":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles.legacy":"ready","mediawiki.toc.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.legacy.js","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","mmv.head","mmv.bootstrap.autostart"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@1hzgi",function($,jQuery,require,module){/*@nomin*/mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); });});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cmediawiki.toc.styles%7Cskins.vector.styles.legacy&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.35.6"/> <meta name="description" content="The term "crank" pejoratively labels someone who holds extremely unorthodox views on a subject and is often very vocal about these opinions. 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Synonyms include kook, contrarian, nut, and crackpot — the "crackpot" variant has led to the coining of the term "psychoceramics" as the name for the study of such people.&#91;2&#93; Cranks who believe a number of different nutty things all at once are said to suffer from crank magnetism."/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Crank"/>  </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Crank rootpage-Crank skin-vector action-view minerva--history-page-action-enabled skin-vector-legacy"> <div id="mw-page-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="mw-head-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice" class="mw-body-content"><div id="localNotice" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div id="2025_RationalWiki_.27Oregon_Plan.27_Fundraiser"> <table role="presentation" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 60%; text-align: left;"><big><center><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">2025 RationalWiki 'Oregon Plan' Fundraiser</a></b></center></big> <p><b>There is no RationalWiki without you.</b> We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. 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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #D63716; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#D63716"><b>We control what<br />you think with</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Language" title="Language"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Language</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#FFFFFF;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Language" title="Category:Language"><img alt="Icon language.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/2/2c/Icon_language.svg/100px-Icon_language.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/2/2c/Icon_language.svg/150px-Icon_language.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/2/2c/Icon_language.svg/200px-Icon_language.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#D63716; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Language" title="Category:Language"><font color="white">Said and done</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Intellectual_disability" title="Intellectual disability">Intellectual disability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_tone" title="New tone">New tone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ideological_patrolling" title="Ideological patrolling">Ideological patrolling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Creep_shaming" title="Creep shaming">Creep shaming</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religion_of_Peace" title="Religion of Peace">Religion of Peace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#D63716; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Jargon" title="Category:Jargon"><font color="white">Jargon, buzzwords, slogans</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#FFFFFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Technobabble" title="Technobabble">Technobabble</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Manosphere_glossary" title="Manosphere glossary">Manosphere glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Buzzer" title="Buzzer">Buzzer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/LGBTQ_orientation_glossary" title="LGBTQ orientation glossary">LGBTQ orientation glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indian_alt-right_glossary" title="Indian alt-right glossary">Indian alt-right glossary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alt-right_glossary" title="Alt-right glossary">Alt-right glossary</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Langnav" title="Template:Langnav">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Langnav" title="Template talk:Langnav">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Langnav&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table><div role="note" class="hatnote">For the drug, see <a href="/wiki/Methamphetamine" title="Methamphetamine">Methamphetamine</a>. For the exceptionally <s>silly</s> awesome movie, you need to be <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479884/">elsewhere</a>.