I’ll wait for tantrum day. February 2nd.
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Conspiracy Theory and Psychology (You're all mad!)
- Thread starter Chi13
- Start date
I’ll wait for tantrum day. February 2nd.
i'm going with "revisionist history/conspiracy" myself.
Hempy McNoodle
Well-known member
Plus, 100 days past Jan 20th marks the steep drop of a typical flue season.
I started this thread in the hope of shedding some light on the reasons that people are prone to believe in conspiracy theory. I have read about a couple of theories that you have posted, one of them quite deeply. Unfortunately looking at them in any depth involves a huge amount of time, and frankly one of the hallmarks of belief in conspiracy, means that they are virtually impossible to disprove to someone who believes in them. The thing is that sometimes conspiracy theories are true (see below article)! I just take the view that of all the theories I've read about over the years, nearly all are likely untrue. The particular one that you are presenting may be true, but I am likely to look at the most obvious explanation first, before considering conspiracy.
I also note that you have a deep distrust of mainstream media. I don't take that view. MSM does have bias, like almost everything. For example look at a report from Fox vs CNN reporting on the same story. What that means to me is that you have to take that possiblilty on board with what you read. It doesn't mean that you need to automatically take the view that what is written is a lie, simply because it comes from MSM. Taking that view means you are susceptable to every thing that counters that. With the internet that means that views that once never saw the outside of a pub, are all over the net.
Some exerts from another article from New Scientist below.
Is covid-19 caused by the 5G phone network, or the product of a secret Chinese bioweapons program? No. There is no evidence that either of these claims are true, but to some people that very lack of evidence is itself clear evidence of a cover up. Welcome to the paranoid, topsy-turvy world of the conspiracy theory.
Think of any major world event and there is almost certainly at least one conspiracy theory to explain it. The list is almost endless: the Apollo moon landings were faked, 9/11 was an inside job, climate change is a hoax, JFK was assassinated by the CIA, the earth is flat, the pharmaceutical industry is suppressing a cure for cancer, vaccines cause autism, Princess Diana was murdered by the royal family, Barak Obama was born in Kenya and is secretly a Muslim, the world is ruled by lizards. Many of these “theories” – the word is used in its colloquial sense rather than the strict scientific one, they should really be called “conspiracy hypotheses” – concern matters of science or medicine.
It is easy to dismiss conspiracy theories as unhinged beliefs held by a small number of paranoid idiots, but that seriously underestimates them. Belief in conspiracy theories is very widespread, the product of normal human psychology, and extremely influential and dangerous.
About half of Americans believe in one or more of the common ones. Belief is more widespread among the less-educated, but is by no means confined to them. Educated people are also susceptible if a conspiracy theory fits with their pre-existing world view.
The theories are also endorsed across the ideological spectrum. They are literally left, right and centre. More conservatives than liberals believe the Obama “birther” theory – promulgated by Donald Trump – but many liberals believe 9/11 was a government plot to drum up support for invading Iraq.
Why do so many people believe? One reason, say psychologists, is that it is perfectly reasonable, because conspiracies sometimes happen. Consider the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s, when senior US officials conspired to sell weapons to Iran – then under an arms embargo – and channel the proceeds to rebels trying to oust Nicaragua’s socialist government.
Conspiracy theories also reflect how we intuitively understand the world and events in it. The human brain did not evolve to process complex information about global politics, economics or science. It evolved to survive on the African savannah where threats and hostile intentions were a daily reality.
Under these circumstances it pays to assume that unseen threats are lurking everywhere, that “outgroups” have malign intent, or that coincidental events are causally related. The cost of holding these assumptions was minimal, but the cost of not holding them was often death. Natural selection favoured the conspiratorial mindset.
Our brains have other cognitive biases that make us susceptible to conspiracy theories. One is proportionality bias, a belief that major events have major causes. Intentionality bias makes us assume that events are planned by somebody or something. Confirmation bias means we seek out evidence that supports our beliefs. And the illusion-of-understanding bias makes us overestimate our knowledge of how things work.
Conspiracy theories can also paradoxically be emotionally reassuring. They provide truthful-sounding explanations for events that otherwise seem inexplicable, random or capricious, and often make your political opponents look bad. They can also give believers a pleasing sense of superiority because they – and sometimes they alone – have seen through the lies and cover-ups to reveal the “truth”.
Personality type also plays a part. People who are naturally suspicious of received wisdom and authority are more likely to believe.
Conspiracy theories are often utterly preposterous and totally lacking in credible evidence, but they are almost impossible to disprove, at least in the minds of believers. No amount of counter-evidence can refute them, and in fact this evidence often reinforces them because it can be dismissed as part of the conspiracy.
In this respect conspiracy theories have much in common with pseudoscience, which superficially resembles science but lacks its crucial epistemological feature, falsifiability – meaning that hypotheses must be structured such that they can be disproved by new evidence.
The conspiratorial mindset may have been an asset in the past, but is now a liability. When it comes to dealing with important issues such as climate change or the cause of covid-19, conspiracy theories are a major obstacle to reasoned debate and evidence-based action.
