Conspiracy Theories: Why Believe?

[The Hammer]

Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

Can we inoculate the public against misinformation?

Is there more disinformation today, or is it more widely available then in the past?

 

[George-ananda]

Why believe? Because some might have various level of truth in them. You have to judge them one by one.

 

[Heyo]

Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

Because sometimes the official version of the story leaves open questions.

Can we inoculate the public against misinformation?

You'd wish - but no, we can't.

Is there more disinformation today, or is it more widely available then in the past?

There is more information today. That's why people believe fewer tall tales. Some people just didn't get the memo. And, since there is more information today, we know about them.

 

[Nakosis]

IMO. there has always existed misinformation. Now however the fact of misinformation has itself become a political tool.

Don't know if you can ever inoculate against it, just have to take everything you read/hear with a grain of salt.

 

[The Hammer]

IMO. there has always existed misinformation. Now however the fact of misinformation has itself become a political tool.

Don't know if you can ever inoculate against it, just have to take everything you read/hear with a grain of salt.

The podcast talks about this, and the researcher mentions how that de scepticism can also lead to a belief in conspiracies.

It's got to be healthy questioning.

 

[The Hammer]

Because sometimes the official version of the story leaves open questions.

You'd wish - but no, we can't.

There is more information today. That's why people believe fewer tall tales. Some people just didn't get the memo. And, since there is more information today, we know about them.

Yeah the podcast/link talks about this stuff. They say inoculation is actually possible in some instances, but it's not a catch all or fix all.

Edited

 

[Stevicus]

Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

Can we inoculate the public against misinformation?

Is there more disinformation today, or is it more widely available then in the past?

Not sure if I agree with the article's characterization of flat earth as a "conspiracy theory." If they're going to take any and all whacky ideas and lump them all into the category of "conspiracy theory," then they may not have much hope at combatting them or dealing with misinformation.

Also, the commonly used tactics of ridicule and mocking to deal with alleged conspiracy theorists should really be discarded. That's been the main problem that I can see. People who seek to debunk or persuade people to not believe in conspiracy theories should either embrace the Dale Carnegie approach or keep their mouths shut.

 

[The Hammer]

Not sure if I agree with the article's characterization of flat earth as a "conspiracy theory." If they're going to take any and all whacky ideas and lump them all into the category of "conspiracy theory," then they may not have much hope at combatting them or dealing with misinformation.

Also, the commonly used tactics of ridicule and mocking to deal with alleged conspiracy theorists should really be discarded. That's been the main problem that I can see. People who seek to debunk or persuade people to not believe in conspiracy theories should either embrace the Dale Carnegie approach or keep their mouths shut.

How would you characterize flat earth, if not as. a conspiracy? I've heard it called a conspiracy since I was in my early 20s.

 

[Revoltingest]

People I know believe them because they
fill the need to demonize an enemy. People
who fall prey to this tend be....uh....not
critical & analytical thinkers.

 

[Kooky]

Not sure if I agree with the article's characterization of flat earth as a "conspiracy theory." If they're going to take any and all whacky ideas and lump them all into the category of "conspiracy theory," then they may not have much hope at combatting them or dealing with misinformation.

Modern flat earthers literally believe in a grand scientific conspiracy that bamboozles the public into believing that the Earth is round and fakes all evidence for a round Earth. If that doesn't clear the threshold to "conspiracy theory" then I don't know what does. It's not that all wacky ideas are lumped into the cateogry by some neferious force that wants to discredit valid ideas as stupid, it's that a large number of conspiracy theories really are just crackpot nonsense and sound extremely ridiculous and absurd when spelled out to a normal person.

And you can't combat conspiracy theories because they are fundamentally not based in any kind of evidence that could be disproven or even a theory that could be debunked. They are a symptom of a kind of identity crisis or extreme emotional attachment to a particular idea, the evidence and the theories are a layered intellectual defensive perimeter erected to protect the believers' emotional investment.

 

[Stevicus]

How would you characterize flat earth, if not as. a conspiracy? I've heard it called a conspiracy since I was in my early 20s.

Whose conspiracy, though? Who are the alleged conspirators?

There are misconceptions and misinformation out there. Sometimes they're dismissed as "old wives' tales," but such does not imply an accusation of conspiracy or malfeasance. Like when people used to say the Moon is made out of green cheese. That's wrong information, but it's not a conspiracy theory.

Or when people would warn teens that masturbation causes blindness. Is that a conspiracy theory or just plain wrong information?

 

[The Hammer]

Whose conspiracy, though? Who are the alleged conspirators?

Haven't read full post, but:

The people I have talked to, that believe in "Flat Earth", claim its all a cover up by NASA and 'Scientists'. Same as the we didn't land on the moon "Conspiracy".

The reasons for the cover up are as diverse as those that believe it . The only connection is scientists want to dupe society.