</div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span><a href="/wiki/Just_asking_questions" title="Just asking questions">Question:</a> Why do <a href="/wiki/Skepticism" title="Skepticism">debunkers</a> sound so <a href="/wiki/Ad_hominem" class="mw-redirect" title="Ad hominem">moronic</a>? Is it just because they have their heads stuck up <a href="/wiki/Simulated_reality#In_popular_culture" title="Simulated reality">the matrix</a>? or is it their <a href="/wiki/Eugenics" title="Eugenics">family genetics</a> giving them a <a href="/wiki/Sheeple" title="Sheeple">predisposition to slavery</a>?</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—busa, "Senior Member", <a href="/wiki/David_Icke" title="David Icke">David Icke</a> forums<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The term "<b>crank</b>" pejoratively labels someone who holds extremely unorthodox views on a subject and is often very vocal about these opinions. Synonyms include <b>kook</b>, <b>contrarian</b>, <b>nut</b>, and <b>crackpot</b> — the "crackpot" variant has led to the coining of the term "psychoceramics" as the name for the study of such people.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> Cranks who believe a number of different nutty things all at once are said to suffer from <a href="/wiki/Crank_magnetism" title="Crank magnetism">crank magnetism</a>. </p><p>Cranks will usually maintain their viewpoint despite — or perhaps <i>because of</i> — <a href="/wiki/Denialism" title="Denialism">evidence to the contrary</a>. The typical crank is <a href="/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect" class="mw-redirect" title="Dunning-Kruger effect">an amateur in the field they are arguing against</a>, but occasionally, individuals with genuine expertise in the field in question will turn into cranks (which generally leads to <a href="/wiki/Pathological_science" title="Pathological science">pathological science</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[note 1]</a></sup> Sometimes, this transformation occurs <a href="/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield#Fraud" title="Andrew Wakefield">for reasons of personal gain</a> — which is <a href="/wiki/Irony" title="Irony">ironic</a>, as cranks will often <a href="/wiki/Psychological_projection" title="Psychological projection">accuse non-cranks of being driven by personal gain</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[note 2]</a></sup> </p><p>Cranks routinely emerge in all fields of study, holding a wide variety of inaccurate or unorthodox views. These range from being able to <a href="/wiki/Squaring_the_circle" title="Squaring the circle">square the circle</a> with a <a href="/wiki/Compass_and_straightedge_constructions" title="Compass and straightedge constructions">straightedge and a compass</a>, through <a href="/wiki/David_Icke" title="David Icke">Reptoid-watchers</a>, to <a href="/wiki/Biblical_literalism" title="Biblical literalism">Biblical literalists</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Creationism" title="Creationism">creationism</a> movement <a href="/wiki/Time_Cube" title="Time Cube">and beyond</a>. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Debating_a_crank"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Debating a crank</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#The_worst_of_the_cranks"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">The worst of the cranks</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Debating_a_crank">Debating a crank</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Crank&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Debating a crank">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>If you value your time and/or sanity, then under no circumstances should you willingly enter into <a href="/wiki/Debate" title="Debate">debate</a> with a crank. A crank's cognitive processes are <a href="/wiki/Fractal_wrongness" title="Fractal wrongness">impregnable</a> to all forms of <a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic">logic</a>, <a href="/wiki/Reason" title="Reason">reason</a>, <a href="/wiki/Evidence" title="Evidence">evidence</a>, and in extreme cases, basic facts. </p><p>Crank debaters tend to be much, <i>much</i> more motivated than you are. This enthusiasm is a big part of what makes them cranks. This means that the crank will have heard all of the common objections to their crankiness. The crank has memorized canned responses to each of them. </p><p>A common tactic of cranks is to hide behind elaborate rhetoric; if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with <a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">bullshit</a>. <a href="/wiki/Big_words" title="Big words">An extravagantly ornate lexicon filled with polysyllabic verbiage</a> will be utilized unnecessarily, inappropriately, and often erroneously, because if their opposition's comprehension is obfuscated, it's because their opponent is cogitatively inadequate and not because the crank malcommunicates. Never expect a fancy word such as "terse" to grace their tongues. Superfluous rhetoric itself is not proof of crankery, but is a good warning sign. </p><p>All of this has the practical upshot of rendering the debate a fantastic waste of calories. