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Weird Stuff/Unexplained Title: Why So Many People Believe Conspiracy Theories William of Occam would have hated conspiracy theories. A 14th-century philosopher and Franciscan friar, William is celebrated for developing the "law of parsimony," better known today as "Occam's razor." According to the razor principle, the simplest explanation for an event is almost always the best; shave away any extraneous assumptions, and what you've got left is usually the truth. That's not exactly the way conspiracy theorists think. Either Barack Obama was actually born in Hawaii, or an international plot unfolded over multiple decades to conceal his Kenyan birthplace and install him in the presidency. Either vaccines are safe and effective, or every major hospital and health organization in the world is covering up the fact that they actually cause autism. Never mind the razor — conspiracy theories are nothing but extraneous assumptions. The question is, Why do so many people believe in them? Why do even the most preposterous theories — the Nazis survived but they fled to the moon; the world is secretly being run by a reptilian elite — have fiercely loyal adherents? There are nearly as many explanations for conspiracy theories as there are theories themselves, but some patterns do appear again and again. The most common theories are the ones that follow the eddies of politics. As a broad rule, a party or group that's out of power will be more inclined to believe in conspiracies than a group that's in power. "Conspiracy theories are for losers," says Joseph Uscinski, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami and co-author of the 2014 book American Conspiracy Theories. Uscinski stresses that he uses the term literally, not pejoratively. "People who have lost an election, money or influence look for something to explain that loss." So consistent and predictable is this phenomenon that in the U.S. at least, leading conspiracy theories flip almost the moment the presidency does. When Bill Clinton was President, the principle conspiracy tales involved stories of Clintonian cocaine dealing in Arkansas and the alleged murder of Presidential friend and confidante Vince Foster. Once George W. Bush took over, so too did new conspiracy fables, this time involving Vice President Dick Cheney, Halliburton energy and the Blackwater protection company masterminding the Iraq war in order to seize the nation's oil. Certainly, not all disgruntled members of the out-party believe or traffic in the prevailing conspiracy tales. A lot also depends on demographics, with belief in the theories generally inversely related to education and wealth. One survey showed that about 42% of people without a high school education believe in at least one conspiracy theory, compared to 23% of people with a post-graduate degree. A 2017 study found a household income average of $47,193 among people who were inclined to believe in conspiracy theories and $63,824 among those who weren't. "In this case, conspiracy theories can be like emotional poultices," says Joseph Parent, a professor of political science at Notre Dame University and Uscinski's co-author. "You don't want to blame yourself for things you may lack, so you blame anonymous forces instead." Just as important in fostering conspiracies is a desire to be special or different — and that's a need that cuts across demographic lines. In a study published in May 2017 in the European Journal of Social Psychology, provocatively titled "Too Special to Be Duped," subjects either took a survey designed to measure their desire for uniqueness or wrote an essay on the importance of independent thought. By significant margins, those who tested high on the need to be special or were primed to feel that way by writing the essay were also more inclined to believe in various conspiracy theories. "A small part in motivating the endorsement of...irrational beliefs," the researchers wrote, "is the desire to stick out from the crowd." That partly explains why evidence that refutes the theories rarely changes any conspiracy theorists' minds, since surrendering the belief means surrendering the specialness too. When President Obama tried to put a stop to the rumors about where he was born by releasing his short form birth certificate, the conspiracy mongers demanded the long form. When he released that, they insisted that it had to be a forgery. "They just move the goal posts," says Uscinski. In some cases, the very nonsense of conspiracy theories may actually be an attempt to make the world make more sense. After a national trauma — the assassination of President Kennedy, say — something called the "proportionality bias" may take hold, as the mind recoils at the idea of small causes leading to such massive effects. So the fiction of a CIA or Mafia conspiracy takes the place of a lone gunman who was able to get to the President. The more people who join the circle of believers, the less likely any one of them is to break away. "Group affiliation becomes central," says Parent, the Notre Dame professor. "The beliefs almost become like gang tattoos." That indelibility is a problem. Nattering on about a reptilian elite may cost you dinner party invitations, but apart from that, it doesn't do anyone any harm. But if you buy into the fables about dangerous vaccines, you're less likely to vaccinate your own children, and that can be deadly. Recent research suggests that the worst way to change the minds of the conspiracy crowd is to criticize or, worse, mock their beliefs. That only puts them on the defensive, making them less rather than more likely to change their minds. What may work better is non-judgmentally discussing the consequences of believing in conspiracy theories. In the case of vaccines, that can mean showing parents pictures of children with measles, or describing the deadly effects of preventable diseases. Intervening early with facts can also make a difference. Children who learn the science behind vaccines or global warming are less likely to believe in conspiracies when they encounter them later in life. Catch the conspiracy bug first, and the infection can be hard to cure with even the heftiest later doses of science. Ultimately, the human mind is a free and often irrational agent, and people will believe what they want to believe. Believing the truth may not be as much fun as believing the fables, but it makes for a better mind — and a better culture, too. Poster Comment: Kooks gotta kook. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest That partly explains why evidence that refutes the theories rarely changes any conspiracy theorists' minds, since surrendering the belief means surrendering the specialness too. That is a real bright one you found there TC.
