Conspiracy theorists... are they all just a bit thick?
Discussion
OzzyR1 said:
Taylor James said:
I have an open mind about David Kelly's death.
I'm not a believer in many of the wilder conspiracy theories, but I'm fully on board with this one not being suicide.Also things like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Gareth_Will...
Just from what is written in that Wiki entry, I have no idea how this could be concluded as an accident unless someone was instructed to find that verdict.
You would be surprised how easy it is to destroy someones life like that. A respected person of his age with a massive level of professional background and credibility. Has it all destroyed in a short period of time, looses career, facing poverty, humiliation etc - especially at his age- little opportunity to get it back or fight his case. Be very very easy to get depressed and end up killing yourself.
Its a bit like teen bullying victims who kill themselves. its suicide legally but morally many think it is manslaughter due to the way they were driven to it.
The Gareth william bloke, any evidence would likely be heavily classified or redacted if it pointed to foriegn interference so we will never know the truth. PLus remember wiki is not a good source of info as any nutjob can edit it.
Harrison Bergeron said:
You don’t think this is a bit dodgy
Perhaps if you quoted the full entry it would be less “dodgy”?bbc said:
Encourage critical thinking
People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
BBC said:
3: Encourage critical thinking
People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
The problem is that their research tends to consist of watching fringe YouTube videos, following random people on Facebook, and cherry-picking evidence from biased Twitter accounts.
But the spirit of doubt that pervades the conspiracy-minded internet is actually a key opening for rational thought, says Jovan Byford.
"Many people who believe in conspiracy theories see themselves as healthy sceptics and self-taught researchers into complex issues," he says. "Present this as something that, in principle, you value and share.
"Your aim is not to make them less curious or sceptical, but to change what they are curious about, or sceptical of."
No one who “researches” based on fringe websites or YouTube is doing their own research. They’re not reading from or talking to primary sources, or running lab tests, etc. (depending on what they’re “researching”).People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
The problem is that their research tends to consist of watching fringe YouTube videos, following random people on Facebook, and cherry-picking evidence from biased Twitter accounts.
But the spirit of doubt that pervades the conspiracy-minded internet is actually a key opening for rational thought, says Jovan Byford.
"Many people who believe in conspiracy theories see themselves as healthy sceptics and self-taught researchers into complex issues," he says. "Present this as something that, in principle, you value and share.
"Your aim is not to make them less curious or sceptical, but to change what they are curious about, or sceptical of."
Real research is time consuming, hard, and usually requires some expertise in the field you’re investigating.
Conspiracy “research” is usually taking alternative sources of information, many of which are held to absolutely no standard at all, and deciding that you prefer the narrative from these other sources to what’s conventionally seen as “the truth”.
Consider the source, as everyone was taught in history class...
Ive got a crackers brother in law,
ive had all about einstein island, all the celebs abusing kids (that are locked up still)
trumps getting back in, Had three dates so far for this one
then weve had the covid business,
how your house isnt an asset, how the government is paying everyones mortgage off,
i told him to use the internet for naked ladies
ive had all about einstein island, all the celebs abusing kids (that are locked up still)
trumps getting back in, Had three dates so far for this one
then weve had the covid business,
how your house isnt an asset, how the government is paying everyones mortgage off,
i told him to use the internet for naked ladies
paulguitar said:
This is a subject that really fascinates me. I think it is possible to be intelligent but 'intellectually eccentric' at the same time, and this leads to some quite odd characters.
Same here, very interesting from the psychology POV.People like feeling they know better than others, as demonstrated by plenty of threads here. A big problem is that there are plenty of real conspiracies or cockups that appear as such and feed the fire.
You can typically find qualified/experienced people espousing views on all sides of any given argument. Unless you're knowledgable enough yourself to work out which is correct then you're often just going to end up re-enforcing your pre-conceptions. CV19 being an obvious example with medical professionals giving views in all directions.
Esceptico said:
Believing in conspiracy theories is very similar in my view to believing in religion (or equivalent nonsense such as ghosts or the soul that is inconsistent with our knowledge of the world gained through the scientific process). I think a weakness for magical thinking is part of human DNA and I’m not sure we will ever get rid of it.
Very much soConspiracy theories as quasi-religious mentality: an integrated account from cognitive science, social representations theory, and frame theory
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg...
OTOH
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, accused those claiming the EU wanted its own army as peddling "a dangerous fantasy". It turns out he was completely wrong.
Would he have described those say that the EU wants an army as Conspiracy Theorists?