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="The_worst_of_the_cranks">The worst of the cranks</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Crank&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: The worst of the cranks">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Well known cranks (in alphabetical order) and some of their "ideas" include: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Adam_Kokesh" title="Adam Kokesh">Adam Kokesh</a> - has no problem with a <a href="/wiki/Privatized" class="mw-redirect" title="Privatized">privatized</a> <a href="/wiki/Ethnostate" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethnostate">ethnostate</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aleister_Crowley" title="Aleister Crowley">Aleister Crowley</a> - <a href="/wiki/Magic" title="Magic">Magic</a> powers, <a href="/wiki/Demon" title="Demon">demon</a> and <a href="/wiki/Angel" title="Angel">angel</a> summoning, being the <a href="/wiki/Antichrist" title="Antichrist">Great Beast 666</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alex_Chiu" title="Alex Chiu">Alex Chiu</a> - Immortality magnets.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alex_Jones" title="Alex Jones">Alex Jones</a> - Crank grandmaster. <a href="/wiki/New_World_Order" title="New World Order">New World Order</a>, <a href="/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories" class="mw-redirect" title="9/11 conspiracy theories">9/11 denialism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Federal_Reserve" title="Federal Reserve">Federal Reserve</a> hysteria, climate change denialism, (insert conspiracy of the week here), ad nauseam.</li> <li>Andrew D. Basiago - Man who claims he was at the Gettysburg address and traveled to Mars.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Andrew_Schlafly" title="Andrew Schlafly">Andrew Schlafly</a> - <a href="/wiki/Creationism" title="Creationism">Creationism</a>, abortion causes breast cancer, liberalism causes all societal ills, <a href="/wiki/Alternate_historical_chronology" title="Alternate historical chronology">revised chronology</a>, <a href="/wiki/HIV_denial" class="mw-redirect" title="HIV denial">AIDS denialism</a>, and many more.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Andy_Kadir-Buxton" title="Andy Kadir-Buxton">Andy Kadir-Buxton</a> - <a href="/wiki/Kadir-Buxton_Method" class="mw-redirect" title="Kadir-Buxton Method">slapping people on the head to cure mental illness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Apollo_Quiboloy" title="Apollo Quiboloy">Apollo Quiboloy</a> - Filipino <a href="/wiki/Megachurch" title="Megachurch">megachurch</a> leader, wanted by the <a href="/wiki/FBI" class="mw-redirect" title="FBI">FBI</a> as a <a href="/wiki/Child_sexual_abuse" title="Child sexual abuse">child sex offender</a> and <a href="/wiki/Human_trafficking" title="Human trafficking">human trafficker</a>. <a href="/wiki/Delusions_of_grandeur" title="Delusions of grandeur">Claims to be</a> <a href="/wiki/Jerusalem_syndrome" title="Jerusalem syndrome">the "appointed son of God"</a> with supernatural powers.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Berlitz" class="mw-redirect" title="Charles Berlitz">Charles Berlitz</a> - The <a href="/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle" title="Bermuda Triangle">Bermuda Triangle</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Coughlin" title="Charles Coughlin">Charles Coughlin</a> - Roman Catholic Priest and radio preacher noted for anti-Federal Reserve crankery and international bankers conspiricism.</li> <li>Christopher Jon Bjerknes - Thinks that Hitler was a Zionist puppet/shill and communist, lost <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">the war</a> on purpose to fulfill some Jewish prophecy. Also believes in world/century spanning conspiracies involving the Jesuits, Vaticans, and/or DA JOOOOOZ.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Dees" title="David Dees">David Dees</a> - Former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street" class="extiw" title="wp:Sesame Street" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Sesame Street">Sesame Street</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> artist turned conspiracy theorist, known for his outlandish political cartoons about literally every conspiracy theory.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Icke" title="David Icke">David Icke</a> - Another crank grandmaster. Alternate history, alien races, conspiracy theories.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_J._Stewart" class="mw-redirect" title="David J. Stewart">David J. Stewart</a> - webmaster of <i>Jesus Is Savior</i> website, conspiracy theories, arrogant conservativism, pseudohistory, racism, antisemitism, evolution denialism, climate change denialism, endorsement of other cranks, need more be said?