Adam Taylor's Withdrawal from the 9/11 Truth Movement

[Mick West]

Not exactly a "former believer", however Adam Taylor, who has written a lot for the 9/11 Truth Movement is withdrawing from the movement, and closing his blog:

http://adamtaylor42.blogspot.com/2017/09/why-10-years-at-least-for-me-is-enough.html

I guess you could call [this] my official statement of retirement from the Truth Movement. It's been something I've planned to do for a long time now, and today of all days seems like the right time to do it. For whatever successes the movement has had, it seems as though its failures have overtaken them, hence why we still have yet to get a new investigation. From 2008 to 2011, the movement still had energy to it, still that hope of accomplishing our goal of getting an investigation. But for the last several years, I've felt next to no energy from it, no hope, and no motivation. Ironically, I felt the first signs of this at another 10-year anniversary; the 10-year anniversary of 9/11.

...

After the 10-year anniversary came and went, the next several years showed me more signs that the movement was coming to a close. Despite the fact that we had finally gotten numerous papers published in peer-reviewed journals, we didn't seem to be getting any closer to our goal. Even the paper from Steven Jones that showed actual evidence of explosives in the debris wasn't enough to do it, and I thought if any paper could do it, it'd be that one. But not only did it not pave the way for a new investigation, a counter-study had been published by James Millette, casting doubt on the validity of it all. Sure enough, responses were posted, and there was promise of a third study of the WTC dust meant to finally answer the question of whether or not we had actual evidence of explosives being used. But this study, undertaken by Mark Basile, has now taken longer than Steven Jones' and James Millette's studies combined. The last thing I've seen posted about it isn't promising, and I honestly doubt any such study is going to be completed. If it does get done, great. But until I see results, I see no reason to get my hopes up.

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Interesting is his account of how he kicked the habit:

That gets me to the debunkers. Or, more specifically, one debunker; Ryan Mackey. A few years ago I read his paper analyzing the Truth Movement, and while there's plenty in it I would disagree with, I found several of his points worth considering. One of those being a simple suggestion he had for truthers:

To those still interested in the Truth Movement, I make only one suggestion: Take a break. Give yourself a full month away from the Truth Movement. Don’t argue on-line, don’t watch videos. For that matter, don’t read responses from skeptics, either. I don’t want you to be concerned about being “brainwashed” by debunkers – stay away from them as well. After this time has passed, feel free to get involved again and see if your perspective has changed. However, if you cannot set it aside for a month, and I do mean to set it aside completely, this should be a warning sign to you. After all, September 11th was over ten years ago. Nothing bad will happen if you leave it alone for a month. Give it a try. (p. 63)​

Again, there's plenty I think Mackey's gotten wrong. But in this case, I thought he had something here. So I decided to take his advice. Or rather, I should say I've been taking his advice. For the past couple of years, I've had periods where I've literally gone months without interacting with any 9/11-related material. And I honestly didn't feel bad about it. Sure, I've gone back to looking into from time to time, but I never felt as though I were missing anything, that anything had been lost from taking a break. It was actually pretty easy. And I think the reason for that is largely due to the state I've seen the movement currently in. With the way things are going, I can't see how we're going to accomplish our goals. I can't say it any plainer or any clearer: We are not going to get a new investigation. I know that's a hard pill for many of my fellow truthers to swallow, but I can't see any way around it.

And so, with this post I announce my official departure from the movement. This means I will not be taking part in any more Truth Movement activities. No more videos. No more blog posts. No more 9/11 activism of any kind. For me, 10 years is enough.

It also means I will be discontinuing my personal blog. I will still leave it up and mostly intact, but I will not be writing there any more. Seriously, I'm done.

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I think this kind of conspiracy fatigue is a way of exiting the rabbit hole for many people. While they don't give up their conspiracy beliefs, the lack of progress leaves them disinclined to do anything more about it. They don't need to watch conspiracy videos every day. They take a break, and when they return they see the movement a little more for what it really is - a stagnant mess of suspicion and contradiction - generally well-meaning, but directionless and error-prone.

 

[deirdre]

They take a break, and when they return they see the movement a little more for what it really is - a stagnant mess of suspicion and contradiction - generally well-meaning, but directionless and error-prone.

I think the same could be said for some "debunker movements" or maybe "anti-truther groups" rather, would be a better term. Total obsession with any topic is not only not healthy, but I think people lose their clarity of mind, lose perspective.

I'm not talking about general debunkers, but rather those who obsess with one particular topic only.

 

[Mick West]

I'm not talking about general debunkers, but rather those who obsess with one particular topic only.

Good job I branched out from chemtrails

You see debunker fatigue too. I nearly gave up, and I've lost interest several times on some topics (like my model building). Here's 9/11 debunker Mark Roberts who pretty much gave up in 2008.
https://sites.google.com/site/wtc7lies/

February, 2009. Hi there. I've only spent a few hours updating this site since early 2008, and won't be updating it in the future unless big news arises. I have several hundred links that I could add to the several thousand here, but enough is enough. The 9/11 "truth" movement has dried up and blown away, having achieved none of its stated objectives or even bothering to get a single significant claim correct. See the "What's New" section below to get an idea of the type of people who still cling to kooky 9/11 delusions.

However, let's remember that 9/11 won't be the last major internet-age event about which people with agendas – whether they be government spokesmen or basement-dwelling crackpots – aggressively spread falsehoods. Unfortunately, falsehoods about the 9/11 attacks have their strongest foothold in Muslim countries (see poll results below), where this website has no effect.
-Mark Roberts

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[DasKleineTeilchen]

I have a pretty esoteric background (went with my mother as a child to poona, was a sanyasin and in a end-of-the-world-group around a nutty "enlightend" guy in 1999) and was a 9/11-"believer", too. a pretty hardcore one, but after a online-discussion in 2014 with somebody patient enough to tear apart my "arguments" inna kinda pragmatic and honest way (most like mick ), in particularly about WTC7, I started to *really* read the "other" side and reflecting my motivation, why I was beliving in this CT-nonsense...well; the digging back out of the rabbit-hole wasnt easy but absolutly worth it. your kind are so much needed, mick. thank you so much for your effort and this wonderfull blog, which I follow now for almost a year and cant get enough of it. thank you so much again for all of this. same applies to deirdre, too.

(if my grammar sounds a bit odd/off, english isnt my first language)

 

[Mick West]

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXvrJHMpVYg