Why are ALL, and I do mean ALL, conspiracy theories automatically assumed to be false by the general public?

Question

Do people really trust their government SO much? I know 9/11 is a bit much for folks to accept, but why not the JFK assasination or the death of Marylin Monroe? People accept the existence of the Mafia... is it just conspiracies that involve government wrongdoing that they deny? Seems that way...

Answer 1

I think that human beings do not, in general like believe these three things, and they like to be reassured about them:

1) that they might be responsible for some of the bad things that happen to them (e.g. by electing a corrupt politician)

2) that they might be helpless in the face of a large, organized enemy (e.g. the portrayal of Iraqis as wild and disorganized, despite their actual successful resistance during this war)

3) that, despite being good people, they might be hated (e.g. promoting the views of Americans as "liberators", although some countries see them as quite the opposite)

I think those three fears combine to create ignorance about conspiracies. My personal favourite example is patriarchy; a system designed to benefit men and disadvantage women which can be found worldwide. You can't much more conspiratorial than that, especially when almost every human - both male and female - participates in it.

You can tell people about the staggering rates of violence, rape, low-self esteem, eating disorders, poverty, lower wages for doing the same job, punishments for failing to fit one's gender, female genital mutilation, plastic surgery, corruption in the legal system - you can cite all the statistic and studies that demonstrate these things afflict women significantly more than men worldwide and in almost every culture, and are happening as I type this -- but you'll still be told that "Yeah, but these days, men and women are pretty much equal." ...even coming from the same girls who take unbelievable precautions walking outdoors at night to avoid rape, when society takes no measures to prevent rapists and a rape culture to begin with.

The fact is, it's scary to think you might be helping (or simply failing to resist) a big monster in your closet, that the big monster might be strong and pervasive and can get you at any time, and that no matter how good of a person you are, it may strike.

In other words, it's denial, and it's a defense mechanism. It's only human.

That said, those who believe in a lot of conspiracies also often work from defense mechanisms - it is too scary to believe that all the horrible things that happen are random, because of a crappy world, and that there are no real big villains behind them - they just happen. So for them, it is easier to construct a theory about how there's a big reason for it all.

It's kind of the same as the fate question - some people are reassured by the idea that things happen for a reason, while others find that idea horrifying and restricting.

Anyway, you've brought up a huge issue here...so best of luck & happy exposing!

Answer 2

I agree, I'm not from your country and can keep an open mind. All our governments have sold their own people out many times. They cover up all the time and aren't always caught. Look at the little countries that were sacrificed to Hitler. Poland fell and suffered terribly under the Nazi regime. The Warsaw uprising with the Promise of Russians coming to help. The Russins let the Nazis do their dirty work. When the slaughter was over the Russians moved in for they hated the jews as well as the Nazis did.
Polish troops fought valiantly with the Allies at Casino.
Churchill agreed with the Russians behind Poland's back to turn that little country over to them after the war which he did.
From Nazism to Communism. I wouldn't blame Poland if they never trusted any of us again. They weren't a stab in the back Ally
like we support now a days. They were loyal and faithful and thats how we treated them.
Churchill even sold his own people out. The British
cracked the code and knew there would be a heavy bombing raid
at Coventry. He didn't warn the people for fear the Germans might know the code was broken. His priority would seem to be London. When you sell your own people out it shouldn't be hard to believe you'd sell a friedly country out.
The Bay of Pigs is another betrayal. It goes on and on.
I believe the Kennedy assassination was a conspiracy betwween the mafia, FBI and CiA Hoover hated the Kennedys.
I believe Oswald was a pawn. Two shooters. One gets away. Harvey is sacrificed to close the case. Two accurate shots into Kennedy the others gone wild. A marksman the other shooter not
as good. % or 6 shots fired as fast as a semi automatic yet Harvey Oswald's bolt action is what they would have us believe fired the shots. The recoil would knock you off target and you
would have to re aim each time. Come on.
Security backs off long enough for the assassination to take place then they moves in after the damage is done. The oldest game in the world. Southern cops have played that game for years with the KKK.
Bobby Kennedy wins the California primary and by Co-incidence gets shot by an Egyptian that hated him because he was pro- Israeli. Come on they can do better than that. Had he lost the primary he wouldn't have been shot.
He got into a tunnel with a gun as Bobby walked into the direct path. How could the assassin do all this undetected or without HELP????????????
Marilyn Monroe????????
Hard to say. Anything is possible. I'm not saying there are conspirities all the time. But yhey do happen. We just can't prove them.

Answer 3

of direction no longer all conspiracy theories are nonsense on condition that some conspiracies have existed and acted. 9/11 replaced right into a conspiracy by using a team of Muslim enthusiasts, yet there replaced into no wider conspiracy regarding a million/2 of the federal government of the US. the project with maximum conspiracy theories is they anticipate effective human beings ought to have the two mass archives base of know-how so as that if "x" experience happens and there's a declare of lack of expertise by using the effective they must be mendacity. whilst a significant experience happens maximum opt for the reason of that experience to be as majestic because of the fact the form. A loser, no one do not have the flexibility to kill a president, under this line of thinking, so there must be greater forces in the back of the form then seen. however the loopy, the fringe, the unimportant, the social loser have brought about many events way larger than their share of their well worth previous to the form.

Answer 4

It's not about trusting the governement (or not). It's about how ludicrous the typical conspiracy theory is. Everyone is born with some common sense. Some are born with much more than others. Some theories have legitimate weight (perhaps the JFK assassination is one), while others are so far out there that the evidence at hand overwhelmingly sides against it (i.e. 9/11 theories).

Answer 5

Good question there is a postulate that:

There are so many possibilites in fact almost an infinite amount therefore cumulatively compared to a singular instance the probability of anything specifically occuring is negligble.

If the probability of everything is negligble then it is also equal meaning anything could happen at any time and place. So maybe John Lennon shot JFK and framed Oswald and then the Mafia had John Lennon shot or whatever?

It's because nothing really happens nothing happens at all the needle returns to the start of the song and we all sing along like before.

Ignorance is so blissfull. Now fetch me a beer!

Answer 6

No anything that is a theory basically needs fact to support it in order for people to truly believe in it. Just like with AIDS and CANCER there is a cure for both but the government gets paid billions just off the treatment so they lead people to believe there is no cure. The government does so much to cover up that they purposely put out "conspiracy theories" to cause speculation about the truth...

Answer 7

I think many still believe that JFK was killed by more than one person, no matter what the Warren Commission said. The death of Marilyn Monroe is not so much a stretch because of her erratic behavior. I totally reject any 9/11 conspiracies.

Answer 8

Because conspiracy theories were so derided during the cold war Ever watch cartoons where something trivial happens and someone yells, "It's a communist conspiracy!"? Basically, people who spoke up were discredited in this manner, and the conspiracy theories people hear are often so ridiculous that conspiracy theorists are now dismissed as a bunch of kooks.

Answer 9

Show me proof, not just vague accusations and innuendo. So far, the majority of the conspiracy theories are prtty weak on logic and solid evidence.

Not that I trust the government, because I don't. But so far, most conspiracy theorists have been more than a little flakey.

Answer 10

I think anything is possible. There was one time when I trusted the US government, now with the events that happened on 9/11 I am skeptical and how much the public is told.