[Golfingnut]

I become so much in wonderment about how and why a small number of us become so believing in conspiracy theories that I spent several hours researching the subject. I never buy into the government is out to get me theory, yet I have friends that believe a few and I know some folks that seem to favor really wacked out conspiracies over obvious fact. WHY???? Is it just one more form of chemical imbalance like anxiety or depression? I found many explanations, but this link seemed to explain it in the simplest terms. I am open to the possibility that ALL conspiracies are true and I am the one missing the boat.

Four reasons why people believe in conspiracy theories | SmartPlanet

[Parker]

I remember a quote in the Bible about people wanting to have their ears tickled. Pretty good quote. Folks like new and juicy news about anything and anybody.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Golfingnut

I become so much in wonderment about how and why a small number of us become so believing in conspiracy theories that I spent several hours researching the subject. I never buy into the government is out to get me theory, yet I have friends that believe a few and I know some folks that seem to favor really wacked out conspiracies over obvious fact. WHY???? Is it just one more form of chemical imbalance like anxiety or depression? I found many explanations, but this link seemed to explain it in the simplest terms. I am open to the possibility that ALL conspiracies are true and I am the one missing the boat.

Four reasons why people believe in conspiracy theories | SmartPlanet

Tell this to the victims in the Penn State football cover-up as well as those involving the victims of 9/11 ( a big conspiracy involving terrorists) and the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. Real life conspiracies do occur and you find them all thoroughout US and other countries' history. They seemed to be a favorite weapon of some foreign governments of manipulating the media through staged occurrences.

I do fear too much power in the hands of a small group. History has proven again and again to watch out for what happens when someone or a group with no principles gets the reins of power.

Read OReilly's Killing Lincoln Killing Lincoln - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia if you want to see a well argued presentation of a conspiracy. I did not buy most of it however because his evidence was not that persuasive.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Golfingnut

I become so much in wonderment about how and why a small number of us become so believing in conspiracy theories that I spent several hours researching the subject. I never buy into the government is out to get me theory, yet I have friends that believe a few and I know some folks that seem to favor really wacked out conspiracies over obvious fact. WHY???? Is it just one more form of chemical imbalance like anxiety or depression? I found many explanations, but this link seemed to explain it in the simplest terms. I am open to the possibility that ALL conspiracies are true and I am the one missing the boat.

Four reasons why people believe in conspiracy theories | SmartPlanet

Your link is very logical and well written and not at all controversial and very enlightening.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Your link is very logical and well written and not at all controverial and very enlightening.

I found it way too simplistic.

Andy Andrews book paints a different picture. Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: How Do You Kill 11 Million People?: Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think

Incidentally, I do believe there's a creature or more likely species called Bigfoot out there but that there also are people trying to take advantage of others' gullibility by making a buck off of it. Villages Daily Sun writer Gary Corsair did a very interesting 3 day article of sightings of Big Foot. I referenced them somewhere on TOTV. https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...850-post4.html

There is quite a lot of evidence that the US government has collected evidence of life from another planet and hidden it.

Some of the other major conspiracy theories look quite silly like a staged landing on the moon.

We should look at the evidence for ourselves.

[DaleMN]

I never read links presented. You can find a link for any point of view you desire.
My take on why people believe in conspiracies......ignorance.

[Golfingnut]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

I found it way too simplistic.

Andy Andrews book paints a different picture. Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: How Do You Kill 11 Million People?: Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think

Incidentally, I do believe there's a creature or more likely species called Bigfoot out there but that there also are people trying to take advantage of others' gullibility by making a buck off of it. Villages Daily Sun writer Gary Corsair did a very interesting 3 day article of sightings of Big Foot. I referenced them somewhere on TOTV. https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...850-post4.html

There is quite a lot of evidence that the US government has collected evidence of life from another planet and hidden it.

Some of the other major conspiracy theories look quite silly like a staged landing on the moon.

We should look at the evidence for ourselves.

I understand your point, but what I am talking about is the folks that have the SOMEONE IS OUT TO GET US ALL thing going on or those that believe Elvis is alive and issues like that. When it comes to the penn state pervert and those many catholic priests I am on board. Those were in fact conspiracies to cover up a crime and they finally got caught. But when it comes to the government whoever that refers to is out to get us all enslaved and turned into some kind of zombie, is a bit much to swallow. I think we are on the same page.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by DaleMN

I never read links presented. You can find a link for any point of view you desire.
My take on why people believe in conspiracies......ignorance.

Watch the movies Argo and Clint Eastwood's Changeling for true accounts of conspiracies. Argo is about a heroic conspiracy to save hostages put on partly by Hollywood and partly by the CIA. Valkyrie is another true story about a conspiracy to stop a monster who held way too much power.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Golfingnut

I understand your point, but what I am talking about is the folks that have the SOMEONE IS OUT TO GET US ALL thing going on or those that believe Elvis is alive and issues like that. When it comes to the penn state pervert and those many catholic priests I am on board. Those were in fact conspiracies to cover up a crime and they finally got caught. But when it comes to the government whoever that refers to is out to get us all enslaved and turned into some kind of zombie, is a bit much to swallow. I think we are on the same page.

I do agree that some people are way too gullible and do not take the time to actually examine the facts.

[llaran]

watch "untold history of the United states" by Oliver Stone it's on Starz now but you might be able to find it on line

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by llaran

watch "untold history of the United states" by Oliver Stone it's on Starz now but you might be able to find it on line

I always have to triple check anything done by Oliver Stone. This series does look well done, however, from what I have seen of it.

[OldDave]

I have two thoughts I'd like to mention.

First someone talked about Penn State and the Catholic church sex scandals. To me these really aren't conspiracies as such. Certainly there was conspiracy later to cover up, but they didn't start that way. They started small with powerful people doing evil things. In many cases they weren't discovered right away, and when they were the people in charge tried to make them go away. In the case of the church, transferring priests instead of getting rid of them. The case with the BBC children's star is probably the worst I've ever seen. While these aren't really the tradition conspiracy as I said, I think they are almost more frightening. They are people in a position of trust that abuse it, and do so in an ongoing manner.

As to black helicopters, big foot, UFOs, etc. I truly don't understand why such a significant part of the population believes in this stuff. I was flipping by one of the big foot shows the other day, and two guys saw something hairy and large, so they just knew it had to be big foot. Certainly if you are faced with thing that might be a bear or and animal that doesn't exist, it is logical to go with the mythical animal, eh?

I have always admired Occam's Razor. This is a philosophy that has been around for a couple of thousand years, and has been stated many ways. This one is from the 1st century AD:

"We consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible".

All of the different statements basically say if you see something that is a puzzle, the simpliest answer is the most likely. Conspiracy fans seem to go out of their way to believe the opposite.

My very favorite is the UFO. These are always mysterious lights in the night sky. Wouldn't an alien race that was trying to keep their existence a secret be smart enough to turn off their running lights while spying on us? And if they didn't want to hide, why wouldn't they send an email or just land at Sears and say hi.

My final thought is conspiracy theorists fall in with discussions of politics and religion. People believe what they believe and do not want to be bothered with facts or any arguments that don't support what they believe.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by OldDave

I have two thoughts I'd like to mention.

First someone talked about Penn State and the Catholic church sex scandals. To me these really aren't conspiracies as such. Certainly there was conspiracy later to cover up, but they didn't start that way. They started small with powerful people doing evil things. In many cases they weren't discovered right away, and when they were the people in charge tried to make them go away. In the case of the church, transferring priests instead of getting rid of them. The case with the BBC children's star is probably the worst I've ever seen. While these aren't really the tradition conspiracy as I said, I think they are almost more frightening. They are people in a position of trust that abuse it, and do so in an ongoing manner.

As to black helicopters, big foot, UFOs, etc. I truly don't understand why such a significant part of the population believes in this stuff. I was flipping by one of the big foot shows the other day, and two guys saw something hairy and large, so they just knew it had to be big foot. Certainly if you are faced with thing that might be a bear or and animal that doesn't exist, it is logical to go with the mythical animal, eh?

I have always admired Occam's Razor. This is a philosophy that has been around for a couple of thousand years, and has been stated many ways. This one is from the 1st century AD:

"We consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible".

All of the different statements basically say if you see something that is a puzzle, the simpliest answer is the most likely. Conspiracy fans seem to go out of their way to believe the opposite.

My very favorite is the UFO. These are always mysterious lights in the night sky. Wouldn't an alien race that was trying to keep their existence a secret be smart enough to turn off their running lights while spying on us? And if they didn't want to hide, why wouldn't they send an email or just land at Sears and say hi.

My final thought is conspiracy theorists fall in with discussions of politics and religion. People believe what they believe and do not want to be bothered with facts or any arguments that don't support what they believe.

This might be of interest. Check Conspiracy Theory Myth #3. Gatecreepers - Entries - > EXCLUSIVE: Debunking Myths on Conspiracy Theories [Infowarrior Resource Part 1]

[Challenger]

Originally Posted by OldDave

I have two thoughts I'd like to mention.

First someone talked about Penn State and the Catholic church sex scandals. To me these really aren't conspiracies as such. Certainly there was conspiracy later to cover up, but they didn't start that way. They started small with powerful people doing evil things. In many cases they weren't discovered right away, and when they were the people in charge tried to make them go away. In the case of the church, transferring priests instead of getting rid of them. The case with the BBC children's star is probably the worst I've ever seen. While these aren't really the tradition conspiracy as I said, I think they are almost more frightening. They are people in a position of trust that abuse it, and do so in an ongoing manner.

As to black helicopters, big foot, UFOs, etc. I truly don't understand why such a significant part of the population believes in this stuff. I was flipping by one of the big foot shows the other day, and two guys saw something hairy and large, so they just knew it had to be big foot. Certainly if you are faced with thing that might be a bear or and animal that doesn't exist, it is logical to go with the mythical animal, eh?

I have always admired Occam's Razor. This is a philosophy that has been around for a couple of thousand years, and has been stated many ways. This one is from the 1st century AD:

"We consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible".

All of the different statements basically say if you see something that is a puzzle, the simpliest answer is the most likely. Conspiracy fans seem to go out of their way to believe the opposite.

My very favorite is the UFO. These are always mysterious lights in the night sky. Wouldn't an alien race that was trying to keep their existence a secret be smart enough to turn off their running lights while spying on us? And if they didn't want to hide, why wouldn't they send an email or just land at Sears and say hi.

My final thought is conspiracy theorists fall in with discussions of politics and religion. People believe what they believe and do not want to be bothered with facts or any arguments that don't support what they believe.

Wish I had said that

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by OldDave

I have two thoughts I'd like to mention.

First someone talked about Penn State and the Catholic church sex scandals. To me these really aren't conspiracies as such. Certainly there was conspiracy later to cover up, but they didn't start that way. They started small with powerful people doing evil things. In many cases they weren't discovered right away, and when they were the people in charge tried to make them go away. In the case of the church, transferring priests instead of getting rid of them. The case with the BBC children's star is probably the worst I've ever seen. While these aren't really the tradition conspiracy as I said, I think they are almost more frightening. They are people in a position of trust that abuse it, and do so in an ongoing manner.

As to black helicopters, big foot, UFOs, etc. I truly don't understand why such a significant part of the population believes in this stuff. I was flipping by one of the big foot shows the other day, and two guys saw something hairy and large, so they just knew it had to be big foot. Certainly if you are faced with thing that might be a bear or and animal that doesn't exist, it is logical to go with the mythical animal, eh?

I have always admired Occam's Razor. This is a philosophy that has been around for a couple of thousand years, and has been stated many ways. This one is from the 1st century AD:

"We consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible".

All of the different statements basically say if you see something that is a puzzle, the simpliest answer is the most likely. Conspiracy fans seem to go out of their way to believe the opposite.

My very favorite is the UFO. These are always mysterious lights in the night sky. Wouldn't an alien race that was trying to keep their existence a secret be smart enough to turn off their running lights while spying on us? And if they didn't want to hide, why wouldn't they send an email or just land at Sears and say hi.

My final thought is conspiracy theorists fall in with discussions of politics and religion. People believe what they believe and do not want to be bothered with facts or any arguments that don't support what they believe.

Like your thinking ................