A tin foil hat is a piece of headgear made from one or more sheets of aluminium foil or similar material. Alternatively it may be a conventional hat lined with foil. One may wear the hat in the belief that it shields the brain from electromagnetic fields; to prevent mind control and/or mind reading; or to limit the transmission of voices directly into the brain.
The concept of wearing a tin foil hat for protection from such threats has become a popular stereotype and term of derision; the phrase serves as a byword for paranoia and persecutory delusions, and is associated with conspiracy theorists.
This stereotype is popular in pop culture, with tin foil hats making appearances in movies such as Signs and Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder.
Read more about Tin Foil Hat: Origin of Concept, Scientific Basis
Famous quotes containing the words tin, foil and/or hat:
“J.P. Harrah: What the hell are you doin’ here?
Cole: I’m lookin’ at a tin star with a drunk pinned on it.”
—Leigh Brackett (1915–1978)
“Like bright metal on a sullen ground,
My reformation, glitt’ring o’er my fault,
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The hat is not for the street: it will never be democratized. But there are certain houses that one cannot enter without a hat. And one must always wear a hat when lunching with people whom one does not know well. One appears to one’s best advantage.”
—Coco Chanel (1883–1971)