Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories

[groovedaddy]

In the days following the bombings at the Boston Marathon, speculation online regarding the identity and motive of the unknown perpetrator or perpetrators was rampant. And once the Tsarnaev brothers were identified and the manhunt came to a close, the speculation didn’t cease. It took a new form. A sampling: Maybe the brothers Tsarnaev were just patsies, fall guys set up to take the heat for a mysterious Saudi with high-level connections; or maybe they were innocent, but instead of the Saudis, the actual bomber had acted on behalf of a rogue branch of our own government; or what if the Tsarnaevs were behind the attacks, but were secretly working for a larger organization?

Crazy as these theories are, those propagating them are not — they’re quite normal, in fact. But recent scientific research tells us this much: if you think one of the theories above is plausible, you probably feel the same way about the others, even though they contradict one another. And it’s very likely that this isn’t the only news story that makes you feel as if shadowy forces are behind major world events.

“The best predictor of belief in a conspiracy theory is belief in other conspiracy theories,” says Viren Swami, a psychology professor who studies conspiracy belief at the University of Westminster in England. Psychologists say that’s because a conspiracy theory isn’t so much a response to a single event as it is an expression of an overarching worldview.

As Richard Hofstadter wrote in his seminal 1965 book, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” conspiracy theories, especially those involving meddlesome foreigners, are a favorite pastime in this nation. Americans have always had the sneaking suspicion that somebody was out to get us — be it Freemasons, Catholics or communists. But in recent years, it seems as if every tragedy comes with a round of yarn-spinning, as the Web fills with stories about “false flag” attacks and “crisis actors” — not mere theorizing but arguments for the existence of a completely alternate version of reality.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/magazine/why-rational-people-buy-into-conspiracy-theories.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

[Drale]

1. I always figured it was because

people want to be in on something that is not public knowledge. Like a "I know who really killed JFK and it wasn't who you think". king of thing.

[CJCRANE]

2. What if my theory is that

they were just f***ed up losers who latched onto a convenient cause to justify their sociapathy?

Is that still a crazy conspiracy theory?

A theory is just a theory, it can be good or bad, plausible or ridiculous.

[Politicalboi]

3. Until we have thorough investigations

This shit will ALWAYS happen.

<a href="http://imgur.com/i0mBqyb"><img src="" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>


I know what I see in that picture. I know that a plane should of had resistance. I know the NIST animation of the collapse still had the center beams intact while the building fell around them, even though that is NOT how it happened.

[Addison]

5. I don't know what I see in that picture

What "should" I be seeing?

[Politicalboi]

7. I see a missile

I know they found "plane" debris, but in ALL debris pictures there is not ONE seat in any picture. 4 planes should have been around 800 seats. Manhattan should of had some seats in the streets. Seats are light and should have blown about. And a plane isn't made of heavy material for a full penetration into the steel mesh net the WTC was surrounded by. The plane should have at least fell apart outside the building, or a wing would have bounced off. This was too clean. Believe me, I don't like being at this end of a conspiracy theory. I would much rather laugh at them like I laugh at the Boston Marathon conspiracy.

I sees what I sees. I can't help it. And I don't see seats anywhere. Not on the Pentagon lawn, not scattered about in Shanksville, and not raining down on Manhattan. Occupied or empty. And after watching the video where I got that photo, I can NEVER go back to planes. I'm on the road to no return. LOL! I can laugh at myself. I know what I said here sounds crazy as all hell. I never thought I would one day be a "No Planer"

[Addison]

8. I'm open-minded

but I don't see a missile. Where in the picture?

And if no planes, how to explain all the pictures and video of planes? How to explain all the people who never came back from their flight, who called from cellphones to see they were hijacked?

[Politicalboi]

11. I know, and I don't have all the answers

But if they were willing to collapse the building on people, killing passengers would be no problem. And the cell phone calls are questionable as to the technology of phones and towers in 2001. It was hard to drive and talk on the ground, so flying at such speeds over areas with no towers would be hard to have a conversation. And we were told the "terrorist" flew out of Boston because box cutters were permitted on planes there. If these "terrorist" were planning this for years like we were told, why not go with martial arts to take over a plane. All you would have to do is break one neck, and you would have their attention. So all the planning for 9/11 and they choose to fly over military bases instead of taking a flight out of NY where the towers were visible from the runway.

All they would have to do is take off, take over the plane, and be back in NY in 20 minutes. But these smart "terrorist" decided to fly over military bases. No one talks about the 2 planes that landed in Ohio that they thought had a bomb on it. They evacuated the airport, and 2 planes landed. One had over 200 people on board, the other only have full. The one with 200 passengers went to the NASA part of the airport and the other was on the runway getting checked out, If you add all the doomed passengers together, you get a full plane. That was from Loose Change. The calls we heard could have been fake.

