Are Conspiracy Theories more widely popular than they used to be?

[Conway_Stewart]

A conspiracy theory is an explanation of an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy without warrant, generally one involving an illegal or harmful act carried out by government or other powerful actors. Conspiracy theories often produce hypotheses that contradict the prevailing understanding of history or simple facts.

Conspiracy theories have always been around but it seems to me that they are more commonly believed and accepted now than they used to be. Maybe in part in the wake of 911...Maybe with the advent of the internet and social media...I dunno...But it just seems to me that people on both sides of the political aisle have become far more inclined to believe some pretty crazy shit that in decades gone by would have been summarily dismissed.

Wondering what others think.

 

[kid_kuh]

I believe people were less informed. They believed without a doubt what the government or media tells them. Now with the advent of social media's they (the people) are able to see and hear more than one side of the story. There have also been more and more whistle blowers and security breaches that destroys the trust in government agency. So what do people believe? That's why there are distrusts and conspiracy theories.

 

[anon1]

People have always believed what they wanted to believe. That is the basis of religion.
Our information overload, true and false, allows them to cherry pick the truth that conforms to their agenda.

 

[dirkd101]

It's all social media. When people see things in print form they tend to believe that they have legitimacy and things can get out there faster with social media. Couple this with the fact that the story can get added to and be corroborated by others, without a shred of proof.

 

[eternalbachelor]

ya degeneracy is through the roof. My chimney guy has recently tried to convince me that earth is flat. There are flat earth societies out there. I couldn't believe it and googled that shit and it's scary how fucked in the head people are. You'd think that internet would help but it doesn't. There are poor people who feel hard done by and they would believe all sorts of bullshit about illuminati etc. Then there are rich people who believe in even stupider shit. There truly is a lot of delusional people in this world, and they do have internet access.

 

[fuji]

This is why the Russians were supporting Trump initially. I don't think they knew or believed he could be President but they liked the way his birther conspiracy destroyed trust in the government.

That's a common theme in most of these conspiracy theories: they destroy trust in the government.

Wouldn't surprise me at all to find foreign intelligence agencies planting and supporting these things.

 

[fentonkat]

Yes, it's the internet and social media. We're seeing it with everything where people start to live in their own echo chamber where everyone just agrees with each other on the exact same mindset.

Also, the human brain is designed to find patterns in everything, so it's appealing for people to find order in what seems like a chaotic event, not to mention that there is that nice feeling of thinking you figured out a secret most people are too clueless to see.

It's like religion. I mean, in some ways it's more comforting to believe in the Illuminati or government/corporate conspiracies behind all the evil in the world.

 

[Aardvark154]

It seems to me that there are and I agree with Fentonkat that a great deal of it has to do with the internet and social media which has made the spreading of rumor, innuendo, and false information far more common.

 

[Conway_Stewart]

..,not to mention that there is that nice feeling of thinking you figured out a secret most people are too clueless to see.

...

I've often wondered if this is part of it. It often seems to me that there's a sense of arrogance surrounding people who believe this stuff as though they see themselves as being the ones who have the "real" info on what's going on.

 

[Brill]

Are there any theories that were initially seen as loony and far-fetched, but turned out to be true?

 

[Conway_Stewart]

Are there any theories that were initially seen as loony and far-fetched, but turned out to be true?

Sure...I bet you could find lots of them. Galileo's theory that the Earth orbits the Sun rather than the reverse got him locked up for heresy. Turns out Galileo was right.

But Galileo had scientific facts, data, and measurable observations to support his theory...whereas the hallmark of conspiracy theories is that they tend to lack objective evidence and rely on circular reasoning.

A conspiracy theory, by it's nature, can never really be disproven...but that's not the same as proof. It's kinda like saying that because the existence of God cannot be disproven, it must therefore be true that God exists. Not the same thing. I'm not knocking religion...and if you want to believe in God then go for it...but there's a difference between a belief and a fact that seems to escape conspiracy-minded individuals.

 

[Brill]

Galileo wasn't seen as a conspiracy nut, but that's an interesting example. I'm guessing there are some conspiracies that turned out to be true.

 

[Bickle]

This is why the Russians were supporting Trump initially. I don't think they knew or believed he could be President but they liked the way his birther conspiracy destroyed trust in the government.

That's a common theme in most of these conspiracy theories: they destroy trust in the government.

