Conspiracy theorists... are they all just a bit thick?
Discussion
Conspiracy theories first crossed my path following 9/11, then it was the death of Bin Laden and more of late the whole covid-19 rubbishers etc.
Some of the supposed theories are truly laughable in my eyes and I just wondered if it's a certain type of person who believes and propagates this kind of guff?
You know, the suggestable type, the type that buys/reads the red top papers and believes what they see on Facebook - are these the typical thicky gobs
tes synonymous with conspiracy theories? Or have the chemtrails turned me into a cynic?
Some of the supposed theories are truly laughable in my eyes and I just wondered if it's a certain type of person who believes and propagates this kind of guff?
You know, the suggestable type, the type that buys/reads the red top papers and believes what they see on Facebook - are these the typical thicky gobs
tes synonymous with conspiracy theories? Or have the chemtrails turned me into a cynic?A bit of reading for many on the various COVID threads:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55350794
Must of course be dismissed because BBC, MSM!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55350794
Must of course be dismissed because BBC, MSM!
Harrison Bergeron said:
Roman Rhodes said:
A bit of reading for many on the various COVID threads:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55350794
Must of course be dismissed because BBC, MSM!
You don’t think this is a bit dodgyhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55350794
Must of course be dismissed because BBC, MSM!
bbc said:
Encourage critical thinking
People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
I’ll bet you believed the graphs that had the country at 1000 deaths a day rising to 4000 now.People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
Obvs calling people thick is a fantastic way of convincing them you’re right
The greatest conspiracy theory at the moment is the US election. There’s an outright winner but the loser is using every CT going to sow seeds of distrust in the system and results and so cast doubt. The doubt is magnified by Twitter/FB posts and anecdotal stuff and it’s led to the US being divided and the current crisis.
It’s a dangerous time there, as if Aunt Fanny ‘claims’ she saw one ballot counter leave the room for a st then ten million votes get doubted and calls for them being thrown out as there ‘must have been’ a memory drive hidden in the bog cistern.
Trump says what they want to hear and gives air time to wild CT’s, his media lap it up and find another random Aunt Fanny and the whole thing goes round in ever increasing circles.
It used to be that if someone lied and was called out that anything else they said would be regarded as a lie - but not in the US now and less so here.
IMO Social Media is to blame as it’s not fact checked and allows those with no critical thinking to believe rubbish.
It’s a dangerous time there, as if Aunt Fanny ‘claims’ she saw one ballot counter leave the room for a s
t then ten million votes get doubted and calls for them being thrown out as there ‘must have been’ a memory drive hidden in the bog cistern.Trump says what they want to hear and gives air time to wild CT’s, his media lap it up and find another random Aunt Fanny and the whole thing goes round in ever increasing circles.
It used to be that if someone lied and was called out that anything else they said would be regarded as a lie - but not in the US now and less so here.
IMO Social Media is to blame as it’s not fact checked and allows those with no critical thinking to believe rubbish.
What often surprises me with conspiracy theorists is that many are actually intelligent individuals. As said above though this is likely from having knowledge in one field and thinking it must allow them to be experts in many other areas also and perhaps find it easier to ignore the likely facts and believe the less likely conspiracy instead.
Conspiracy theorists have to be able to ignore or discredit a wealth of information from reliable sources and then get their truth (conspiracy theory) from fringe blogs and websites and YouTube often because those unreliable sites are the only ones that reflect their views (which is what they’re actually looking for)
Often when we have conspiracy theorists on here it’s telling that their sources are always obviously unreliable or they’ve taken primary source data and misrepresented it.
With a conspiracy theory, people have to really want to believe it as they have to ignore things like scientific consensus and reliable sources of information and on the other hand trust obviously unreliable sources of information, usually as it’s linked to their politics or other world view.
Obviously the more they read up about their conspiracy the more their views get reflected by internet/YouTube etc search algorithms then the conspiracy is emboldened. This also gives a feeling that more people must believe it too and creates a them Vs us mentality where ‘they’ become the government and the media and often science etc who are all in on it but conspiracy theorists and their fringe blogs have seen through it and can’t see why all the ‘sheep’ can’t also see the truth.
It’s classic brainwashing but actually done by the individuals themselves and how they reinforce their beliefs not some cult leader trying to control them.
It’s very unlikely someone with a genuinely open mind would end up on the side of the conspiracy theory long term.
