That is the question that avoids a good answer….although many have tried….
For instance a couple of stories from just the last couple of weeks….
Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating people’s pets! The U.S. government directed Hurricane Helene to hit North Carolina to chase people off their property so the government can seize land in a secret effort to mine and control lithium! The government is taking FEMA money away from Americans hit by hurricanes and giving it to illegal immigrants! This is the worst economy in history. ALL of the aforementioned stories are outright lies with zero evidence to back them up, but yet, many Americans believe the lies to the point of condemning anyone who does not accept them, and they are promoting these lies as the truth.
Let’s not forget the ever popular, for now, the Dems are controlling the weather and directing hurricanes to punish Red States. (If this one does not make you laugh then you have a serious problem).
But why do so many latch on the these ‘theories’ and run with them?
Did NASA fake the moon landing? Is the government hiding Martians in Area 51? Is global warming a hoax? The answer to these questions is, “No,” yet a committed subculture of conspiracy theorists vigorously argues the opposite.
Many scholars dismiss conspiracy theorists as paranoid and delusional. Psychological data bolster their case: people who harbor conspiracist thoughts are also more inclined to paranoid ideation and schizotypy, a mild form of schizophrenia. As conspiracy theory expert Timothy Melley of Miami University has put it, these beliefs are often dismissed as “the implausible visions of a lunatic fringe.”
Yet these antiestablishment ideas are surprisingly widely held. According to a national poll released last April by Public Policy Polling, 37 percent of Americans believe that global warming is a hoax, 21 percent think that the U.S. government is covering up evidence of the existence of space aliens and 28 percent suspect a secret elite power is plotting to take over the world. Only hours after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, people suggested, in YouTube videos and elsewhere on the Web, that the attack might have been an inside job and even that the entire event was a hoax.
With so many people ascribing to weakly supported explanations for news events, belief in conspiracy theories cannot be a mere symptom of pathology. The questioning of officialdom is critical to a functioning democracy, as the recent revelations of the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance efforts illustrate. Yet new data suggest that conspiracy theories can diminish public engagement, eroding interest in issues of great political importance. Attaining a better understanding of why these ideas persist can help us devise new ways to combat misinformation.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories/
I will go with the delusional thing.
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
First of all, the lithium just discovered is in Arkansas, not NC. I won’t get into the pets missing because I do not have photos, but I have seen it; they were trespassing as well.
The pet thing is the same BS that was used in the 70s when Vietnamese started showing up down here….so that is just a rehash….chuq
1.The border is secure.
2. Joe has the energy and quick wit of a 30 year old.
3. the Trump economy was a huge disaster
4. Trump is going leave NATO.
5. Trump will end social security
6. Trump plays golf with Satan
7. Houston Astros are not cheaters
Okay? Are these conspiracies that you follow? chuq
Just a joke. Don’t believe any. Just examples of insanity that’s out there.
I still like the weather thing….it gets me chuckling every time I write it. chuq
Humans have survived by seeing clues/signs/facts that they put into patterns so they could find game, food, shelter and know how to find and when to seek shelter. When people are exposed to facts they do not want to accept or have difficulty reconciling new facts with prior facts they believe to be true, they have cognitive dissonance, and can come up with bizarre beliefs to reconcile those facts.
But how can anyone sane person believe the Dems control the weather? chuq
They could be legally sane, meaning they can carry out their own affairs, and know right from wrong. Lots of people are walking around going about their lives with ideas and beliefs considered crazy or insane. They may have personality disorders or mental illness but still be legally sane.
If by sane you mean having sound judgment and being free from mental disorders, I would say they were not sane.
The later applies. chuq
Drawing on the practical aspects of my courses in Psychology at University, I will offer the following proposals as to an answer to your question….
People often latch on to conspiracy theories for a variety of psychological, social, and cultural reasons: WHY DO THEY DO IT?
Please note that it has been my personal observations over the years since the Tea Party first appeared on the scene and Palin declared the existence of Red and blue States as being diametrically opposed to one another in ideology…it has been the people with the least formal education who have been the most susceptible to conspiracies. When a person with a decent amount of formal education subscribes to conspiracies, it is most often for purposes of advancing an agenda for some kind of political gain. Trump has proven to be a master at this and he is training his acolytes and robots to take this as the new “Normal.”
So basically….stupid is as stupid does. chuq
I recently saw a map of the states affected by the McColi burgers and they were red states.
Red States eat a lot of junk food. chuq
People want to believe things that suit their persecution complex, like controlling the weather. It provides a stupid, but easy answer to what bothers them and saves them thinking too hard for themselves. You can go a very long way back in history to find other examples. The Ancient Greeks were considered to be cultured and intelligent, yet they believed lightning was caused by a god in the sky throwing thunderbolts because he was in a bad mood, and that ships at sea were sunk by an undersea god who was annoyed that they were sailing on his domain.
Best wishes, Pete.
The things we humans will believe…amazing is it not? chuq