</li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Sereda" title="David Sereda">David Sereda</a> - <a href="/wiki/Shroud_of_Turin" title="Shroud of Turin">Shroud of Turin</a>, <a href="/wiki/Zero-point_energy" title="Zero-point energy">zero-point energy</a>, anti-gravity, <a href="/wiki/Solfeggio_frequencies" title="Solfeggio frequencies">solfeggio frequencies</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dennis_Prager" title="Dennis Prager">Dennis Prager</a> - climate change denier, conspiracy theorist, DDT wackiness, homophobia, Islamophobia.</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drunvalo_Melchizedek" class="extiw" title="wp:Drunvalo Melchizedek" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Drunvalo Melchizedek">Drunvalo Melchizedek</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> - believes that through meditation the human being is able to access sources of information (the <a href="/wiki/Akashic_Records" title="Akashic Records">Akashic Records</a>) and receive guidance about his/her spiritual advancement. Inspiration behind the viral <a href="/wiki/Spirit_Science" class="mw-redirect" title="Spirit Science">Spirit Science</a> videos.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Duane_Gish" title="Duane Gish">Duane Gish</a> - <a href="/wiki/Creationist" class="mw-redirect" title="Creationist">creationist</a> writer and professional <a href="/wiki/Gish_Gallop" title="Gish Gallop">debate-mangler</a>, inventor of the <a href="/wiki/Gish_Gallop" title="Gish Gallop">"Gish Gallop"</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edgar_Cayce" title="Edgar Cayce">Edgar Cayce</a> - Various <a href="/wiki/Prophecy" title="Prophecy">prophecies</a>, <a href="/wiki/Atlantis" title="Atlantis">Atlantis</a>, <a href="/wiki/Reincarnation" title="Reincarnation">reincarnation</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eric_S._Raymond" title="Eric S. Raymond">Eric S. Raymond</a> - <a href="/wiki/Second_Amendment" title="Second Amendment">Gun rights</a>, <a href="/wiki/HIV_denialism" class="mw-redirect" title="HIV denialism">HIV denialism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Global_warming" class="mw-redirect" title="Global warming">global warming</a> denial, <a href="/wiki/Libertarianism" title="Libertarianism">libertarianism</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Erich_von_D%C3%A4niken" title="Erich von Däniken">Erich von Däniken</a> - Chariots of the Gods.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ernst_Z%C3%BCndel" title="Ernst Zündel">Ernst Zündel</a> - <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denial" title="Holocaust denial">Holocaust denial</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hollow_Earth" title="Hollow Earth">Hollow Earth</a>, <a href="/wiki/New_Swabia" title="New Swabia">secret Nazi bases in Antarctica</a>, <a href="/wiki/Nazi_UFOs" title="Nazi UFOs">Nazi UFOs</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eustace_Mullins" title="Eustace Mullins">Eustace Mullins</a> - Anti-<a href="/wiki/New_World_Order" title="New World Order">New World Order</a> and <a href="/wiki/Anti-Semitic" class="mw-redirect" title="Anti-Semitic">anti-Semitic</a> writer who, at the (alleged) behest of <a href="/wiki/American" class="mw-redirect" title="American">American</a> <a href="/wiki/Fascist" class="mw-redirect" title="Fascist">fascist</a> poet Ezra Pound, wrote about how the <a href="/wiki/Jews" class="mw-redirect" title="Jews">Jews</a> — specifically the <a href="/wiki/Rothschild_family" title="Rothschild family">Rothschilds</a> — created the <a href="/wiki/Federal_Reserve" title="Federal Reserve">Federal Reserve</a> in order to destroy the American <a href="/wiki/Economics" title="Economics">economy</a> and make us all <a href="/wiki/Job" class="mw-redirect" title="Job">wage</a> <a href="/wiki/Slaves" class="mw-redirect" title="Slaves">slaves</a>, or something like that.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fred_Phelps" title="Fred Phelps">Fred Phelps</a> - World famous cult leader and crazed anti-gay ideologue. He is not gay.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gene_Ray" title="Gene Ray">Gene Ray</a> - <a href="/wiki/Time_Cube" title="Time Cube">Time Cube</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glenn_Beck" title="Glenn Beck">Glenn Beck</a> - If you don't know, you haven't been paying attention.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Helen_Caldicott" title="Helen Caldicott">Helen Caldicott</a> - <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theory" title="Conspiracy theory">Conspiratorial thinking</a> and <a href="/wiki/Radiophobia" title="Radiophobia">misinformation about nuclear radiation</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Velikovsky" title="Immanuel Velikovsky">Immanuel Velikovsky</a> - Planetary <a href="/wiki/Catastrophism" title="Catastrophism">catastrophism</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Alternate_historical_chronology" title="Alternate historical chronology">revised chronology</a>, and more.