#2. To: A K A Stone (#1) (Edited) I wonder if your clown will give up his volcano global warming theory. I mean it is a theory for morons. As a writer, his big obsession is going to Mars and space topics in general. He's also pro-vaccination and life expectancy. I am not interested in the writer's opinions as much as in the studies about CT kooks that he is citing. They are a textbook description of the CT kooks we see here at LF every single day.
#3. To: Tooconservative, Part Time CT Freak (#2) Ya, he's only a part-time global warming CT k0oK! The rest of the time he exposes the other CT freaks! Oh yeah.
#4. To: Tooconservative (#0)
"Conspiracy theories are for losers," says Joseph Uscinski, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami and co-author of the 2014 book American Conspiracy Theories. The official theory of the Lincoln assassination was a conspiracy. The official theory for the World Trade Center bombing was a conspiracy. If two or more people are involved, it's a consiracy.
#5. To: Tooconservative (#0) I'll apply Occams razor and say none of it is true
#6. To: Tooconservative (#0) 33 Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True Scientific study reveals conspiracy theorists the most sane of all “Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul![]() Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.#7. To: Tooconservative (#0) (Edited)
How To Spot A Disinformation Agent “Information warfare” is being waged throughout the cybersphere. Whether they are CENTCOM disinfo government employees or ill-informed know-it-alls, there has been an ugly battle raging on the Internet for the minds of the public. As any 9/11 truth activist who uses the web regularly can tell you, truth obfuscaters are crawling around message boards like locusts, referring to 9/11 truthers as “fringe nutcases,” “ridiculous,” “…f**king conspiracy theorists” and the like, while simultaneously hijacking rational discussions by planting bogus information. And no, jet fuel fires can not melt steel.
Naturally, it is not just information about what really happened on 9/11 that is under attack, the infowar is evident in relation to other topics that governments have a vested interest in lying about, such as chemtrails, mercury in vaccines leading to autism, AIDS/HIV being man-made, “man-made global warming” and the health effects of fluoride and depleted uranium (DU). The disinfo artists who work on the Internet, referred to as “trolls,” use a number of tried and tested means to mislead those who are trying to learn the truth about controversial issues, while attempting to make those disseminating the truth feel reluctant to continue. Twenty-Five Ways To Suppress The Truth -The Rules of Disinformation by H. Micheal Sweeney covers their methods in some detail.
Their dirty work does have some positive spin-offs for those who care about the truth however. For one thing, if they argue incessantly about a particular topic, they are waving a flag and telling you indirectly that this is an issue you should be particularly concerned about. And secondly, when they quarrel about a little-known area, they are often helping those they engage with gain more knowledge. Not because of the misleading information they post, but because arguing with them can lead people to do far more research than they would have done otherwise. Short YouTube Clip about Disinformation Agents “Conspiracy Theory”: Foundations of a Weaponized Term
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul![]() Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.#8. To: Deckard, Tooconservative (#7) Indeed, you've got Political Correctness down to a science! A very diplomatic response to TC's issues. .