Then we have the Pentagon that had 40 minutes between the last tower struck and them getting attacked. Why weren't they on alert? Why didn't WE get an explanation from The Dick Cheney? Why can't the Pentagon give us a "clear" video? Why did the Pentagon grab all other videos around the Pentagon? Why was Rumsfailed out helping victims instead of doing his job? Why did news reporters say when they first arrived at the Pentagon that there was no evidence of a plane crash? And why didn't the FAA reconstruct ANY plane involved in 9/11? The plane evaporates, but yet they collect human DNA. Not just human DNA, but ALL of it. It's laughable to me.

[Addison]

12. But as nasty and batshit crazy

as Rummy, Cheney, et al. may have been, why in the world would they orchestrate something like this?

There would have been a lot easier ways to gin up a war with Iraq.

I don't doubt there are a lot of lies being told about 911, but they most likely involve covering up big flaws in our security and intelligence so that certain people don't look like they dropped the ball big time.

In other words, it probably 100% true that 911 was planned and executed by terrorists, but it's probably equally true that our government could have thwarted the attack it if they had tried a little harder.

[Politicalboi]

13. It wasn't just for Iraq

It was to get power. After 9/11 people were scared, and some didn't mind losing some of their freedoms to be safe. Oh then there's the 2.3 Trillion dollars that the Pentagon "misplaced". And oh shit, to track that money would now be impossible, because those files were in the part of the Pentagon that got attacked. Same with WTC 7. All the Enron, World Bank, evidence was gone in that building. I just find it hard to believe these were all coincidences.

I know our government isn't perfect, but for the Pentagon to be attacked after ALL the billions we spend on DEFENSE they get hit. I also find that hard to believe. And with 40 minutes warning to boot. They didn't protect the White House or any other building in DC it appears, not even themselves. They cry and scream Benghazi!, but this shit needs more investigations and questions answered. We were bamboozled.

And they ALWAYS used fear with their color code threat levels. 9/11 wasn't just for Iraq, it was for US.

[Addison]

14. Far-fetched

There are far easier ways to accomplish the same goals.

Money always goes missing at the Pentagon; banks and corps always shred evidence.

Those guys are far too proud to use their own turf as a fake target. The fact that the Pentagon was hit tells me it was a real attack.

But I totally agree that more investigations are needed and there are some shockers that have been kept well hidden.

[Marrah_G]

16. I have to ask

If there were no seats, what happened to the passengers? If there were no planes, what happened to the passengers?

[ladjf]

4. It's a dangerous practice to rule out every "conspiracy theory" as being erroneous.

History has shown us that from time to time that some conspiracy theories are true.

[Zen Democrat]

6. Because conspiracies exist and most are never uncovered or suspected.

And if you think "Oswald Acted Alone" you either weren't around in 1963, or you don't understand a 50-year media black-out on the facts. The media will tell you all about conspiracy theories that are crazy, but they wouldn't touch the truth with a 10-foot pole. There are three actual conspiracies hanging over American history ... the murders of JFK, MLK and RFK. Even Martin Luther King's family, including Coretta, believed Martin was killed by someone other than James Ray. Members of the Kennedy family are beginning to speak up, too. RFK, according to the medical examiner, Thomas Nuguchi, was killed by a single shot at point blank range behind the right ear. Sirhan fired, but he was at all times in front of Bobby, and served as a diversion to the real killer standing closely behind RFK.

You even have the shooting of George Wallace in which the Nixon tapes have confirmed that Tricky Dick asked the dirty trixters he employed to go to Arthur Bremer's apt. and plant McGovern campaign material.

But, when you get into this FDR was behind Pearl Harbor, we didn't really land on the moon, Bush ordered 9/11, and Obama is head of global Al Qaeda, well then you've been listening to the likes of Alex Jones, et al, and it's time to get a brain.

[Politicalboi]

9. They never checked the gun

Of the security guard behind RFK. And JFK didn't have his Secret Service guys on his car. But talk like that is crazy. And why do a thorough investigation. Why not question the SS guys and ask them why they got their stand down order at the last minute for JFK's limo.

[tech3149]

10. I never discount conspiracy theories on there face

There are too many incidents in history where the official story of events is proven wrong decades later. Those in positions of power and influence have everything to gain by directing the perception of an incident to deflect blame and hide culpability.
As a species, we have the unfortunate problem of trying to fill in the blanks of incomplete or contradictory information to make sense of a situation. That coupled with a lack of ability to investigate and analyze all the information available makes us susceptible to theories that are flawed.

[BridgeTheGap]

15. "People who see conspiracies behind everything, are just as

narrowminded as people who see no conspiracies at all." source unknown

The propensity of human beings to believe in "any old thing" is problematic. The fact that the CIA has a dedicated tactic of creating false stories, getting certain people to spread the stories and then discrediting those same people for spreading false stories, should tell us something.

While people do buy into the wildest stories, it strikes me as a tactitcal move to strike down ALL conspiracy theories. Is this article helping to create an environment where anyone who lets on that they think there is something to a given theory, is greeted with a knee-jerk reaction of "aluminum hat nut job!" How many investigative journalists have started on a trail of investigation, that on the face of it, seemed awfully far fetched? Of course, the good ones know not to "believe" their hunch, nor to speak much about it UNTIL they can gather facts that substantiate the theory.