Obviously not many conspiracy theorists actually think they’re conspiracy theorists because they think their conspiracy is the truth and they think conspiracy theorists are the ones beyond them like flat earthers or people who think the moon landings were fake etc
Conspiracy theorists have to be able to ignore or discredit a wealth of information from reliable sources and then get their truth (conspiracy theory) from fringe blogs and websites and YouTube often because those unreliable sites are the only ones that reflect their views (which is what they’re actually looking for)
Often when we have conspiracy theorists on here it’s telling that their sources are always obviously unreliable or they’ve taken primary source data and misrepresented it.
With a conspiracy theory, people have to really want to believe it as they have to ignore things like scientific consensus and reliable sources of information and on the other hand trust obviously unreliable sources of information, usually as it’s linked to their politics or other world view.
Obviously the more they read up about their conspiracy the more their views get reflected by internet/YouTube etc search algorithms then the conspiracy is emboldened. This also gives a feeling that more people must believe it too and creates a them Vs us mentality where ‘they’ become the government and the media and often science etc who are all in on it but conspiracy theorists and their fringe blogs have seen through it and can’t see why all the ‘sheep’ can’t also see the truth.
It’s classic brainwashing but actually done by the individuals themselves and how they reinforce their beliefs not some cult leader trying to control them.
It’s very unlikely someone with a genuinely open mind would end up on the side of the conspiracy theory long term.
Obviously not many conspiracy theorists actually think they’re conspiracy theorists because they think their conspiracy is the truth and they think conspiracy theorists are the ones beyond them like flat earthers or people who think the moon landings were fake etc
V6 Pushfit said:
My SIL is a nurse currently doing care home testing and jabs. She says most of the under 25 staff are refusing the jab because they’ve read about the microchips being injected and regards it as FACT because it’s on Twitter/FB etc.
I think it was Obama who rightly said the problem is often that there’s no baseline for facts anymore. In the old days you looked at a dictionary or encyclopaedia for information or maybe went to a library. Now people get their facts from YouTube and Facebook. The internet is full of things which are wrong but keep getting quoted and click and pasted into other people’s sites and repeated enough that they become common misconceptions.
People can find evidence online for anything at all they want to believe.
Plus the distrust of experts and authority figures and devaluing of genuine knowledge has made it even worse.
Obviously the internet is great for getting information on how to fix something or up to date facts about a variety of topics from people from a variety of backgrounds but once you make sources anonymous and democratise all that knowledge as social media and the internet often does, it’s often hard to tell who actually is an expert with reliable information and who is just blagging and talking b
ks or just wrong. If we ignored social media and only read articles by proper journalists the world would be a very different place right now.
The disinformation issue is made darker by some ‘agents’ knowingly spreading lies to further their agenda and this magnifies the issue as it adds to the delusions of those individuals already spreading the lies out of their own ignorance.
The disinformation issue is made darker by some ‘agents’ knowingly spreading lies to further their agenda and this magnifies the issue as it adds to the delusions of those individuals already spreading the lies out of their own ignorance.
GadgeS3C said:
V6 Pushfit said:
If we ignored social media and only read articles by proper journalists the world would be a very different place right now.
Unfortunately there seem to be few proper journalists left these days. The shift to online and the challenge of finding a business model that isn't click bait really seems to have killed proper journa!ism, at least in the UK.
I despair of the "be the news" and do nothing but create "gotcha" moments that seems to pass for journalism these days. I
Maybe I'm just old and grumpy!
horpe has as much chance as Kate Adie when it comes to reaching an audience online and regulating the audience to believe one and not the other is impossible.Teddy Lop said:
A few people who challenge the status quo are as important to a healthy society as a mass willing to more or less do as they're told and pull in the same kind of direction. With that comes a few freaks who take it too far - but they bother me less than their counterparts at the other end, those terrified and angered by those who question authority - these are the people who lead societies into authoritarianism.
With the absence of decent leadership both extremes are increasing markedly.
It’s not a few people, it’s whole swathes of society. You can blame leadership but mainly for not countering the disinformation, that and a clearly crap education system that allows people to drift into fantasy-land without a second thought. With the absence of decent leadership both extremes are increasing markedly.
CzechItOut said:
V6 Pushfit said:
It’s not a few people, it’s whole swathes of society. You can blame leadership but mainly for not countering the disinformation, that and a clearly crap education system that allows people to drift into fantasy-land without a second thought.