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Israel_Shamir" title="Israel Shamir">Israel Shamir</a> - <a href="/wiki/Anti-Semitism" class="mw-redirect" title="Anti-Semitism">Anti-Semitic</a> <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denier" class="mw-redirect" title="Holocaust denier">Holocaust denier</a> affiliated with <a href="/wiki/WikiLeaks" title="WikiLeaks">WikiLeaks</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/James_Corbett" title="James Corbett">James Corbett</a> - Bill Gates created this pandemic to use microchips on vaccines.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jenny_McCarthy" title="Jenny McCarthy">Jenny McCarthy</a> - Tireless <a href="/wiki/Vaccine_hysteria" class="mw-redirect" title="Vaccine hysteria">Anti-vaccinationist</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_A._Davison" title="John A. Davison">John A. Davison</a> - Proscribed evolution.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Brandenburg" title="John Brandenburg">John Brandenburg</a> - the "thermonuclear war on <a href="/wiki/Mars" title="Mars">Mars</a>" guy.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_Smith" title="Joseph Smith">Joseph Smith</a> - Alternate history, alien races, magic underwear; founder of <a href="/wiki/Mormonism" title="Mormonism">Mormonism</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Judy_Wood" title="Judy Wood">Judy Wood</a> - Dustification of the WTC</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kerry_Cassidy" title="Kerry Cassidy">Kerry Cassidy</a> - Everything is a <a href="/wiki/False_flag" class="mw-redirect" title="False flag">false flag</a>.</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Mullis" class="extiw" title="wp:Kerry Mullis" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Kerry Mullis">Kerry Mullis</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> - <a href="/wiki/HIV_denialism" class="mw-redirect" title="HIV denialism">HIV denialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard" title="L. Ron Hubbard">L. Ron Hubbard</a> - Alternate history, alien races; founder of <a href="/wiki/Scientology" class="mw-redirect" title="Scientology">Scientology</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lauren_Southern" title="Lauren Southern">Lauren Southern</a> - The <a href="/wiki/Racist" class="mw-redirect" title="Racist">racist</a> <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theory" title="Conspiracy theory">conspiracy theory</a> of <a href="/wiki/White_genocide" title="White genocide">white genocide</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luke_Rudkowski" title="Luke Rudkowski">Luke Rudkowski</a> - New World Order conspiracy theories, Federal Reserve conspiracy theories, blind support for <a href="/wiki/Ron_Paul" title="Ron Paul">Ron Paul</a>, leader and founder of Paulbot Cheersquad group <a href="/wiki/We_Are_Change" class="mw-redirect" title="We Are Change">We Are Change</a>, arrogance towards those who show dissent towards his views.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mark_Dice" title="Mark Dice">Mark Dice</a> - Evolution denialism, climate change denialism, <a href="/wiki/Creationism" title="Creationism">creationism</a>, <a href="/wiki/NWO" class="mw-redirect" title="NWO">NWO</a> conspiracy theories, <a href="/wiki/Federal_Reserve" title="Federal Reserve">Federal Reserve</a> hysteria, arrogant social conservatism, being extremely arrogant and condescending towards dissent, immense hypocrisy, sexism, hatred for just about anyone who is not a Christian.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mike_Adams" class="mw-redirect" title="Mike Adams">Mike Adams</a> - proprietor of the website NaturalNews.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Owen_Benjamin" title="Owen Benjamin">Owen Benjamin</a> - believes <a href="/wiki/Obama" class="mw-redirect" title="Obama">Obama</a> is gay and <a href="/wiki/Michelle_Obama" class="mw-redirect" title="Michelle Obama">Michelle Obama</a> is <a href="/wiki/Transgender" title="Transgender">transgender</a>, thinks teaching <a href="/wiki/Sex_ed" class="mw-redirect" title="Sex ed">sex ed</a> is "immoral", believes in <a href="/wiki/Chemtrails" title="Chemtrails">Chemtrails</a>, <a href="/wiki/Anti-semite" class="mw-redirect" title="Anti-semite">anti-semite</a> to name a few</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olavo_de_Carvalho" class="extiw" title="wp:Olavo de Carvalho" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Olavo de Carvalho">Olavo de Carvalho</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> - a Brazilian pundit, <a href="/wiki/Astrology" title="Astrology"> astrologer</a> and self-styled philosopher who didn't pass the fourth grade, who teaches that a <a href="/wiki/Cultural_Marxism" title="Cultural Marxism"> Communist conspiracy is running through the liberals to dominate the world</a>. He has a cult following in Brazil, but lives in Virginia. Besides teaching conspiracy theories and that Newton's laws are a farce, he alleges that Pepsi uses aborted fetus cells in the beverage.