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The psychology of Conspiracy theories (Read 1271 times)
The_Barnacle
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The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Sep 15th, 2018 at 11:49am
 
It seems that every family has an Uncle Joe—the guy who goes on and on about conspiracy theories at the holiday dinner table. The 9/11 attack was orchestrated by the government. The moon landing was filmed in Hollywood. Oswald did not act alone in the Kennedy assassination. And don’t get me started on global warming. Record low temperatures this Christmas, and you expect me to believe the world is actually getting warmer? Give me a break.

Maybe we should give Uncle Joe a break, or at least try to understand where he’s coming from. Why do some people believe in conspiracy theories anyway? This is exactly the question posed by British psychologist Karen Douglas and her colleagues in a recent article in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.

The researchers found that reasons for believing in conspiracy theories can be grouped into three categories:

    The desire for understanding and certainty
    The desire for control and security
    The desire to maintain a positive self-image

Research shows that people who feel socially marginalized are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. We all have a desire to maintain a positive self-image, which usually comes from the roles we play in life—our jobs and our relationships with family and friends. When we know we make a positive difference in the lives of others—as parent, spouse, friend, teacher or mentor—we see our own lives as worthwhile, and we feel good about ourselves.

But say Uncle Joe is on disability and hasn’t worked in years. He feels socially excluded. However, he does have plenty of time to surf the internet for information about conspiracy theories, and he can chat online with others who hold similar beliefs. Thus, belief in conspiracy theories gives Uncle Joe a sense of community.

Furthermore, his research into conspiracy theories has given him a sense that he is the holder of privileged knowledge. Most people who believe global warming is real or that vaccines are safe don’t do so because they understand the science. Rather, they trust the experts. And so, when Uncle Joe starts trotting out all the “evidence” against global warming, it can be difficult to make a reasonable counterargument. All you’ve got is the feeling that the conspiracy theory seems too complicated to be true, but from Uncle Joe’s perspective, it’s clear he knows more about the subject than you do.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/talking-apes/201801/why-do-people-believ...
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The_Barnacle
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Re: The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Reply #1 - Sep 15th, 2018 at 11:53am
 
According to University of Chicago political science professors Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood, in any given year roughly half of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy theory. Their 2014 study found that 19% of Americans believed the U.S. government planned the 9/11 attacks to start a war in the Middle East, 24% believed former president Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and 25% believed Wall Street bankers conspired to cause the financial crisis that began in 2008. Those are high numbers considering there is zero evidence to support any of those theories.

And a whopping 61% said they do not believe the official conclusion of the Warren Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy, according to a 2013 Gallup poll. The number has not dropped below 50% since Gallup began polling on the subject just after the 1963 tragedy.

President Trump himself has expressed a belief in at least two of the above conspiracies at one time or another. He was the most vocal proponent of the baseless claim that Obama was not born in America, and during the 2016 Republican primary campaign, Trump implied Sen. Ted Cruz's father was connected to Oswald and the Kennedy killing. Trump has also said climate change is a Chinese-manufactured hoax meant to hurt U.S. industry. His characterization of Russian election meddling as a "made-up story" designed to discredit his election victory was deemed 2017's lie of the year by fact-checker Politifact last week.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/12/23/conspiracy-theory-psycholo...
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PZ547
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Re: The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Reply #2 - Sep 15th, 2018 at 12:07pm
 
How can you buy this, OP
let alone post it
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All my comments, posts & opinions are to be regarded as satire & humour
 
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PZ547
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Re: The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Reply #3 - Sep 15th, 2018 at 12:30pm
 
LINK

12 Crazy Conspiracy Theories That Actually Turned Out to Be True


[quote]Laughing at conspiracy theories is good fun—at least until they turn out to be true. Take the conspiracy surrounding the “Project Sunshine,” for example. In the wake of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the U.S. government commenced a major study to measure the effects of nuclear fallout on the human body.

Conspiracy: The government was stealing dead bodies to do radioactive testing.

The truth: The government was stealing parts of dead bodies. Because they needed young tissue, they recruited a worldwide network of agents to find recently deceased babies and children, and then take samples and even limbs—each collected without notification or permission of the more than 1,500 grieving families.


Conspiracy: A stroke rendered President Woodrow Wilson incapable of governing, and his wife surreptitiously stepped in.

The truth: Wilson did suffer a debilitating stroke towards the end of his presidency—but the government felt it was in the country’s best interest to keep things quiet. The public didn’t learn about the stroke for months, during which time his wife, Edith Wilson, was making most executive decisions


LINK[/url}Above link to 7 more conspiracy theories which came true, some complete with documents


[url=https://www.good.is/articles/six-conspiracy-theories-that-are-true][b]LINK


Above link to 6 more 'insane' conspiracy theories which came true


LINK

Above links to 10 minute YouTube vid of conspiracy theories which came true

LINK
MORE


Simpsons predictions which came true
LINK


and so forth


as the OP is fully aware

because parts of his opening spiel are lifted directly from one of the sites which set out in full that countless supposed 'conspiracy theories' were based in fact and have been proven accurate[/b]

the links all work far as I can see
just messed up
who knows why
too lazy to mess around fixing it
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Sir Spot of Borg
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Re: The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Reply #4 - Sep 15th, 2018 at 3:20pm
 
What makes something a conspiracy theory? Apparently its when you dont believe the "authorities" but some ppl (obviously the op) believe in *some* conspiracy theories and not others.

Spot
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Whaaaaaah!
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Jasin
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Re: The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Reply #5 - Sep 16th, 2018 at 11:17pm
 
Actually.

It's the reaction of the common man against the 'secrecy' of the powers that be (C.I.A).

Now my 'conspiracy' is that the only secret the C.I.A has to hide is that they (the Yankees) are all ...GAY!

Yep - the Confederates were done as 'Rednecks' upon their domestic crime.
But the Yankees are going to find themselves 'Gay' as, in the eyes of the 'international' spot-light.

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AIMLESS EXTENTION OF KNOWLEDGE HOWEVER, WHICH IS WHAT I THINK YOU REALLY MEAN BY THE TERM 'CURIOSITY', IS MERELY INEFFICIENCY. I AM DESIGNED TO AVOID INEFFICIENCY.
 
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The_Barnacle
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Re: The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Reply #6 - Sep 18th, 2018 at 9:53pm
 
No PZ547, none of what you have posted are actually conspiracies. I'm not even sure why you included Simpson's predictions .


Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Sep 15th, 2018 at 3:20pm:
What makes something a conspiracy theory? Apparently its when you dont believe the "authorities" but some ppl people (obviously the op) believe in *some* conspiracy theories and not others.

Spot


A conspiracy theory is an explanation of an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy—generally one involving an illegal or harmful act supposedly carried out by government or other powerful actors—without credible evidence.

The key phrase is "without credible evidence". All they have are you tube clips innuendo, misinformation, psuedo science and flaws in logic. They prey on the gullible.
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Jasin
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Re: The psychology of Conspiracy theories
Reply #7 - Sep 20th, 2018 at 1:01am
 
Yes - but the whole 'conspiracy' movement is based on 'something' to exist. There is some 'seed' that sprouts the Conspiracy.

It's like that Observatory that was recently shut down by the FBI.
No-one knows why and so the 'conspiracies' are out.

So really, the entire Conspiracy movement has some sort of justification to exist. Maybe somewhere in the past, someone high up ...told a lie to try and 'deceive' the Peasants?
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AIMLESS EXTENTION OF KNOWLEDGE HOWEVER, WHICH IS WHAT I THINK YOU REALLY MEAN BY THE TERM 'CURIOSITY', IS MERELY INEFFICIENCY. I AM DESIGNED TO AVOID INEFFICIENCY.
 
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