A new study explores the complex psyche of conspiracy theorists, attributing their beliefs to a mix of personality traits and motivations. According to a 2017 analysis of government survey data by the University of Oxford, over a quarter of the American population believes there are conspiracies “behind many things in the world”. The study suggests asking calm questions, inviting the conspiracy theorist to explain and reflect on their beliefs, rather than advance evidence or quote experts. Experts and r/ChangeMyView subreddit moderators offer 10 tips to debunk conspiracy theories convincingly and kindly.
Conspiracy theories tend to be taken more seriously by people who are mistrustful and prone to certain forms of magical thinking. The findings suggest that paranoia and belief in conspiracy theories are distinct but correlated belief systems with both common and specific psychological factors.
Conspiracy theories have legitimized violence, impaired public health, and undermined democratic governance. Containing their harms begins with understanding the processes and functions of conspiracy theories and rumors. Past research has revealed that trait anger correlates positively with conspiracy beliefs and perceiving conspirators to have more evil intentions. 9/11 conspiracist beliefs were positively associated with belief in other conspiracy theories, exposure to 9/11 conspiracist ideas, political cynicism, and political upheavals.
Although actual conspiracies occur quite regularly, such as political assassinations, scandals, cover-ups, terrorist attacks, and everyday government issues, it is crucial to address these misconceptions and promote understanding and acceptance of conspiracy theories.
📹 Why we are all attracted to conspiracy theories
Recently,QAnon, Covid-19and5Gtheories have gained traction and criticism while less controversial conspiracies like thefaked …
📹 Questions No One Knows the Answers to (Full Version)
In the first of a new TED-Ed series designed to catalyze curiosity, TED Curator Chris Anderson shares his boyhood obsession with …
This is the most relaxed I have ever been pondering these questions, and I think it has to do big in part thanks to the relaxing, casual voice of the narrator. I had never heard the bit about intelligent life potentially minimizing their footprint in a literal sense. And I like that the satellite dish has a face.
This article raises quite interesting questions, and it was very interesting to listen. Personally, I tend to believe that life on other planets, as well as other dimensions, most likely exists. This seems much more plausible than if they did not exist, given the scale of the universe and the behavior of the quantum world. I am sure in a few hundred years humanity will get answers to these questions and it is wonderful, I am very glad that I will find such a time, perhaps the most interesting time for highness that has ever been before !
what an honor to be alive at such a time period, i mean what is gonna happen tens of years in the future when im still alive, i dont know, but im excited. it also feels unreal that this is the only thing that is, life, me as a human, there is nothing else, or is there? we’ll never know, or will we. so many questions indeed.
is it weird to think we’re all going to die one day? like we’re all just going to be gone (assuming there’s no heaven or recycling of us). blows my mind to think that and then look at how society is. if i was told i was going to die tomorrow i would live completely differently, i would treat everyone like a god, confront my own demons. i’m high as fuck rn tho.
This makes my younger self really happy because this is the stuff I desperately wanted to learn when I was 10. When they asked what we wanted to be in elementary school I ALWAYS said astrophysicist. I was in love with the stars and all I wanted was to understand the multiverse and string theory and everything about the universe. And then I got older and realized how much math there is in astronomy and physics and I gave up. I had undiagnosed learning disabilities and so many math and science teachers telling me I would never understand. I decided I wasn’t smart enough to ever do astrophysics and it broke me. I swear this is unlocking a memory I forgot I had.
My questions: 1. What does it feel Like to actually die? 2. Why do I exist? 3. What is everyone else thinking right now? Do they think the same as me? Are we thinking the same things? 4. How do others actually experience things? 5. How does the brain work so fast? How does it do it all? 6. If you expect the unexpected doesn’t it make the unexpected expected? 7. Who created this thing called words? How did they put a bunch of letters together to create different words that now sound normal? 8. What if oxygen is actually slowly killing us? 9. What if we are all being controlled by much larger Alien like creatures? 10. What if none of this is actually real and is all just an imagination in the white room called nothingness? Anyways, they are the main questions u think about at night 😥I always feel like I’m special, I’m going to grow up to be something amazing. I don’t want to be a nobody, I feel like I’m supposed to be somebody… Anyone else get that feeling?
“In the 20th century, we started by barely lifting ourselves off the ground for a few seconds (First airplane flight) and ended it by landing on the moon” – Space Turtle In the 21st century, we started by making supercomputers that hold all of human knowledge fit in the palm of our hand, rockets that might take us to another planet, AI’s that can work for us, and basic genetic editing technology. Just how different will we be in 80 years?
