"Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?" Topic

"Conspiracy theories lurk all over the internet and cover a dizzying range of topics — from the idea that the moon landings were faked to the belief that Earth is flat. Often, believers will readily dismiss any and all evidence that contradicts such claims, and suggest that witnesses or experts who dispute the ideas are simply part of the conspiracy.

As a general rule, people don't like being unable to make sense of things; we are curious, and we want to understand the world around us. In the past, science couldn't explain many of the phenomena humans encountered, and so the easiest and most efficient response to an unanswerable question was to credit an omnipotent, omniscient higher power. Science is now able to answer many of the questions that once stumped us, and while we don't always have the answers, now, more than at any point in our history, we have the capacity to accurately explain and understand all manner of phenomena…"

Main Page

link

Armand

I believe Tango is really Bill.

Wolfhag

That may be true, I've never seen the two of them at the same time.

Plus one Wolfhag. As for conspiracy theories in general, they are the result of a government program designed to keep the 3rd estate fighting and bickering in the name of false facts while a worldwide cabal made of global postal services secures its foothold and tightens its grip through the use of junk mail and bills, further amplifying anxiety and hostility in the populace. If you need more proof, look no further than Trump pulling the US from the global mail delivery agreement. Too little, too late, my friend, far too late…

Why not? They are more entertaining than most TV shows.

The difference between conspiracy theories and the truth….

These days , about 3 months.

Because far too often they turn out to be true….

There is a difference between belief and entertainment. It is possible to be entertained by conspiracy theories without believing them outright. I find many JFK conspiracies very entertaining but don't believe them, for example. Same with Jack The Ripper. Sometimes the entertainment value is enough without belief.

Arcane Steve+1

Social Media and the Internet in general provide a fertile landscape for the proliferation of conspiracy theories. Not only that but their algorithms feed our minds with data that only sends us further down the rabbit hole so we accept them as truths. Next thing you know, you're in a Washington DC pizzeria with gun in hand trying to free the victims of some fantasy trafficking ring.

+1 Prince Albert

Personally among the dumber conspiracy theories, my favorite cretin spotter is chem trails. Condensation is pretty simple science.

Cuz a certain man running for president tells them too.

Because reality is complicated and confusing.

Lack of education? Our ancestors believed all sorts of nonsense because they did not have science or bespoke news-gathering organisations to present the facts.

In the modern Dark Age we live in, any ill-informed yob can invent some fairy-tale and gain a following of people who can barely read.

They don't need to read if they can see the selfie a smiling Bigfoot took (after ripping the arm off the smartphone's owner*.) . A picture is worth a thousand words, so they say… ;-)

* "Let the Wookie win" ;-)

Ha!….

Armand

To learn you have to see a pattern, if I do this that happens so the human mind evolved to see patterns. Sadly it can get overeager and see patterns where there aren't any because it is more comforting to think I understand than to say 'I don't know'. Thus you get religions and conspiracy theories. If you didn't the brighter among us would be busy discovering fire and the rest would be scratching their arses so it's a necessary trade off [probably].

Often plain human stupidity/laziness can explain many events that otherwise require a complex logical theory to make rational sense.

I think a big reason why some people believe in conspiracy theories is because it gives them a sense of control over something in their lives, where they have little overall control. It gives them a sense of privileged information: they know something that everyone else dismisses, is unaware of, or doesn't care about (usually to their own disaster). It allows them to make sense in a world where, perhaps their own fortunes are decreasing. It also means that they can seek a way to avoid responsibility for their situation by blaming it on someone else, who is DETERMINED to bring them down (FREX, someone that is chronically underemployed or unemployed can blame a worldwide conspiracy -- the NWO -- on the fact that he did not seek further education, learn new skills, etc).

Yes, I agree that education plays a part in this, as does intelligence. If you know about the psychological phenomenon called the Kruger-Dunning effect, I think it becomes more apparent -- the less intelligence & education a person has, the fewer meta-cognitive tools they have to analyze their own behavior & that of society. So they become supremely convinced of the TRVTH, whereas someone with more education might be a bit more skeptical, or recognize there is "more to it."

Damon.

Most conspiracy believers seem to feel they have superior knowledge and insight into their subject matter. I'm not sure what that says about all the folks here saying that non-believers like themselves are better educated and more knowledgeable than the conspiracy believers.

I'll need to kick this around next time Bigfoot takes me for a ride in his black helicopter at Area 51.

Ha!…

Armand

I believe that when there are lies about the truth or lack of information given about an event, then some people try to create the missing information. In some rare cases, they do find the truth, but in most cases these wild guesses are just that. As someone who lives just outside of Baltimore, you wouldn't believe the stories that I have heard this past week as to why the ship collided into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Absolute crazy ideas. But when the authorities don't provide information – nature loves a vacuum.