Why people believe in Conspiracy Theories? [W:53, W:72]

[cpgrad08]

I thought this article give some good information or disinformation depending on your view.

http://ww.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/ma...-conspiracy-theories.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

While psychologists can’t know exactly what goes on inside our heads, they have, through surveys and laboratory studies, come up with a set of traits that correlate well with conspiracy belief. In 2010, Swami and a co-author summarized this research in The Psychologist, a scientific journal. They found, perhaps surprisingly, that believers are more likely to be cynical about the world in general and politics in particular. Conspiracy theories also seem to be more compelling to those with low self-worth, especially with regard to their sense of agency in the world at large. Conspiracy theories appear to be a way of reacting to uncertainty and powerlessness.

 

[lizzie]

I personally figure that it's because it's easier than dealing with reality as it is.

 

[Gardener]

Conspiracy theories also seem to be more compelling to those with low self-worth, especially with regard to their sense of agency in the world at large

I've been saying the same things for years. I think there is also a psychotic element as well, but it is easier for worthless individuals to attribute such to outside sources rather than internal. It is always the result of some create shadowy conspiracy that they are such worthless individuals instead of having anything to do with them.

 

[Sadling]

Well, that's an interesting theory, but the fact is that one needn't have a low estimation of their own worth to see that this: 9/11 UA Flight 93 Banned Newscast - YouTube

. . . just really smells bad. I would actually question the mentality of those who say it supports the idea that an airliner crashed there. So, who's not dealing with reality??

 

[cpgrad08]

Well, that's an interesting theory, but the fact is that one needn't have a low estimation of their own worth to see that this: 9/11 UA Flight 93 Banned Newscast - YouTube

. . . just really smells bad. I would actually question the mentality of those who say it supports the idea that an airliner crashed there. So, who's not dealing with reality??

That would be you sir.

 

[Sadling]

You didn't watch the video did you?

 

[lizzie]

from the op:

They found, perhaps surprisingly, that believers are more likely to be cynical about the world in general and politics in particular

I don't find that surprising at all, as cynics usually seem to have an underlying idealism to their personalities. When one is an idealist, and is disappointed in the way things go in the real world, it is easier to adopt the idea that there is an underlying unseen force at work, pulling the strings, and controlling the flow of events, than to just sit back and say "Damn, what a ****ed up world we're living in", and just acknowledge it for what it is.

 

[Gardener]

You didn't watch the video did you?

I chalked it up to his being too intelligent and not nearly gullible enough to fall for any cockamamie thing that ends up on youtube.

 

[Canell]

A conspiracy theory is an explanatory proposition that accuses two or more people, a group, or an organization of having caused or covered up, through deliberate collusion, an event or phenomenon of great social, political, or economic impact. In recent decades the term has acquired a derogatory meaning, and a careful distinction must be made between the derisive use of the term and reference to actual, proven conspiracies.

Source: Wikipedia

2+ people planning to blow up a bomb is a conspiracy.
2+ people founding a party with their own agenda is a conspiracy.
NSA secretly spying on the world is a conspiracy.
Satanic Zionist trying to take over and rule the world is a conspiracy.

Why not?

 

[Sadling]

I find that when people can't deal with the reality of what a video is showing them, they join together with others who hate it, and decide to discuss irrelevent issues.

 

[cpgrad08]

I find that when people can't deal with the reality of what a video is showing them, they join together with others who hate it, and decide to discuss irrelevent issues.

I bet you do the same with videos that you that you are wrong.

 

[Sadling]

I chalked it up to his being too intelligent and not nearly gullible enough to fall for any cockamamie thing that ends up on youtube.

At a press conference, Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Ridge, after flying over the site, remarked about how little debri is visible. But don't worry, you can simply throw that into the "cockamamie" bin. You saw the video, didn't you. Now you have to pretend that you didn't so that you don't have to admit to what it points to.

 

[Sadling]

I bet you do the same with videos that you that you are wrong.

Yeah, the morning after can be pretty disorienting, huh? :lol:

 

[lizzie]

Well, that's an interesting theory, but the fact is that one needn't have a low estimation of their own worth to see that this: 9/11 UA Flight 93 Banned Newscast - YouTube

. . . just really smells bad. I would actually question the mentality of those who say it supports the idea that an airliner crashed there. So, who's not dealing with reality??

Just for grins, suppose it is real. What are you going to do about it? Believing in things that you think are rational is one thing. Doing something about it is quite another.

 

[shart attack]

... Conspiracy theories also seem to be more compelling to those with low self-worth, especially with regard to their sense of agency in the world at large. Conspiracy theories appear to be a way of reacting to uncertainty and powerlessness.

Says an article by a newspaper that has been out of touch with mainstream Americans for over a quarter of a century now.

What the super-rich don't get is that the growth of present-day conspiracy theories reflects an extreme disconnect between them and mainstream Americans — mainstream Americans who just a few years ago were known as "the middle class".

The greater the gap between rich and poor, the more conspiracy theories there will continue to be.

 

[Perotista]

I thought this article give some good information or disinformation depending on your view.

http://ww.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/ma...-conspiracy-theories.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

I think a lot of conspiracy theories arise from total distrust of government most people have, at least here in the states. I grew up in the 50's when most people trusted their government and there as far as I can remember, really no conspiracy theories. The assassination of JFK started a lot of these conspiracy theories and that happened at a time when most people trusting in our government switched to distrust. Since then there have been tons of these conspiracy theories grow and abound.

People expect their government to lie to them these days. So if they say such and such happen, you are going to have a large segment of the population automatically disbelieve what they had to say. After all everyone knows our government doesn't do anything but lie to the people. If not down right lies, it is just half truths or huge exaggerations. Throw in all the scandals, the cover ups, and other things along with the lies, is it any wonder conspiracy theories abound.

 

[Sadling]

Believing in things that you think are rational is one thing.

Believing in things? Yeah, sure. Watch the video, but whatever you do, don't believe your lying eyes.

 

[lizzie]

Believing in things? Yeah, sure. Watch the video, but whatever you do, don't believe your lying eyes.

That doesn't answer my question. What are you going to do about it?

 

[Sadling]

Are you accepting what the video is showing you?

 

[Canell]

The Big Lie (German: Große Lüge) is a propaganda technique. The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."

Big Lie principle

In other words, the best defence a conspiracy can have is to ridicule the idea of conspiracy. Orwell saw it well:

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

 

[Woodman909]

So creeps like Oliver Stone can make lots of $$'s

 

[WCH]

I've been saying the same things for years. I think there is also a psychotic element as well, but it is easier for worthless individuals to attribute such to outside sources rather than internal. It is always the result of some create shadowy conspiracy that they are such worthless individuals instead of having anything to do with them.

You left out the fact that governments and others create CTs for their own benefit and to throw us off the real path. (false flags, etc.)

You better be glad those 'worthless' people are out there. Otherwise a lot more wool would be pulled over your head.

 

[shart attack]

So creeps like Oliver Stone can make lots of $$'s

... off movies about things like a creepy U.S. president who officially declared a War on Poverty at the same time he was sending millions of poor Americans to die in Southeast Asia so said creepy U.S. president's wife could make millions of dollars off defense contracts with Bell Helicopters.

 

[Sadling]

It could be that some people are glad that other people refuse to look at videos that show no airliner wreckage. What would be the technical term for such people as that?

 

[Woodman909]

... off movies about things like a creepy U.S. president who officially declared a War on Poverty at the same time he was sending millions of poor Americans to die in Southeast Asia so said creepy U.S. president's wife could make millions of dollars off defense contracts with Bell Helicopters.

yeah well, even a busted clock is right twice a day.