What I always wonder and ask myself is: what is nothing? How can nothing excist? Just think about all the space of black nothingness that excist between planets and stars. Why is it black and not white? Why is it nothing? It sort of must be something because how can something be nothing? How can we be aware of a thing being “nothing” if it’s nothing shouldn’t we be unaware of it’s excistens at all? What is nothing it just cracks me up so bad I can’t get my head around it…
It occurred to me the answer to Fermi might actually be genetic xenophobia. It’s an important instinct that helps a species survive. Without it, a species probably can’t reach type 1 (when they can control their whole world completely- we’re still type 0). However, once they become type 1, that instinct causes them to go extinct. Why? Because they then have the power to enforce that instinct on themselves, either through forced bio-ludditism or forced eugenics, both of which decrease a species’ genomic diversity. As genomic diversity decreases, the number of extinction events a species can potentially survive decreases, and the species eventually becomes so clonal that they go extinct. So it’s a universal catch 22. You need the instinct in the beginning to survive, then at the end it causes you to kill your own species. The trick is to somehow overcome genetic xenophobia (fear/hatred of genetic variation) before becoming type 1. If you can look at someone who has horns or a third eye or blue skin or a tail and be fine with that, then you’re already there. You’ve beaten the instinct in time. Most people are not there, however, including our financial, business, political, and religious leaders. Unfortunately, those are the ones who need to be there before we become type 1. Clock’s ticking.
Where do thought come from ? Who listens sound in me ? Where picture is made inside me ? Who provoke me to say something ? Who feel emotion at first place ? Where we experience smell ? Where we feel this universe ? I think before learning about outside universe we first try to know ourselves and maybe there is only one man know the answer and that is me as individual .
What if every time we do something we create a parallel universe in which we did not do it. In one universe I crossed my legs while I was sitting and perusal tv, but when I did it I created a unverse in which I did not actually cross my legs, and now that universe has a completely different timeline.
On August 2019, I was on a motorboat en route to the next island on our island tour. I was sitting there with my good friend, the other tourists and the tour guides. The waves got rough and it was a rainy day. Then, I briefly imagined myself going overboard and thought that I will disappear in a matter of minutes. It made me realize how small I am compared to the vastness of the sea. That was such a humbling experience and I often get reminded of how I felt at that time.
One day someone will answer these questions. Just like how 100 years ago people wondered so many questions that we know the answer to today. One day we will know EVERYTHING. Jk the more discover the more we are going to ask. Just like the more money we have the more we want. Humans are never satisfied. We r too curious
In college I had a philosophy professor that would dog on scientists and express frustration at how people try and derive meaning in the world from science and how people often credit science as most important field to the furtherance of humanity. In his words, “Science is late to the party. Philosophy’s been at it for millennia. Science is a relatively new enterprise.” In school I thought he was just trying to be the equivalent of an academic hipster punk. But these days I think he’s right. Eventually science just offers exits on the interstate. Philosophy has to tell you where to go.
I really liked this article and how you explained most science-related topics in such an easy way. I have thought about this topic many times, and the idea of parallel universes always seemed the most realistic to me. The fascinating thing is that nowadays, it is not just a feature of a good sci-fi story and now, there are now some scientific theories that support the idea of parallel universes beyond our own. I hope that shortly we will know more about other universes.
Q: Is there a reason of human life? A: All the things that man has created has a specific reason. For example, the knife is made to cut the food and the fork is there to pick the food up. If man made certain things for certain purposes then man’s creator has a certain purpose for man too…! And because humans r the most unique creation in the whole universe, they have a bigger purpose too…! Rehan’s saying Monday 13 July 2020 9:27 am
gosh I love to think about this kind of stuff. Also, our evolution is amazing as well, I mean, we started of with just some sticks and stones, and now we have electronic square thingies, that can show use movie pictures with sound. And you just think, how did this happen? When did someone got the idea, hey, with this piece of dirt, I could do this or try that… how did someone came to the idea to heat up sand and use it as windows? This kind of stuff.
I know this is a stupid question but WHY is life even a thing? Everything that makes up life itself communicates with each other. Consciousness, the way our life forms/bodies are capable of sustaining ourselves. What I mean is why does this work? Why does everything equal something else when really in a different reality (If you could imagine it) It could mean something else? Take Consciousness for example. Why do we have this and how did we inherit it? How is it a thing? Why do we have it? It may sound all stupid but it’s hard to explain what I was thinking…
I love the idea of multiverses. If there are infinite multiverses, even if physics behaves the same in each of them (so no magic and no Dom Torretto crashing a car at 60mph with no injuries) that still means there are universes out there where things play out exactly like the movies, provided they didn’t violate said rules. Like there would be a world where Godfather played out exactly like the film and maybe even Gladiator or Titanic. And there could be a world where all three movies or even more played out like those films exactly. Prolly no talking teddy bear like Ted tho.
Why do close minded people watch articles that try to open peoples minds. Do they fear that actual thinking will spread, and that will lead to more people having questions about religion? In other words, do they subconsciously know their religious beliefs are on rocky ground, unlike chemistry and math, and worry they will wake up one day with no one else that shares their faith?