#9. To: hondo68 (#8) Seems this article hit very close to home with LF's kook contingent.
#10. To: Tooconservative, Liberator (#9) Seems this article hit very close to home with LF's kook contingent. Basically all we are doing is countering your disinformation with facts. You think you can post a laughable article like this and expect no one to point how transparent your agenda is? "Conspiracy theory" is usually used as a pejorative label, meaning paranoid, nutty, marginal, and certainly untrue. The power of this pejorative is that it discounts a theory by attacking the motivations and mental competence of those who advocate the theory. By labeling an explanation of events "conspiracy theory," evidence and argument are dismissed because they come from a mentally or morally deficient personality, not because they have been shown to be incorrect. Calling an explanation of events "conspiracy theory" means, in effect, "We don't like you, and no one should listen to your explanation." In earlier eras other pejorative labels, such as "heresy," "witchery," and "communism" also worked like this. The charge of "conspiracy theory" is not so severe as these other labels, but in its way is many times worse. Heresy, witchcraft, and communism at least retain some sense of potency. They designate ideas to be feared. "Conspiracy theory" implies that the ideas and their advocates are simple-minded or insane. All such labels implicitly define a community of orthodox believers and try to banish or shun people who challenge orthodox beliefs. Members of the community who are sympathetic to new thoughts might shy away from the new thoughts and join in the shunning due to fear of being tainted by the pejorative label. CONSPIRACY THEORY AS NAIVE DECONSTRUCTIVE HISTORY by Floyd Rudmin “Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul![]() Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.#11. To: Deckard (#10) This article describes your pathology to a T.
#12. To: Tooconservative (#11) TIME Magazine, huh? I'd laugh at you if you weren't so pathetic. Seriously man, TIME? “Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul![]() Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.#13. To: Tooconservative (#0) (Edited) Because...
#14. To: VxH (#13) I'm not sure we can blame our modern CTers here in America on old Soviet subversion or on modern Russian propaganda. Seems to me we have plenty of moneygrubbing con-men right here in America who are ready to sell their snake oil to the rubes. I thought the psychological profiles in the article did hit very close to home for those afflicted with what I call "Truther syndrome". LF and 4um are chock full of these CT dupes.
#15. To: Tooconservative (#0) Intervening early with facts can also make a difference. Very rarely happens, correct? One fact is usually clear early on in most of these incidents, --- someone is trying to cover up some damn thing or another. I enjoy reading the counters to the cover-ups. It's also amusing to see you get upset about these 'conspiracy' theories. Thanks.
#16. To: tpaine (#15) (Edited) It's also amusing to see you get upset about these 'conspiracy' theories. I'm not upset. Look at how these kooks respond when someone (accurately) describes them as kooks. We're not talking about the occasional CT theory like a JFK assassination. These people are fully engaged in a Truther lifestyle, a constant kookarama. They have a Standard Total View and it is always some combination of their own homespun CT theory combined with some crap they pick up from Savage or Noory or Alex Jones or some lesser known nutjob off Teh Interwebs. Of course, this is a free country and they do have a right to be kooks.
#17. To: Tooconservative (#0) The only only conspiracy theory I have ever taken credence in is about TWA flight 800. There is so much about that has never made any sense.
#18. To: Tooconservative (#16) amusing to see you get upset about these 'conspiracy' theories. You sure spend a of of time and effort on being 'not upset'. But whatever, life is too short to be worrying about 'These people', as you do. Why bother?
#19. To: no gnu taxes (#17) The only only conspiracy theory I have ever taken credence in is about TWA flight 800. There is so much about that has never made any sense. An interesting example. I don't go for the wilder theories but that one relied on technical info and never seemed settled. If you're wondering what my standard is, I'll pretty much consider anyone might have a CT or two or a few lingering suspicions. I only start calling out kooks when it is apparent that everything is a conspiracy against the public by Them (and don't even ask who Them is).
