Hello there, my apologies as I realize this has been touched on before but I did a search and couldn't find one long thread about it.
The financial crisis seems to have brought the Bilderberg/NWO/Jewish conspiracy theorists out of the woodwork in full force and it got me thinking about the characteristics of their thinking.
What makes them tick? Why, when the real live world of news, issues -- and yes, the odd scandal -- is so much more interesting and changeable, they like to focus on mumbo jumbo.
Perhaps, somehow, it's more comforting to think someone, somewhere is in control, even if THEY are working against YOU, than to realise it is all open to unknown possibilities.
Maybe it is a little like someone realising that god does not exist and instead of becoming an atheist go on to believe in the devil instead.
Of course, just because a lot of conspiracy theorists are nutters does not mean that there are not conpiracies!
Originally Posted by dorisbonkers
No profound insights here. However, I imagine that it's a good deal easier to go a-lynching than to work out unintended consequences and devise defences against them.
The human brains natural ability is to find patterns, add to that learnt prejudices and fear of the unknown. This gives us a heady cocktail which can't help but brew up theories, it's then down to our common sense to filter them out before they try and enter rational thought. Unfortunately a lot of peoples filters are broke.
There is a link to a news article on this subject via the science section of this forum - the thread is conpiracies theories blossom and is recent
Conspiracists' inability to see the genuine (or at least plausible) conspiracies even as they work themselves into a froth over exotic conspiracies seems to be a feature of the mindset, as Alexander Cockburn shows in his witty article about 9/11, The Age of Irrationality: The 9/11 Conspiracists and the Decline of the American Left. http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn11282006.html
"There are plenty of real conspiracies in America. Why make up fake ones?" he asks. Perhaps a "theological motor" drives conspiracism, a thirst for order born of a sense of political impotence and uncertainty, thinks Cockburn.
Conspiracists focus on "mumbo jumbo" instead of the interesting and changeable real world because the grand narratives they have constructed for themselves are more interesting. The recent economic events are too momentous to be accidental or the result of quotidian vices like greed and neglect. And if the evidence can't be fitted into the grand narrative then the narrative will be altered to accommodate it.
Thanks for the links and yes, what you say makes sense.
I also think that not a little arrogance is involved because the conspiracist thinks he (are they mostly male, I wonder) is party to a secret that the pedestrian-minded plebs aren't.
They call them 'sheeple', don't they.
Based on the people I know, I think the proportion of males and females is about even, and in general, if someone believes one conspiracy theory they believe them all. However, the ones about which people make most fuss seem to divide along gender lines ... Moon landing and 9/11 are more likely to be male, Big Pharma and water contamination are more likely to be female. Technology, like mobile phones and Wifi, seems to be a female concern even though the positive aspects of technology are usually male interests - something that women think men are foisting upon them, perhaps?
All based on a totally statistically insignificant sample of people I've met, of course.
(Edit: Actually, come to think of it, I think in my experience women are rather more prone to conspiracy theories than men. Maybe that's not true of younger folks, though. I think men tend to develop a rational approach to life as they get older, whereas women get more suspicious. A major exception seems to be men who suffer some sort of brain damage in illness or injury - however minor - and these can often change from hard-nosed scientists to believers in every sort of woo available.)
Last edited by Trinoc; 13th October 2008 at 08:56 AM.
That's definitely an important part of it. Also the need to have understanding and control of our lives. The belief that you know what's "really going on" is a comfort to someone in a low-paid boring job with no social life.
If you ever get talking to one of the "believe every conspiracy" nutters, try them out on "US Govt have back-engineered UFOs" plus "US have never been to the moon". I've found, from attending UnConvention and other Fortean/Loony events, that many of them believe that the US have working flying saucers and are conspiring with aliens while also believing that no human has ever walked on the moon. They're often quite confused to have to compare and contrast the two ideas, as they've never thought about them at the same time before.
This made me laugh - I love inconsistancies, perhaps the US staged the moon landings so they had something to show off to their alien friends.many of them believe that the US have working flying saucers and are conspiring with aliens while also believing that no human has ever walked on the moon.
More like we haven't got our space flight licence yet, so we can pooter about in our own back yard but any further and the space cops haul our butt into jail. What did you think all those flashing lights in the sky were. It's space cops I tell ya! Handing out tickets to all those intergalactic joyriders who use the earth like an illegal dirt biking course. How else do you explain all those erratic manouvers caught on video, it all makes sense if you just sit and think about it.
Yes I've seen those flashing lights in the sky:
A few summers ago myself and my partner paid an evening visit to West Kennet Long Barrow. As it was a warm night there was an assorted medley of people smoking drugs and banging drums. We got talking to a couple who were about to leave to climb up Silbury Hill and smoke some more drugs.
They had seen a ufo from up there a few nights previously and were convinced that, not only was it a better spot because it radiated more vibes, but the more they smoked the more receptive to the ufos they became - undoubtedly true!
As they left they stopped at the gate as a plane, with its flashing lights, was travelling through the night sky above us and we over heard a long discussion on whether this was a ufo or a plane, with them finally plumping for a ufo because of the flashing lights.
The whole encounter made my night!
That would be a headlight in the middle, a green flashing light on one side and a red flashing light on the other, I presume ...
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