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/term/conspiracy-theories/#ixzz6kK1RN0rB
geneva_sativa
Well-known member
And the corruption continues on,
cuz everone is lilly white, and never a plan was
hatched,,,
That is,, if you would believe an idiot,,, or the media masters that fill the hollow spaces in the heads of idiots
cuz everone is lilly white, and never a plan was
hatched,,,
That is,, if you would believe an idiot,,, or the media masters that fill the hollow spaces in the heads of idiots
- Yes - I do believe in the idea that many important political events - or economic, military and social trends/actions - are the products of deceptive plots that are largely unknown to the general public - but can still be uncovered - often years after the event - we don't get to learn about them in the educational system - so it takes an open, discerning and enquiring mind to do the research and deep digging required - to be able to join the dots - and hopefully see the truth - or as near as you can get to it revealed -
- the more I learn about the activities of intelligence agencies - the less far-fetched I find many geopolitical conspiracy theories -
* ask 100 people if they believe in The official Warren Commission Report on the John F. Kennedy assassination - and at least half or more would probably say that they don't believe it -
- the more I learn about the activities of intelligence agencies - the less far-fetched I find many geopolitical conspiracy theories -
* ask 100 people if they believe in The official Warren Commission Report on the John F. Kennedy assassination - and at least half or more would probably say that they don't believe it -
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Absolem
Active member
When I went to college I lived in an 8 plex apartment. One of the girls above me my buddy dated. Her grandfather was on the Warren Commission. My buddy and I asked her a lot about it. Thought we find some inside scoop. My young mind was ripe for a conspiracy. She said her grandfather never mentioned any inside knowledge or hidden secrets even on his deathbed. The only thing I learned that has not been declassified was there were over 5000 sheep shot to recreate the damage done to JFK's skull. The sheep were shot from every angle. Even the "grassy knoll" shot. Her grandpa never saw anything to dispute it was anybody else but Oswald. After talking to her for a year my hope of conspiracy's dissipated.
Just because every question can't be answered in a crime doesn't mean there is something nefarious. It seems that's how most conspiracy's start. They will find the 10% of a something that can't be answered and focus on that as the reason you can't believe the official narrative.
Look how deep the rabbit hole went for many Qanon followers. These people truly thought on Jan 20th the Biden's, Clinton's, Obama and several others would be arrested on live TV and executed.
St. Phatty
Active member
I used to have a copy.
I suggest reading it.
Mad Magazine is better edited.
It's like a scrap book of disparate facts.
Absolem
Active member
I have. In one of my undergrad psychology classes we spent over 2 weeks studying the report. We took many quotes from the report and fashioned it into "conspiracy" log. We looked at the parts where people had disagreements and focused on them to show how easy it would be to get people to believe an alternative premise. That's why talking to the grandchild of a Warren commission member was so exciting. Had a chance to get some first hand accounts. After his death the family never got the manila envelope containing the "secrets". The fact after all these years not one person has come forward with anything that would change the official narrative more then backs up the report for myself.
G
Guest
I have these In-Laws. Sons of the Earth. That's not a conspiracy group but they hold to conspiracy theory as a statement of their dislike for anything new. They would have been Luddites in the day.
On their farm they decided to construct a building. They went out with a shovel and began to dig holes for corner posts. I said hey! d'ya wanna hand? I 've got an easy method of squaring corners.
They looked at me as if I was a nuisance and continued heads down. I asked again. Where's yr tape measure and I 'll show you, I said. Once again they ignored me but this time after a little 'knowing glance' between them.
So these people were going to build without even a tape measure and when it came to easing their way into construction they didn't want to know.
Or was that the thing? They thought they already knew all they needed to know and any new learning was unnecessary.
Subsequently we hear these people support Trump and Covid is just the Flu.
On their farm they decided to construct a building. They went out with a shovel and began to dig holes for corner posts. I said hey! d'ya wanna hand? I 've got an easy method of squaring corners.
They looked at me as if I was a nuisance and continued heads down. I asked again. Where's yr tape measure and I 'll show you, I said. Once again they ignored me but this time after a little 'knowing glance' between them.
So these people were going to build without even a tape measure and when it came to easing their way into construction they didn't want to know.
Or was that the thing? They thought they already knew all they needed to know and any new learning was unnecessary.
Subsequently we hear these people support Trump and Covid is just the Flu.
St. Phatty
Active member
Jim Garrison, District Attorney - do you think he was lying ? or serving a political interest, other than figuring out what actually happened ?
Absolem
Active member
I need more then one individual to change my mind on the official narrative. You should look up Garrison. He's pretty shady and people like him know how to make a name for themselves and sell books. Lin Wood comes to mind as well.
dramamine
Well-known member
Problem is that any that go against the official narrative are deemed shady. There are a lot more than one. JFK's murder is well-documented, and not just by wackos.
It speaks to the problem of censorship, since that removes the platform for dissent from official narratives.
In fairness, you did say "not one person".
Absolem
Active member
Correct. "Not one person" has delivered the goods to break open the case with definitive proof the official narrative was wrong. It's not going against the official narrative that is a big deal it's the fact that they have nothing to back up their claims. It has nothing to do with censorship as it has to do with providing evidence that could withstand the scrutiny needed to change the narrative.
dramamine
Well-known member
There's an excellent, well-researched book by James Douglass called 'JFK and the Unspeakable', which is well worth reading and would give anyone pause that believes the single-shooter theory.
I only mentioned censorship because it's currently being embraced and will, as we go along, affect our ability to hear dissenting voices...a dangerous thing.