 

[Stevicus]

Modern flat earthers literally believe in a grand scientific conspiracy that bamboozles the public into believing that the Earth is round and fakes all evidence for a round Earth. If that doesn't clear the threshold to "conspiracy theory" then I don't know what does. It's not that all wacky ideas are lumped into the cateogry by some neferious force that wants to discredit valid ideas as stupid, it's that a large number of conspiracy theories really are just crackpot nonsense and sound extremely ridiculous and absurd when spelled out to a normal person.

And you can't combat conspiracy theories because they are fundamentally not based in any kind of evidence that could be disproven or even a theory that could be debunked. They are a symptom of a kind of identity crisis or extreme emotional attachment to a particular idea, the evidence and the theories are a layered intellectual defensive perimeter erected to protect the believers' emotional investment.

Well, there are actual conspiracy theories which might be more of an approach to history. Such as theories related to the assassinations of Lincoln or JFK. Similar theories might point to malfeasance by the government - usually related to the military, intelligence community, or law enforcement. This often happens when the government might give their "official version" of events, oftentimes with a "take-our-word-for-it" attitude, without producing any actual, verifiable evidence for public examination (or delaying release of said evidence for years or decades - if they even release it at all, as in the case of the JFK assassination).

 

[Stevicus]

Haven't read full post, but:

The people I have talked to, that believe in "Flat Earth", claim its all a cover up by NASA and 'Scientists'. Same as the we didn't land on the moon "Conspiracy".

The reasons for the cover up are as diverse as those that believe it . The only connection is scientists want to dupe society.

I've never met anyone who truly believes the Earth to be flat. I have known more than a few conspiracy theorists, though. None of them were flat earthers, and they all believed that NASA sent astronauts to the Moon.

However, I did know a guy who thought they found something on the Moon which has been kept secret. He explained that there must be a reason why NASA suddenly stopped sending manned missions to the Moon.

 

[The Hammer]

I've never met anyone who truly believes the Earth to be flat. I have known more than a few conspiracy theorists, though. None of them were flat earthers, and they all believed that NASA sent astronauts to the Moon.

However, I did know a guy who thought they found something on the Moon which has been kept secret. He explained that there must be a reason why NASA suddenly stopped sending manned missions to the Moon.

I spent a lot of time trolling conspiracy forums as a teen, young adult.

Got to meet a lot of oddly held views. I did find the article I read interesting in that is said that people who agree with one conspiracy likely to agree with others, even if contradictory.

 

[Kooky]

I've never met anyone who truly believes the Earth to be flat.

If you're interested in finding out more about these people, I recommend Dan Olson's excellent documentary In Search Of A Flat Earth:

 

[Stevicus]

I spent a lot of time trolling conspiracy forums as a teen, young adult.

Got to meet a lot of oddly held views. I did find the article I read interesting in that is said that people who agree with one conspiracy likely to agree with others, even if contradictory.

I was a teen in the 1970s, when there was a strong anti-government, conspiratorial "vibe" that I could sense, particularly in the post-Vietnam/Watergate period when there was widespread mistrust of government and its institutions. It just seemed to be the natural thing for citizens to question and criticize the government - along with questioning their motives and trying to come up with some plausible explanation for the things our government does, from 1776 to the present day. Everything had come under scrutiny and was being openly challenged, including stories of "how the west was won."

It was in that kind of atmosphere growing up that I heard a lot of conspiracy theories - although nothing about flat earth. Some were more related to strange theories without necessarily implying conspiracies, such as theories that aliens visited Earth at some point in the past, theories about the Bermuda Triangle (which I haven't heard about in years), the lost continent of Atlantis, Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, etc. These were strange beliefs, but they challenged the conventional wisdom at the time, so they may have gotten some attention for a while.

 

[rational experiences]

Why do humans believe in human thought human applied by human choice conspiracy theories.

Is the answer. Because humans chose to behave against human beings health safety and natural equal conditions.

Is witnessed not just believed.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

Can we inoculate the public against misinformation?

Is there more disinformation today, or is it more widely available then in the past?

Sorry - I'm not super-interested in listening to a long podcast.

That being said, I've heard other sources describe how belief in conspiracy theories often comes down to a feeling of lack of control:

The idea of random misfortune can be scary... especial the idea that there's not much we can do about it. Conspiracy theories offer a way out.

Even if the conspiracy theory suggests that the world is ruled by malevolent powers, in most conspiracy theories, those powers are rational in their own way, and someone who understands enough about those powers can tease out the logic by which they work. Someone who can do this - who can understand the malevolent forces behind seemingly random misfortune - can use this understanding to avoid misfortune.

... so conspiracy theories can address a real human need. They address it in an unhealthy, toxic way, but the underlying need is real (and probably reasonable).

 

[The Hammer]

Sorry - I'm not super-interested in listening to a long podcast.

Neither was I, I read the transcript lol. I should have mentioned there was a transcript.

But you pretty much summed up her research fairly succinctly.