Just because the government denies something, doesn't mean it's not true, sometimes.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, accused those claiming the EU wanted its own army as peddling "a dangerous fantasy". It turns out he was completely wrong.
Would he have described those say that the EU wants an army as Conspiracy Theorists?
Just because the government denies something, doesn't mean it's not true, sometimes.
captain_cynic said:
Calling them "a bit thick" is one of the more polite responses.
Kind of off topic, but I am curious 'Captain Cynic' . Is there a reason you selected that user name?Did you just like the sound of it, or are you in fact cynical about certain stuff?
It's not a big leap from being cynical to delving into the realms of alternative theories.
If you are cynical, what are you cynical about?
OzzyR1 said:
Taylor James said:
I have an open mind about David Kelly's death.
I'm not a believer in many of the wilder conspiracy theories, but I'm fully on board with this one not being suicide.dirky dirk said:
Ive got a crackers brother in law,
ive had all about einstein island, all the celebs abusing kids (that are locked up still)
trumps getting back in, Had three dates so far for this one
then weve had the covid business,
how your house isnt an asset, how the government is paying everyones mortgage off,
i told him to use the internet for naked ladies
will you change your thoughts on the US election if Trump serves a second term, or will you just convince yourself that your brother was still wrong?ive had all about einstein island, all the celebs abusing kids (that are locked up still)
trumps getting back in, Had three dates so far for this one
then weve had the covid business,
how your house isnt an asset, how the government is paying everyones mortgage off,
i told him to use the internet for naked ladies
As for Epsteins island, I though that was established as fact, it is just not confirmed exactly who was there, and probably never will be....
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Wednesday 23 December 10:25
What often surprises me with conspiracy theorists is that many are actually intelligent individuals. As said above though this is likely from having knowledge in one field and thinking it must allow them to be experts in many other areas also and perhaps find it easier to ignore the likely facts and believe the less likely conspiracy instead.
Conspiracy theorists have to be able to ignore or discredit a wealth of information from reliable sources and then get their truth (conspiracy theory) from fringe blogs and websites and YouTube often because those unreliable sites are the only ones that reflect their views (which is what they’re actually looking for)
Often when we have conspiracy theorists on here it’s telling that their sources are always obviously unreliable or they’ve taken primary source data and misrepresented it.
With a conspiracy theory, people have to really want to believe it as they have to ignore things like scientific consensus and reliable sources of information and on the other hand trust obviously unreliable sources of information, usually as it’s linked to their politics or other world view.
Obviously the more they read up about their conspiracy the more their views get reflected by internet/YouTube etc search algorithms then the conspiracy is emboldened. This also gives a feeling that more people must believe it too and creates a them Vs us mentality where ‘they’ become the government and the media and often science etc who are all in on it but conspiracy theorists and their fringe blogs have seen through it and can’t see why all the ‘sheep’ can’t also see the truth.
It’s classic brainwashing but actually done by the individuals themselves and how they reinforce their beliefs not some cult leader trying to control them.
It’s very unlikely someone with a genuinely open mind would end up on the side of the conspiracy theory long term.
Obviously not many conspiracy theorists actually think they’re conspiracy theorists because they think their conspiracy is the truth and they think conspiracy theorists are the ones beyond them like flat earthers or people who think the moon landings were fake etc
Conspiracy theorists have to be able to ignore or discredit a wealth of information from reliable sources and then get their truth (conspiracy theory) from fringe blogs and websites and YouTube often because those unreliable sites are the only ones that reflect their views (which is what they’re actually looking for)
Often when we have conspiracy theorists on here it’s telling that their sources are always obviously unreliable or they’ve taken primary source data and misrepresented it.
With a conspiracy theory, people have to really want to believe it as they have to ignore things like scientific consensus and reliable sources of information and on the other hand trust obviously unreliable sources of information, usually as it’s linked to their politics or other world view.
Obviously the more they read up about their conspiracy the more their views get reflected by internet/YouTube etc search algorithms then the conspiracy is emboldened. This also gives a feeling that more people must believe it too and creates a them Vs us mentality where ‘they’ become the government and the media and often science etc who are all in on it but conspiracy theorists and their fringe blogs have seen through it and can’t see why all the ‘sheep’ can’t also see the truth.
It’s classic brainwashing but actually done by the individuals themselves and how they reinforce their beliefs not some cult leader trying to control them.
It’s very unlikely someone with a genuinely open mind would end up on the side of the conspiracy theory long term.
Obviously not many conspiracy theorists actually think they’re conspiracy theorists because they think their conspiracy is the truth and they think conspiracy theorists are the ones beyond them like flat earthers or people who think the moon landings were fake etc
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