Forget this disinfo. Read Robert Anton Wilson and understand. ;)
Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
11–20 of 58 posts
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#12FTA: "Kathryn Olmsted, a historian at the University of California, Davis, says that conspiracy theories wouldn’t exist in a world in which real conspiracies don’t exist. And those conspiracies — Watergate or the Iran-contra Affair — often involve manipulating and circumventing the democratic process." So the answer to the question "Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories" is "because sometimes they are true…
One thing I find interesting about many conspiracy theories is that they are effectively true, even when the conspiracy is false. Many seem to involve not a group of cohorts acting in agreement but a group of influential people with aligned interest acting independently.
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Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#13Maybe it's hard to accept that the world is what it appears to be.
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#14I just watched a North America nature show with a group of hawks who conspired to catch game. It had video of several of these big birds working in concert to flush and kill amongst thorns and bushes. Unbelievable theory: those video producers must have conspired; patching together clips to make me believe it.
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#15amount of people hurt, no, wait, killed by governments each year: millions
amount of people hurt by unscrupulous businessmen each year: millions
amount of people hurt by conspiracy theories: 0
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#16I'd like to think of myself as thinking rationality, but I think my unerring faith in Hanlon's Razor causes me to be reflexively skeptical of all conspiracies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor
You mean to be skeptical of all conspiracies to commit malicious acts as they can be better explained as a conspiracy to commit stupid acts -- unless I am interpreting your unerring faith too literally.
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#17FTA: "Kathryn Olmsted, a historian at the University of California, Davis, says that conspiracy theories wouldn’t exist in a world in which real conspiracies don’t exist. And those conspiracies — Watergate or the Iran-contra Affair — often involve manipulating and circumventing the democratic process." So the answer to the question "Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories" is "because sometimes they are true…
One thing I find interesting about many conspiracy theories is that they are effectively true, even when the conspiracy is false. Many seem to involve not a group of cohorts acting in agreement but a group of influential people with aligned interest acting independently.
"You don't need a formal conspiracy when interests converge." - George Carlin
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#18FTA: "Kathryn Olmsted, a historian at the University of California, Davis, says that conspiracy theories wouldn’t exist in a world in which real conspiracies don’t exist. And those conspiracies — Watergate or the Iran-contra Affair — often involve manipulating and circumventing the democratic process." So the answer to the question "Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories" is "because sometimes they are true…
One thing I find interesting about many conspiracy theories is that they are effectively true, even when the conspiracy is false. Many seem to involve not a group of cohorts acting in agreement but a group of influential people with aligned interest acting independently.
That's exactly right. You don't need a conspiracy when interests align. Especially when the interested parties have a lot of power.
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#19"Confirmation bias - the tendency to pay more attention to evidence that supports what you already believe - is a well-documented and common human failing." ... Search bubbling doesn't help. "Not only does more exposure to these alternative narratives help engender belief in conspiracies, he says, but the Internet's tendency toward tribalism helps reinforce misguided beliefs." ... In other words, just read the New Yo…
Did you just try to discredit an article about conspiracy theories by alleging that the article is in fact part of another conspiracy theory? I think you just proved the article's point.
Re: Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories
#20I'd like to think of myself as thinking rationality, but I think my unerring faith in Hanlon's Razor causes me to be reflexively skeptical of all conspiracies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor
Isn't that just as bad as someone who is naively trusting of every conspiracy theory they hear?