#20. To: Tooconservative (#14) (Edited) I'm not sure we can blame our modern CTers here in America on old Soviet subversion
It's the predictability of human nature that makes it so profitably gullible . Sans being armed/educated with Logic, Reason and Science: "COMMERCE BETWEEN MASTER AND SLAVE IS DESPOTISM" Same ol'. The technocratic smoke and mirrors might've evolved since Akhenaten's eunuchs were propping him/her/it up atop the state-establishing pyramid scheme - but the underlying flaws in human nature have not.
#21. To: tpaine, Tooconservative, NWO ignramus cult (#18) life is too short to be worrying about 'These people', as you do. Why bother? TC seems to be an evangelical ignoramus, preaching the gospel of -- The Less You Know, The Better! Don't rock the boat.
#22. To: hondo68 (#21) (Edited) To a mindless hammer everyThing looks like a shiny nail - quickie fix - brillianT soluTion love If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys ! #23. To: hondo68 (#21) TC seems to be an evangelical ignoramus, preaching the gospel of -- The Less You Know, The Better! Don't rock the boat. You're blathering like a crackpot. You never seem to make any substantive posts on any topic any more. You're almost as useless as Boris. You seem to have some kind of advancing dementia. You should see your doctor.
#24. To: hondo68 (#21) TC seems to be an evangelical ignoramus, preaching the gospel of -- The Less You Know, The Better! Don't rock the boat. More like "The government and MSM wouldn't lie to you so don't ask questions". “Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul![]() Those who most loudly denounce Fake News are typically those most aggressively disseminating it.#25. To: Tooconservative, Pajama Boy (#23)
OK, Pajama Boy.
#26. To: Tooconservative, hondo68, boris (#23) You're blathering like a crackpot. You never seem to make any substantive posts on any topic any more. You're almost as useless as Boris. Hondo may be paranoid, and more wrong than right, but perhaps for good reason. He obviously recognizes that things just aren't right; Same of Boris for all his hieroglyphic writings. I worry about people who believe definitively in the mantra, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." So did that famous CTer, The Gipper, whose full quote you may remember: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" ~ President Reagan Aug. 12, 1986
No wonder the Globalist Faction Within hated America-Firster Reagan. AND Trump. AND Thatcher.
#27. To: Deckard, hondo68 (#24) (Edited) More like "The government and MSM wouldn't lie to you so don't ask questions". True dat. It's unfathomable that "savvy" political observers continue to discount the ongoing collusion of lies, fixes, and PsyOps between the gubmint and MSM. EVEN AFTER proof of this collusion between the DNC and MSM was fully exposed during the Presidential debates between Herr Hitlery and the eventual President. *NOTE: Edited to put quotation marked around "savvy."
#28. To: Tooconservative, Deckard, nolu chan (#0) So consistent and predictable is this phenomenon [of believing in Gubmint cover-ups, collusion with the MSM, and out-right blatant deception rooted in PsyOps] that in the U.S. at least, leading conspiracy theories flip almost the moment the presidency does. Author: Jeffrey Kluger, TIME MAGAZINE Are you punkin' us? If it's not a joke, it's curious as to why you would toss out such an obvious raw piece of red meat and invite ridicule. But then you DID do it purposely to evoke what you "knew" would be THE reaction. Oh, lookie -- TC is playing his own PsyOp game! Naah, take back your piece of red meat. It's too ridiculous. Next time try to be bit more subtle.
FOR OTHERS: There are TWO very informative books that tie together 20 years worth of three Presidents (NOT including America's first openly Commie-Muzzie-Homosexual CiC) whose subversiveness is off the chart. Great reading material:
Boy Clinton: by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. (written BEFORE MonicaGate btw) House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties - by Craig Unger
#29. To: Liberator (#28) I live in your head rent-free.
#30. To: Tooconservative (#29) I live in your head rent-free. Thanks for the compliment. And projection. Btw, which Bush is your favorite? (Yes, I'm including Jeb.)
#31. To: Tooconservative (#0) Kooks gotta kook. But don't forget the CIA weaponized calling people conspiracy theorists as a means of defending the indefensible JFK Assassination Report.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/conspiracy-theory-foundations-of-a-weaponized-term/5319708
“Conspiracy Theory”: Foundations of a Weaponized Term - - - - - - - - - -
http://www.jfklancer.com/CIA.html
CIA Document 1035-960
#32. To: nolu chan, Deckard, TooConservative (#31) Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report Oh, that's gonna leave a mark.
