Conspiracy theorists believe in strange ideas that are based on a solid foundation of disbelief. They often hold that powerful people or groups are secretly plotting dastardly schemes, and they can be influenced by various factors such as the psychological (dark triad, propensity to share false information online) and non-partisan/ideological political (populism, Manicheanism). A minority of committed believers treat conspiracy theories as the literal truth and are particularly resistant to persuasion.
Research has shown that people do not tend to believe in conspiracy theories because of the specifics of a scheme but rather because they believe in the idea that they are being manipulated. To counter conspiracy theories, it is important to distinguish excessive doubt from excessive belief. It is not true that conspiracy theorists commonly believe contradictory conspiracies, such as the claim that Diana, Princess of Wales, did not die in a car.
Conspiration theories have legitimized violence, impaired public health, and undermined democratic governance. Containing their harms begins with understanding how people think. Research is beginning to show that how people think could be more complex than what they think.
Pre-pandemic, the question was “How do I know whom to trust when it comes to health and science information?” Conspiracy theories often incorporate elements from pseudoscience, such as employing scientific terms or referring to data, research, sources, and more. Despite concerns about a “pandemic of misinformation”, researchers found no evidence that beliefs increased on average over time. A new review finds that only some methods to counteract conspiracy beliefs are effective.
📹 Conspiracy Theories and Crazy People
Is it a conspiracy that I think you’re cute or does that make me illuminaughty Second Channel …
📹 The Government Is Lying to You – Ron Funches
In his special Giggle Fit, Ron Funches explains why he believes conspiracy theories and reacts to an airplane pilot’s dire warning.
2:59 is a direct reference to the season nine episode of Arthur “Buster the Myth Maker” where he reads various conspiracy theory articles online. In that shot, you can see Busters outfit, his bunk bed latter, his chair, his desk and his old styled computer which are all exact references to him and his room.
My conspiracy theory is that the government as actually the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. That’s my* theory and I’m sticking to it! *”My” meaning I found the definition of government on Google
My bathroom has mirrors on a little cabinet above the sink. Whenever I use the bathroom at night, I open the cabinet doors, so I can’t see the mirrors. I’m never bothered by the mirrors during the day. Something about the night makes looking at the mirrors uncomfortable. Im not scared about getting stuck in the mirrors or anything, it’s just uncomfortable.