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pentti_Linkola" title="Pentti Linkola">Pentti Linkola</a> - <a href="/wiki/Environmentalism" title="Environmentalism">Eco</a><a href="/wiki/Fascism" title="Fascism">fascism</a>. This is one of the few cases in which the term is used literally, as opposed to, say, the Right's hyperbolic whining about the EPA, Kyoto Protocols, etc.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paul_Nehlen" title="Paul Nehlen">Paul Nehlen</a> - <a href="/wiki/Wisconsin" class="mw-redirect" title="Wisconsin">Wisconsin</a> <a href="/wiki/Republican_Party" title="Republican Party">Republican Party</a> <a href="/wiki/Politician" class="mw-redirect" title="Politician">politician</a>, "<a href="/wiki/Free_speech" class="mw-redirect" title="Free speech">free speech</a>" advocate of #ShallNotCensor, businessman and Christian who shares anti-Semitic tweets and views.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Duesberg" title="Peter Duesberg">Peter Duesberg</a>, Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos - <a href="/wiki/HIV_denial" class="mw-redirect" title="HIV denial">AIDS denialism</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Sweden" title="Peter Sweden">Peter Sweden</a> (aka Peter Immaulsen) - <a href="/wiki/Scandinavia" title="Scandinavia">Scandinavian</a> man born in <a href="/wiki/Norway" title="Norway">Norway</a> (<a href="/wiki/Irony" title="Irony">not Sweden</a>) who is a <a href="/wiki/New_World_Order" title="New World Order">NWO</a> <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theory" title="Conspiracy theory">Conspiracy theorist</a> <a href="/wiki/Islamophobia" title="Islamophobia">Islamophobe</a>, Anti-immigration advocate, <a href="/wiki/Antifeminism" title="Antifeminism">Antifeminist</a> and former <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denialism" class="mw-redirect" title="Holocaust denialism">Holocaust denier</a>, <a href="/wiki/Anti-Semitism" class="mw-redirect" title="Anti-Semitism">Anti-Semite</a>, <a href="/wiki/Homophobia" title="Homophobia">Homophobe</a>, <a href="/wiki/Anti-Catholicism" title="Anti-Catholicism">Vatican hater</a> and <a href="/wiki/Adolf_Hitler" title="Adolf Hitler">Pro-Hitler</a> <a href="/wiki/Nazism" title="Nazism">Nazi symphatizer</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil" title="Ray Kurzweil">Ray Kurzweil</a> - <a href="/wiki/Transhumanism" title="Transhumanism">Transhumanism</a>, specifically in its manifestation as utopian magical thinking, immortality fantasies, and Rapture analogues. BS artist extraordinaire. Keeps making fantastical predictions of the future that fail to pan out.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Richard_C._Hoagland" class="mw-redirect" title="Richard C. Hoagland">Richard C. Hoagland</a> - <a href="/wiki/Face_on_Mars" title="Face on Mars">"Face" on Mars</a>, aliens, NASA conspiracy theories.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Shaver" title="Richard Shaver">Richard Shaver</a> - Subterranean cities and their malevolent inhabitants, the Dero.</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohan_Roger_David_Zener" class="extiw" title="wp:Rohan Roger David Zener" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Rohan Roger David Zener">Rohan R. D. Zener</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> - Self-loathing profound <a href="/wiki/Autism" title="Autism">autistic</a> who denies autism's existence as anything more than the name of an arbitrary subhuman <a href="/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">collective</a>, yet claims to know a cure for it.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Se%C3%A1n_Manchester" title="Seán Manchester">Seán Manchester</a> - <a href="/wiki/Vampire" title="Vampire">Vampire</a> hunter and self-proclaimed "Catholic Bishop".</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Smoloko_News" title="Smoloko News">Scottie Spence</a> - founder/proprietor of Smoloko News, a news website like its founder are raving racist crackpots who preach anti-Semitism (which is 99% of this website's content) and a supposed <a href="/wiki/International_Jewish_Conspiracy" class="mw-redirect" title="International Jewish Conspiracy">International Jewish Conspiracy</a> with "Jews did it" articles, <a href="/wiki/Homophobia" title="Homophobia">homophobia</a>, <a href="/wiki/Antifeminism" title="Antifeminism">antifeminism</a>, anti-Pope Francis hate, <a href="/wiki/Islamophobia" title="Islamophobia">Islamophobia</a>, <a href="/wiki/Pseudohistory" title="Pseudohistory">pseudohistory</a>, occasional Christian fundamentalism, <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theory" title="Conspiracy