#33. To: Tooconservative (#29) I live in your head rent-free. You really think you're something special, don't you. It's hilarious.
#34. To: Tooconservative (#9) with LF's kook contingent This forum was birthed from rejected and banned posters... of course it will have a high percentage of kookary. I might be the only poster from LP that wasn't a flushed FR turd. lol I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح #35. To: nolu chan (#31) But don't forget the CIA weaponized calling people conspiracy theorists... "Weaponized"? It's a term for weak people to protest that someone is microagressing them by using words and stuff. Words are not weapons. I own weapons. I use words. There's a big huge difference between the two.
#36. To: GrandIsland (#34) I might be the only poster from LP that wasn't a flushed FR turd. Well, then you can probably be trusted with the keys to the asylum. I'm not sure if/when Stone got dumped off FR.
#37. To: Tooconservative (#35)
"Weaponized"? Yes. Deploying government propaganda assets to [negate] and refute the attacks of critics is the manly man stuff of a microaggressed CIA.
[CIA Document #1035-960] The agency also directed its members “[t]o employ propaganda assets to [negate] and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose.”
#38. To: Tooconservative (#0) Once George W. Bush took over, so too did new conspiracy fables, this time involving Vice President Dick Cheney, Halliburton energy and the Blackwater protection company masterminding the Iraq war in order to seize the nation's oil. Chyeah, right. "Fables." HA!! If you can't trust Dubya and Cheney, then who can you trust?? ANYBODY who refers to Islam as a "Religion of Peace" has ZERO cred. Dubya's ENTIRE 8 years were a fraud. Uh, yes, the Fake Multi-Trillion Dollar War in Iraq WAS "masterminded" -- but by whom remains a mystery. It siphoned wealth from the American middle class and maimed/killed thousands. FOR NOTHING. Unless YOU can provide ANY REAL reason whatsoever for the charade. *tick-tick-tick*... Btw, Dubya Bush couldn't "mastermind" a lemonade stand.
#39. To: nolu chan, Tooconservative (#37) Yes. Deploying government propaganda assets to [negate] and refute the attacks of critics is the manly man stuff of a microaggressed CIA. Yes indeed: "WEAPONIZED." You'll have to forgive TC for the apparent eye-squint and, "Say WHA......??!?" Jethro Bodine-like reaction. The feigned incredulity is cute. You see, he's got a job to do here. :-)
#40. To: Liberator (#38) Bush also declared Islamofascism as a serious threat.
#41. To: no gnu taxes (#40) Bush also declared Islamofascism as a serious threat. So you're saying Bush spoke out of both sides of his mouth? How can Islam be BOTH a "Religion of Peace" AND a "serious threat"? Oh wait -- are you trying to say that Islam really IS fundamentally a "religion of peace" as well?
#42. To: Liberator (#41) These statements came at different times and for different reasons. He was a politician, and they often do contradictory things. Even Trump. Even Reagan. I'm darn sure not going to go back into what Bush did regarding Islamists. However, I didn't hold all that against him. What is pissing me off about him now is how he never said a damn bad word about Obama, but is now using Democrat talking points against Trump.
#43. To: Liberator (#39) Yes indeed: "WEAPONIZED." Can't reply, I'm too busy weaponizing some new posts for LF. That's how I make the Big Money.
#44. To: Liberator, Tooconservative (#39) Yes indeed: "WEAPONIZED." Anyone who has been the target of government lies knows that their words can be, and are used, as a weapon.
#45. To: Tooconservative (#43) Can't reply, I'm too busy weaponizing some new posts for LF. I think you're content just with an occasional, "ATTA BOY!" from your Feral Svengalis.
#46. To: nolu chan (#44) Anyone who has been the target of government lies knows that their words can be, and are used, as a weapon. Absolutely. And ironically enough, our President himself has been the VERY large target of intra-goob lies.
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