We've been getting into a lot of conspiracy theories lately because of our resident conspiracy theorist, Pippy. I thought it would be interesting to discuss what makes a theory and conspiracy, and what makes a person a conspiracy theorists.
We throw these words around because there are certain typical characteristics that are a significant part of why we often laugh at conspiracies and conspiracy theorists.
This website lists 10 characteristics of conspiracy theorists: http://www.urban75.org/info/conspiraloons.html
I would say out of all the characteristics I think the most telling is #1. They say either you're in on it or you've bought it completely. Once you get into that mindset that your conspiracy can survive because you can dismiss arguments against your theory so easily with either one of those excuses, and that's it. I can't respect you. Argue against the facts not the people.
http://www.skeptics.org.uk/article.php?d...eories.php
This article compares the difference between real conspiracies and paranoid conspiracy theories. A true conspiracy theory is a a proposition about what may have happened based on insufficient evidence. They are never claimed to be truth, only a possible explanation based on incomplete evidence.
On the other hand, Paranoid Conspiracy Theories, which is what we're usually dealing with when we talk about 9/11 and Reptillian Overlords. These theories are not promoted as a plausible explanation but rather the secret truth. They have a certain knowledge we all lack. Typical PCTs have characteristics of being assumed correct, you cannot challenge them, and any evidence will do.
In my opinion, I think PCTs result from people who want to believe there is a hidden cause or hidden agenda. Much like religious people have a hard time accepting or believing in a world that is not masterminded by an all-powerful being and take comfort in believing that they have special knowledge about that all-powerful god, conspiracy theorists cannot accept that coincidence happens or that governments make mistakes. There has to be a secret cause, a hidden society pulling the strings behind the scenes. Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists take comfort in their special knowledge, and I believe it's very similar to how people can take comfort in believing in God.
I think it's hard for many people to believe that the world is not controlled by some powerful entity, whether they envision it to be a god, the government, a secret society, aliens, etc... On the other hand, I think atheists, or more accurately skeptics, tend to be most comfortable with accepting coincidence, chance, and circumstance. That, however, is not to say all atheists are not conspiracy theorists.
We throw these words around because there are certain typical characteristics that are a significant part of why we often laugh at conspiracies and conspiracy theorists.
This website lists 10 characteristics of conspiracy theorists: http://www.urban75.org/info/conspiraloons.html
I would say out of all the characteristics I think the most telling is #1. They say either you're in on it or you've bought it completely. Once you get into that mindset that your conspiracy can survive because you can dismiss arguments against your theory so easily with either one of those excuses, and that's it. I can't respect you. Argue against the facts not the people.
http://www.skeptics.org.uk/article.php?d...eories.php
This article compares the difference between real conspiracies and paranoid conspiracy theories. A true conspiracy theory is a a proposition about what may have happened based on insufficient evidence. They are never claimed to be truth, only a possible explanation based on incomplete evidence.
On the other hand, Paranoid Conspiracy Theories, which is what we're usually dealing with when we talk about 9/11 and Reptillian Overlords. These theories are not promoted as a plausible explanation but rather the secret truth. They have a certain knowledge we all lack. Typical PCTs have characteristics of being assumed correct, you cannot challenge them, and any evidence will do.
In my opinion, I think PCTs result from people who want to believe there is a hidden cause or hidden agenda. Much like religious people have a hard time accepting or believing in a world that is not masterminded by an all-powerful being and take comfort in believing that they have special knowledge about that all-powerful god, conspiracy theorists cannot accept that coincidence happens or that governments make mistakes. There has to be a secret cause, a hidden society pulling the strings behind the scenes. Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists take comfort in their special knowledge, and I believe it's very similar to how people can take comfort in believing in God.
I think it's hard for many people to believe that the world is not controlled by some powerful entity, whether they envision it to be a god, the government, a secret society, aliens, etc... On the other hand, I think atheists, or more accurately skeptics, tend to be most comfortable with accepting coincidence, chance, and circumstance. That, however, is not to say all atheists are not conspiracy theorists.
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." Benjamin Franklin
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