Posted on 11/08/2015 10:33:45 AM PST by PROCON
Psychologist Rob Bretherton talks about his new book and the way suspicion can overcome rationality
Why are conspiracy theories so attractive?
There is not so much of a difference between conspiracy theorists and the rest of us. We are drawn to the idea of conspiracy because it resonates with us; we understand the idea of people being self-interested and not having our best interests at heart, and having hidden motives and getting together to do shady stuff. Conspiracy theories extend upon that and tap into these assumptions and fears we have about the world. But we all have them, that’s why conspiracy theories make sense to us all.
How much can we really trust our own rationality and reason?
Not much at all. Most psychological research shows that we are all very much overly confident when it comes to trusting our own reasoning ability, our own perception, our own memory, all kinds of stuff. We live inside this kind of illusion that our brains concoct for us that we are seeing the world objectively and that we are coming to our beliefs because they are just the most sensible beliefs to have, but all the research shows we have a whole host of biases built into our brains that shape and colour our perception and beliefs about the world constantly without us being aware of it.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
The Sandy Hook threads were fun, the Fuddy threads were entertaining, but I still have a fond spot in my heart for the Space Shuttle Columbia threads.
Conspiracy theorists are people who cannot exert control over their own lives. Thus, there must be a “them” out there that is responsible for controlling things. Thus, the individual is off the hook for themselves.
The fact they project this onto single events (such as JFK or 9/11) or everything (Trilateral commission or the Illuminati) doesn’t change the underlying psychosis.
It’s a complicated world that has a tendency to make people feel powerless. But if you’re somebody with “secret knowledge” you suddenly have power. It also helps that conspiracies really do exist, backroom deals, bribes, organized crime, these things really do happen. Pavlov showed, random positive reinforcement is the most effective way to reinforce behavior, which is exactly what real world conspiracies provide to the theorists.
I know its fun and hip to make fun of conspiracy theories. And some like chemtrails, jade helm, and fake moon landings get silly.
But the fact is that the world has been, and is being shaped by conspiracies against our interests. And all one needs to do is look at a 100 things the government and the bankers have done that was completely hidden from us.
Does anyone believe that its a coincidence that a pothead C and D student from a communist family was passed upwards until he became a nothing Senator and then president? That’s screams conspiracy.
And JFK is so full of lies, misinformation, and coverups, that a conspiracy is obvious.
People believe the truth is out there because government tells us it is not.
It’s really that simple. When liars lie, smart people tend to not believe them on any subject. There is no basis to believe a serial liar on anything especially when all the liar offers is more words.
That, and in JFK’and RFK’s cases, they were loved by millions, but their were also lots of people from all walks of life who for various reasons were pissed off at them and the Kennedy family, many with good reason, who would take out a Kennedy or two if they could get away with it. That could explain were some conspiracy theories originate from.
Real conspiracies are there, and they run our nation. They are especially in play when they do things like bring in 20 million Mexicans, etc.
The aliens in area 51 and chemtrail kinda things are lumped in under one broad category called “conspiracy theory”. This makes someone who wants to talk about a real conspiracy instantly dismissible as a nut.
Obie isn’t a conspiracy, Obie is a cult of personality. In the modern world where TV debates are the primary communication from candidates we’ve had mostly unqualified dingbats in the Oval Office because they can sell a message. And it’s going to happen again next year. Our current system rewards the dancing bear.
Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!
To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...
Every forum has its Gut Feeling Brigade, taking the most tortured path possible to plug holes in unlikely scenarios, then claim Occam’s Razor explains it all.
I’ve long given up trying to reason with these people, finding that you can’t reason someone out of something they weren’t reasoned into.
Unanswerable questions and unpleasant answer are the fertile ground conspiracy theories grow up in. With the Kennedys people conveniently forget that it was a pretty violent world in America, a LOT of people were getting popped, especially political figures. There was a lot of anger in the country, on both sides of pretty much every issue, and some folks were expressing their anger a bit more viscerally than the rest. And then of course the Kennedy empire was built on rum running, they had a lot of organized crime connections, and they turned against those connections when JFK was running for president, and then started trying to put them in jail.
I've seen IBTZs and FReepers demanding the mods zot FReeper xyz because they don't agree with the "general consensus."
It's funny.
“Conspiracy theorists are people who cannot exert control over their own lives.”
That is nonsense. People believe conspiracy theories because they have ample experience that they should not believe everything the government tells them, or the MSM, etc.
You ever notice the percentage of TV, movies, that are based on conspiracies? That is what makes them believable.
And part of it is stories like this,,, a week or two before JFK death date.
You may believe anything you want about his murder, except that those that benefited from it and were bitterly angry at JFK had anything to do with it. You can’t think that.
On the other hand.
There are a boat load of completely ignorant, passionate and compassionate people, that intimidate others by playing on the forgiving nature of the thoughtful because it works.
“Obie isn’t a conspiracy, Obie is a cult of personality. “
Of course he was a conspiracy. Every educational door opened for him with no qualifications at all. He was groomed by the Chicago/Hawaiian communist cells, and Saudi money pushed him further forward.
His personality was a created, packaged, and sold product. And that is a conspiracy. It was quite literally a conspiracy by 60s radicals to get a communist as president.
You mean like if someone told you the Pyramids were built to store grain?
And who gains from having him in the White House? As opposed to any other random unqualified dip? Really, who puts all the effort necessary over multiple decades to pick him in particular as president? If they were going to put that kind of effort in why not somebody who’s not an idiot? Who could actually make their agenda work instead of watch it fail? Sorry but thinking people would put 40 years of effort to put OBIE in the White House is just stupid.
Meanwhile, back in reality Obie got elected for the same reason JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton and Bush 2got elected inspite of having no serious qualifications: they danced well on TV.
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