Reasoning and logic in the conspiracy theorism

[Estro Felino]

I have already analyzed the psychological implications of conspiracy denial in this thread.
Conspiracy deniers

We all know the tendency, nowadays to belittle all those people (and I am speaking of scientists, jurists) who propose an alternative truth in respect to the mainstream narrative.
It deals with people who want to investigate because they are not satisfied with the official or mainstream narrative. That is what all procurators do: they investigate.

But why are some people bothered by people's conspiracy theories? I give you guys an example.
I do not believe in aliens. I have never seen one, so I believe in our immense universe ETs do not exist. There are tens of conspiracy theories that say that the US government is covering up the truth, that is UFOs and ETs evidence in Area51 or something like that.
I could not care less about these theories, and I will not judge or condemn people who believe in them (and trust me, they are many).

Then...why when it deals with other conspiracy theories, there is a war waged on those who propose them?

 

[Estro Felino]

I would like to give you guys an example.

If the CEO of a multinational firm is conspiring against another multinational firm: a procurator investigates this CEO.
The CEO goes wild accusing the procurator to be a paranoid who sees conspiracies everywhere.

That is the point: aren't those who set up conspiracies interested in covering them up, and dissing and gagging all the people who try to bring them up?
This is pure logic.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

I have already analyzed the psychological implications of conspiracy denial in this thread.
Conspiracy deniers

We all know the tendency, nowadays to belittle all those people (and I am speaking of scientists, jurists) who propose an alternative truth in respect to the mainstream narrative.
It deals with people who want to investigate because they are not satisfied with the official or mainstream narrative. That is what all procurators do: they investigate.

But why are some people bothered by people's conspiracy theories? I give you guys an example.
I do not believe in aliens. I have never seen one, so I believe in our immense universe ETs do not exist. There are tens of conspiracy theories that say that the US government is covering up the truth, that is UFOs and ETs evidence in Area51 or something like that.
I could not care less about these theories, and I will not judge or condemn people who believe in them (and trust me, they are many).

Then...why when it deals with other conspiracy theorists, there is a war waged on those who propose them?

Well, have you are on the wrong forum for this. Go to International skeptics forum. They will explain a thing or 2.
But in general conspiracy theories don't take seriously other explanations.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

I would like to give you guys an example.

If the CEO of a multinational firm is conspiring against another multinational firm: a procurator investigates this CEO.
The CEO goes wild accusing the procurator to be a paranoid who sees conspiracies everywhere.

That is the point: aren't those who set up conspiracies interested in covering them up, and dissing and gagging all the people who try to bring them up?
This is pure logic.

Well, yes. Therefore all conspiracy theories are true.

 

[Estro Felino]

Well, yes. Therefore all conspiracy theories are true.

No...they are not.
They might be probable or reliable according to the amount of evidence
But some deny them a priori .

 

[Orbit]

QANON has led to people being killed. Conspiracy theories can matter, and they can be very harmful.

 

[Estro Felino]

QANON has led to people being killed. Conspiracy theories can matter, and they can be very harmful.

It depends on people's sanity in that case.
There are scientists, lawyers, who are called conspiracy theorists.

 

[Orbit]

It depends on people's sanity in that case.
There are scientists, lawyers, who are called conspiracy theorists.

Being a scientist or a lawyer doesn't make you rational across the board.

 

[Estro Felino]

Being a scientist or a lawyer doesn't make you rational across the board.

My point is: why are some people bothered by these theories?
I could not care less if there are flat-earthers out there. Their presence does not affect my life.

 

[ChristineM]

My point is: why are some people bothered by these theories?
I could not care less if there are flat-earthers out there. Their presence does not affect my life.

Some conspiracy theories are benign some are outright dangerous.

Some require to be faced with humour while others with sadness and concern.

Take them as they come and treat them as they deserve

 

[Semmelweis Reflex]

Just a thought . . . it may challenge their worldview. I don't think that anyone would deny that the world works by secret plans by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. Whether the elite, governments, or corporations. Okay, that is the Oxford dictionary definition of conspiracy. The trouble is, people can and often do, take that to extreme possibilities.

What I have always found fascinating is when people who claim to be science minded completely abandon science in order to conclude that conspiracy is theory. For example, in the case of the Holocaust, 911, or Plandemic. All of those narratives are counter to scientific knowledge but science minded people will contest the science rather than the common narrative. That's groupthink.

 

[Semmelweis Reflex]

QANON has led to people being killed. Conspiracy theories can matter, and they can be very harmful.

The same can be said of love, Democracy, freedom, etc.

 

[Estro Felino]

Just a thought . . . it may challenge their worldview. I don't think that anyone would deny that the world works by secret plans by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. Whether the elite, governments, or corporations.

That's the point. The élites, the government and corporations will never admit they are setting up (or they set up) a conspiracy, behind people's back

They will do anything to silence the people who bring up the question.

But for some people this suffices to prove that these are just theories...and they deny a priori they might be real.

 

[74x12]

I have already analyzed the psychological implications of conspiracy denial in this thread.
Conspiracy deniers

We all know the tendency, nowadays to belittle all those people (and I am speaking of scientists, jurists) who propose an alternative truth in respect to the mainstream narrative.
It deals with people who want to investigate because they are not satisfied with the official or mainstream narrative. That is what all procurators do: they investigate.

But why are some people bothered by people's conspiracy theories? I give you guys an example.
I do not believe in aliens. I have never seen one, so I believe in our immense universe ETs do not exist. There are tens of conspiracy theories that say that the US government is covering up the truth, that is UFOs and ETs evidence in Area51 or something like that.
I could not care less about these theories, and I will not judge or condemn people who believe in them (and trust me, they are many).