theory">conspiracy theories</a>, <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denial" title="Holocaust denial">Holocaust denialism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Neo-Nazi" class="mw-redirect" title="Neo-Nazi">Nazi apologism</a> as well as gool ol' nonsensical bullshit (such as <a href="/wiki/ISIS" class="mw-redirect" title="ISIS">ISIS</a> being created by the CIA and Mossad, Khazar Mafia, General George S. Patton was assassinated by the Jews, <a href="/wiki/Quote_mining" title="Quote mining">quote mining</a> certain Jewish figures etc.). Spence happens to have been a criminal as he sprayed anti-Semitic, Neo-Nazi graffiti in Youngstown, Ohio in 2016 that got him arrested for "ethnic intimidation" with a fine and probation.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Steve_Quayle" title="Steve Quayle">Steve Quayle</a> - Global population reduction by means of viruses, <a href="/wiki/Chemtrails" title="Chemtrails">chemtrails</a> and contrived famine.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Texe_Marrs" title="Texe Marrs">Texe Marrs</a> - NWO conspiracy theories, fundamentalist Christianity, anti-Semitism, <a href="/wiki/Satanic_panic" class="mw-redirect" title="Satanic panic">satanic panic</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Todd_Bentley" title="Todd Bentley">Todd Bentley</a> - Christian faith healing through kicking and punching.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tom_Bethell" title="Tom Bethell">Tom Bethell</a> - Numerous forms of science denial.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uri_Geller" title="Uri Geller">Uri Geller</a> - Probably the best-known popularizer of <a href="/wiki/Telekinesis" class="mw-redirect" title="Telekinesis">telekinesis</a> through his spoon-bending trick.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich" title="Wilhelm Reich">Wilhelm Reich</a> - <a href="/wiki/Orgone_energy" title="Orgone energy">orgone energy</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zecharia_Sitchin" title="Zecharia Sitchin">Zecharia Sitchin</a> - Reinterpreter of Sumerian mythology and perpetuator of the "<a href="/wiki/Zeta_Reticuli" title="Zeta Reticuli">Zeta Reticuli</a>" alien conspiracy theory.</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Crank&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Crank_magnetism" title="Crank magnetism">Crank magnetism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_internet_kooks" class="mw-redirect" title="List of internet kooks">List of internet kooks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fanaticism" title="Fanaticism">Fanaticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fringe" title="Fringe">Fringe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quackery" title="Quackery">Quackery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kookmobile" title="Kookmobile">Kookmobile</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Crank&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.crank.net/">Crank Dot Net</a>, a directory of crank (and anti-crank) websites</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20100310171832/http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/05/crank_howto.php">Crank Howto</a> by Mark Hoofnagle</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Crank&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">The worst example of this being the <a href="/wiki/Nobel_disease" title="Nobel disease">Nobel disease</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Big_Pharma" title="Big Pharma">Big Pharma</a>-profit mongering being a typical example.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Crank&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; -webkit-column-count:1; column-count:1; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showpost.php?s=b8c0a804a4fbcf024cc261e8bab72e37&p=1061624087&postcount=12">David Icke's Official Forums - View Single Post - Cattle mutilations : aliens?</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=psychoceramics">http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=psychoceramics</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Crank&oldid=2730410">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Crank&oldid=2730410</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Language" title="Category:Language">Language</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Denialism" title="Category:Denialism">Denialism</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Conspiracy_theorists" title="Category:Conspiracy theorists">Conspiracy theorists</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pseudohistory_promoters" title="Category:Pseudohistory promoters">Pseudohistory promoters</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pseudoscience_promoters" title="Category:Pseudoscience promoters">Pseudoscience promoters</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" 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