[WORK IN PROGRESS - add suggestions to the thread, and I'll incorporate them]
9/11 conspiracy theories are not going to go away, even though they have largely been debunked in quite some detail. There are always going to be people new to the theories who are simply no familiar with the rebuttals, or have rejected the rebuttals on spurious ground.
Debunking is not about picking a "side" of an argument, and trying to argue for that side. It's about identifying and exposing bunk in the evidence surrounding that argument. If, for example, someone claims that a 767 could not fly above 500 knots, then you'd need to explain how it can. Debunking is about these individual pieces of evidence.
The challenge to the debunker of 9/11 conspiracy theories is to find a way to communicate with the believer. Simply saying "you are wrong" is generally not going to work. Even explaining why they are wrong is probably not going to cut it. You really need to provide an alternate (genuine) explanation for something if you want them to actually realize they were wrong about something.
And pretty much all the ground has been covered already, in excruciating detail. There are many sites dedicated to 9/11 debunking, and it's interesting to think about why they fail. Here I'll list some of the more useful sites that can be most effectively used to understand various things that happened on 9/11. Many of these sites reference each other, and it's a bit messy. I'll try to structure this page better over time. Much as I don't want to start comprehensive 9/11 specific site, if I can't find a well structured list, I'll try to do something here. I'm really hoping though that I'll be able simply to boil things down to a short list of go-to sites.
I've added archive.is backups to the individual pages, and made local mirrors where possible.
911 Guide (http://archive.is/jcXn4) - One of the better structured sites - provides brief lists and descriptions of the various claims, with a brief explanation of the problems with the claims, and then links to more detailed discussions of those claims.
WTC7Lies (http://archive.is/2wncY) - An excellent site, but a bit unstructured, and with many broken links.
Debunking911.com (mirror)- a nice list of topics on the left, but articles are somewhat rambling and cover many points.
JREF Forum: Resources for debunking 9/11 Conspiracy Theories (http://archive.is/ywn01) - A useful, if rather unstructured collection of links
9/11 Myths, and the old site. Cover various things in depth and with good focus.
AE911Truth.info (https://web.archive.org/web/20170318050907/http://ae911truth.info/wordpress/) - focusses on the claims of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.
Popular Mechanics: Debunking the 9/11 Myths - Has a useful topic key at the bottom of the page for the major topics.
Debunking the 9/11 No-Planes Theory - Debunks the more fringe theory that no planes hit the WTC towers.
9/11 Pentagon Attack Review - Very detailed look at all the evidence around Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon.
9/11 conspiracy theories are not going to go away, even though they have largely been debunked in quite some detail. There are always going to be people new to the theories who are simply no familiar with the rebuttals, or have rejected the rebuttals on spurious ground.
Debunking is not about picking a "side" of an argument, and trying to argue for that side. It's about identifying and exposing bunk in the evidence surrounding that argument. If, for example, someone claims that a 767 could not fly above 500 knots, then you'd need to explain how it can. Debunking is about these individual pieces of evidence.
The challenge to the debunker of 9/11 conspiracy theories is to find a way to communicate with the believer. Simply saying "you are wrong" is generally not going to work. Even explaining why they are wrong is probably not going to cut it. You really need to provide an alternate (genuine) explanation for something if you want them to actually realize they were wrong about something.
And pretty much all the ground has been covered already, in excruciating detail. There are many sites dedicated to 9/11 debunking, and it's interesting to think about why they fail. Here I'll list some of the more useful sites that can be most effectively used to understand various things that happened on 9/11. Many of these sites reference each other, and it's a bit messy. I'll try to structure this page better over time. Much as I don't want to start comprehensive 9/11 specific site, if I can't find a well structured list, I'll try to do something here. I'm really hoping though that I'll be able simply to boil things down to a short list of go-to sites.
I've added archive.is backups to the individual pages, and made local mirrors where possible.
911 Guide (http://archive.is/jcXn4) - One of the better structured sites - provides brief lists and descriptions of the various claims, with a brief explanation of the problems with the claims, and then links to more detailed discussions of those claims.
WTC7Lies (http://archive.is/2wncY) - An excellent site, but a bit unstructured, and with many broken links.
Debunking911.com (mirror)- a nice list of topics on the left, but articles are somewhat rambling and cover many points.
JREF Forum: Resources for debunking 9/11 Conspiracy Theories (http://archive.is/ywn01) - A useful, if rather unstructured collection of links
9/11 Myths, and the old site. Cover various things in depth and with good focus.
Popular Mechanics: Debunking the 9/11 Myths - Has a useful topic key at the bottom of the page for the major topics.
Debunking the 9/11 No-Planes Theory - Debunks the more fringe theory that no planes hit the WTC towers.
9/11 Pentagon Attack Review - Very detailed look at all the evidence around Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon.
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