Do you think Epstein killed himself?CzechItOut said:
V6 Pushfit said:
No opinion either way as I’m not particularly interested, he was an irrelevant sideshow. However OH has sat next to PA more than once snd thinks he’s a pompous ignoramus so it would have been interesting if he was properly subpoenaed.
In what way do you think Epstein was an irrelevant sideshow?CzechItOut said:
V6 Pushfit said:
In the way that he was a sideshow and not relevant.
How is he a slideshow and not relevant?There is a belief that powerful elites are engaging in large scale child abuse and Epstein was connected to everyone from Donald Trump to Prince Andrew as well as having a conviction for "procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute".
Many feel that far from irrelevant, Epstein was the smoking gun and his arrest for sex trafficking of minors and subsequent court case would blow the whole thing open. Then he "kills himself". However, despite being on suicide watch and considered high risk there was no witnesses or CCTV of the event.
That is pretty much the dictionary definition of relevant in my book.
Too tabloid for me - there are much bigger things of interest in the US at the moment.
DBSV8 said:
the flat earth society
https://www.livescience.com/24310-flat-earth-belie...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erA3WQE9Zes&t=...
what a bunch of fruit loops .....whatever they are on i want some
I think they’re mainly students and eccentrics trolling tbh and just enjoy winding people up. https://www.livescience.com/24310-flat-earth-belie...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erA3WQE9Zes&t=...
what a bunch of fruit loops .....whatever they are on i want some
I expect some think the earth is flat but most are just taking the piss.
I think it’s a fake conspiracy theory to take the piss out of conspiracy theorists or people that get upset about conspiracy theorists or just both.
DBSV8 said:
the flat earth society
https://www.livescience.com/24310-flat-earth-belie...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erA3WQE9Zes&t=...
what a bunch of fruit loops .....whatever they are on i want some
It used to be the thing to join for a laugh (Probably still is) and good for kudos !!!https://www.livescience.com/24310-flat-earth-belie...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erA3WQE9Zes&t=...
what a bunch of fruit loops .....whatever they are on i want some
A bit like joining the Fairthorpe Owners Club is now (smallest car club) - which I have
RDMcG said:
This must be taken straight from the PHs climate change threads. All that’s missing are links to global Marxist plots and retired people and other blaggers believing they’re right and constantly trying to rubbish the scientific community with links from YouTube and blogs. Then they get angry when you don’t watch their 2 hour YouTube video which is apparently evidence of the global conspiracy. 
The trouble is also algorithms on google and YouTube etc constantly reflecting people’s own views (on everything) and making them think they’re in the know and everyone else is wrong.
Bill said:
Or, and I know this is a bit far out, there isn't a story as she's absolutely fine.
There's not much of a headline in "Nurse going to work as normal"...
She’ll bump into someone who says “wow you’re alive” and she’d be like “I didn’t know anyone thought I was dead” There's not much of a headline in "Nurse going to work as normal"...
Still though it’s unlikely she hasn’t heard she’s dead with social media being what it is, if it was me I’d probably rise from the ashes or appear like Lazarus with great fanfare.
Maybe she’s hanging out for a media deal or something.
Shuvi McTupya said:
While we are on the subject of conspiracies...
I know there is thread going on about this in NP + E But I cant post there as my opinions don't always follow the legacy media narrative
Can anyone here offer any explanation as to what the little smoke 'plume' might have been before the big explosion?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6aM7WHm-NA&fb...
I know people will ask what I think it might have been...
Cards on the table, if the video is real, the only thing i think it COULD be was something coming from the sky...but it doesnt really look like that, so I am stumped.
The way the smoke plume vanishes does look like it was faked to me, it looks like it was just 'rubbed out' ..but this is a conspiracy thread.
anyone?
The flash and dust of an explosion which happens before the cloud.I know there is thread going on about this in NP + E But I cant post there as my opinions don't always follow the legacy media narrative
Can anyone here offer any explanation as to what the little smoke 'plume' might have been before the big explosion?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6aM7WHm-NA&fb...
I know people will ask what I think it might have been...
Cards on the table, if the video is real, the only thing i think it COULD be was something coming from the sky...but it doesnt really look like that, so I am stumped.
The way the smoke plume vanishes does look like it was faked to me, it looks like it was just 'rubbed out' ..but this is a conspiracy thread.
anyone?
Edited by Shuvi McTupya on Tuesday 29th December 04:24
I just don’t get why people get excited about this kind of stuff.
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