Then...why when it deals with other conspiracy theories, there is a war waged on those who propose them?

People have been preconditioned to respond in certain ways to triggers. Once you're outside of the system; you can sit back and watch people respond to various topics in highly predictable ways. Because they're all on the same wavelength so to speak.

 

[MikeF]

Just a thought . . . it may challenge their worldview. I don't think that anyone would deny that the world works by secret plans by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. Whether the elite, governments, or corporations. Okay, that is the Oxford dictionary definition of conspiracy. The trouble is, people can and often do, take that to extreme possibilities.

What I have always found fascinating is when people who claim to be science minded completely abandon science in order to conclude that conspiracy is theory. For example, in the case of the Holocaust, 911, or Plandemic. All of those narratives are counter to scientific knowledge but science minded people will contest the science rather than the common narrative. That's groupthink.

Just to be clear, are you saying that the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi's during WWII, the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Center, and the current Covid Pandemic are all fake and contrary to scientific fact?

Or are you saying conspiracy theories that deny those events are counter to scientific fact.

Thanks.

 

[Semmelweis Reflex]

That's the point. The élites, the government and corporations will never admit they are setting up (or they set up) a conspiracy, behind people's back

They will do anything to silence the people who bring up the question.

But for some people this suffices to prove that these are just theories...and they deny a priori they might be real.

Well, for the most part, yes, but a tactic sometimes employed is to do the opposite. They have been found to produce documentaries even, with actors, who bring up the questions. They do that to muddy the waters, to make it look like a conspiracy theory so people will more likely view it as such.

 

[Semmelweis Reflex]

Just to be clear, are you saying that the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi's during WWII, the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Center, and the current Covid Pandemic are all fake and contrary to scientific fact?

Or are you saying conspiracy theories that deny those events are counter to scientific fact.

I'm not saying either of those things. I'm saying that elements of those events aren't scientifically possible and so the commonly believed narrative on all three is scientifically impossible.

 

[Revoltingest]

My point is: why are some people bothered by these theories?
I could not care less if there are flat-earthers out there. Their presence does not affect my life.

Conspiracies cause harm.
Sometimes to others, sometimes to themselves.
A friend endures great stress cuz of his belief that
the UN plans to kill most people on Earth when they
establish the 1 world government. And that's just
one belief that afflicts him. The Marxists & Muslims
vex him too.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Well, yes. Therefore all conspiracy theories are true.

There are a fair number that do come true.

 

[Stevicus]

I have already analyzed the psychological implications of conspiracy denial in this thread.
Conspiracy deniers

We all know the tendency, nowadays to belittle all those people (and I am speaking of scientists, jurists) who propose an alternative truth in respect to the mainstream narrative.
It deals with people who want to investigate because they are not satisfied with the official or mainstream narrative. That is what all procurators do: they investigate.

But why are some people bothered by people's conspiracy theories? I give you guys an example.
I do not believe in aliens. I have never seen one, so I believe in our immense universe ETs do not exist. There are tens of conspiracy theories that say that the US government is covering up the truth, that is UFOs and ETs evidence in Area51 or something like that.
I could not care less about these theories, and I will not judge or condemn people who believe in them (and trust me, they are many).

Then...why when it deals with other conspiracy theories, there is a war waged on those who propose them?

I somewhat grew up with conspiracy theories, as they seemed more widely accepted through my teens and college years, although after Oliver Stone's movie JFK was released, I began to notice more of a backlash against that and other conspiracy theories.

I think the JFK Assassination is something like the "Mother of all conspiracy theories," but a lot of people really did take it seriously. But then there was Vietnam, the Pentagon Papers, other revelations about the US government that showed a somewhat "darker side." Then the Watergate scandal broke. Some of the mischief of the CIA and FBI also came to light, which changed people's perceptions of our government.

At least in terms of what our government did during the Cold War, I think much of it may have been a reflection of what was already evident in society. There was a strong sense of U.S. patriotism along with anti-communism all across society, along with immense fears about potential threats to America and our way of life. This is what seems to underlie much of the nefarious activity engaged in by various government agencies, particularly the NSA, CIA, FBI, and the various organs within the military. They didn't really need to "conspire" with each other, as most of them had fervent belief in the cause they were fighting for.

Nowadays, communism is not considered the same threat as it once was, so anti-communism has gone to the back burner. But the idea of America being the "leader of the free world" and the apparent inescapable responsibility to be the world's police force and arsenal of democracy continues to be the prevailing stance of our political leadership and large segments of the US population. But over the past decades, there's been more cynicism and openly challenging of these kinds of ideas, yet they still seem to have a great deal of staying power over the masses.

One beef that I do have with most conspiracy theorists is that they often get bogged down in a lot of details and pieces of evidence, as if they're trying to build a legal case about something. Yet they seem to miss the point that this is ultimately a battle of ideas and competing philosophies. There are those who believe that America should continue to be militaristic, interventionist power, and there are those who believe that we might consider toning it down a bit.

As to where all these competing ideas come from and why some segments of the population believe one or the other, that's a fascinating topic in and of itself.

Another thing to consider, at least about some conspiracy theories, is that even if a given conspiracy theory is true, would it really change anything?

A famous conspiracy theory is the Moon Landing Hoax. Let's say someone really did come up with irrefutable proof that there really was a Moon Landing Hoax. Would it matter? Would anyone care? Oh, there might be a fuss about it, but it wouldn't be enough to trigger rioting in the streets or revolution.