Wouldn't surprise me at all to find foreign intelligence agencies planting and supporting these things.

Minor amendment: 'destroy trust in authority'. So the anti-vaccers undermine medicine, the anti-climate change guys undermine science, etc etc.

 

[Conway_Stewart]

Galileo wasn't seen as a conspiracy nut, but that's an interesting example. I'm guessing there are some conspiracies that turned out to be true.

Six Conspiracy Theories that turned out to be True

It can certainly happen...but there's a threshold of actual fact/evidence that needs to be reached before a "theory" reaches the status of being being actually proven or validated.

The disturbing thing to me about conspiracy theorists is their complete willingness to to distort and disregard objective, factual info in the interest of believing what they wanna believe...it's like the lyrics from that Talking Heads song Crosseyed and Painless:

Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Facts don't stain the furniture
Facts go out and slam the door
Facts are written all over your face
Facts continue to change their shape

It's like saying: "Dealing with facts isn't really working for me so I think I'll just opt out of the whole dealing-with-reality thing and exist in my own insular universe."

People are allowed to believe whatever they like...but when their crazy shit starts leaking into my reality I get a little scared.

 

[Big Sleazy]

Conspiracy Theory is a term coined by the CIA during the 60's. It was created as a meme by the CIA owned Press to slander anyone that questioned the findings of the Warren Commission regarding the assassination of JFK. Hopefully with the recent data dump of 13 million formerly classified CIA files we will eventually get to the truth about who killed JFK. The files for JFK were classified for 50 years. They were supposed to be released over three years ago but O'bummer signed an Executive Order not allowing them to be released. I suspect it is because George Bush Senior is still alive. He was the Director of the CIA when Kennedy got whacked. Now with the files being released and George supposedly on his deathbed. We can get to the truth and all the conspiracy deniers will have to eat crow.

 

[Conway_Stewart]

Conspiracy Theory is a term coined by the CIA during the 60's. It was created as a meme by the CIA owned Press to slander anyone that questioned the findings of the Warren Commission regarding the assassination of JFK. Hopefully with the recent data dump of 13 million formerly classified CIA files we will eventually get to the truth about who killed JFK. The files for JFK were classified for 50 years. They were supposed to be released over three years ago but O'bummer signed an Executive Order not allowing them to be released. I suspect it is because George Bush Senior is still alive. He was the Director of the CIA when Kennedy got whacked. Now with the files being released and George supposedly on his deathbed. We can get to the truth and all the conspiracy deniers will have to eat crow.

This is exactly the kinda thinking I'm talking about. You don't know what is in those files...there may be something or there may be nothing...but you've already decided that there is something nefarious going on and the powers that be are hiding it from us...and now it's your mission in life to prove it.

So...what will you say if those 13 million files are released and no new info is revealed? Will you accept the findings of the Warren Commission? Of course not...You'll just add another layer to your conspiracy theory that there are other "secret" files that weren't released...or that the files were altered...etc. There is never an end to it because you're not looking for objective truth; you're looking for confirmation of something that you want to believe. Two separate things.

 

[Butler1000]

Why are bringing this up? Who are you working for?!? I see through this as an attempt to draw out people so you and your black helicopter riding cohorts can swoop in and remove opposition forces.

I saw it before on the net so it must be true!

 

[Conway_Stewart]

Why are bringing this up? Who are you working for?!? I see through this as an attempt to draw out people so you and your black helicopter riding cohorts can swoop in and remove opposition forces.

I saw it before on the net so it must be true!

LMAO!

I have just reported your post to the Mods...and if they don't delete it immediately it proves that they, along with you and possibly even Fred, are part of the ongoing conspiracy against me!

eep:

 

[basketcase]

People have always believed what they wanted to believe. That is the basis of religion.
Our information overload, true and false, allows them to cherry pick the truth that conforms to their agenda.

I agree. The only difference I see in today's world is that the cranks now have a ready platform with the internet.

 

[basketcase]

Galileo wasn't seen as a conspiracy nut, but that's an interesting example. I'm guessing there are some conspiracies that turned out to be true.

I'm sure there are, mainly because there are so many (contradictory) theories out there. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

And as said, Galileo wouldn't be a conspiracy theorist. He was a scientist and his work was based on measurable data available to anyone; pretty much the opposite of a conspiracy theorist.