Why can't unintelligent people resist attacking scientific truth and supporting conspiracy theories?

Answer 1

Conspiracy theories are nothing more than some peoples attempts to force order on a chaotic situation.

Answer 2

i persume you are referring to silly conspiracies such as the fake moon landings or the the world is flat

this extract from 'clavius.org' explains what does on in the minds of a conspiracist and their believers


''To seem intelligent. Conspiracy theories are often much more elaborate than what's commonly believed about something. And they usually require the listener to expand his understanding to accept the possibility of a conspiracy. for eg.Those who casually examine photographs of the lunar landings are impressed when they are led to discover discrepancies (what they believe to be discrepancies is actually based on their incomplete understanding of illumination, perspective, geometry, and photography). And the conspiracist who is an expert photographer depends on people in general to assume they know all about photographing and not to ask any more detail questions in the fear of looking silly.
This inflates the ego and gives one the impression that he is smarter than the dozens who look at the same photographs and see nothing special.

To be "on the inside." The conspiracist fancies himself to be elite, to be privy to secret information that few others have. ''

take for example the question
'why is their no stars in the background of any of the moon landing photos? surely this is proof that the whole thing was done in a studio.'
seems logical but it's flawed the answer is simply the stars are to faint for the shutter speeds of the camera. go outside on a starry night and take some random photos of the sky with a standard camera, the results are the same.

basically everyone likes a good story but some of us (the more gullible which applies to everyone at some time or other) get caught in the hype. that doesn't mean they are unintelligent but simply being con.

there are serious conspiracies and it's usually polictical.

Answer 3

It's not about intelligence, it's about the 'flavor' of information we might like.

If you look at some of the well developed conspiracy theories, they are dense with facts (which isn't the same as evidence) and analysis. Very complex. Many a well researched book has been written about the Kennedy assassination for instance.

But the what's going has more to do with human psychology than any attempt to get at an unvarnished truth. If you think of how you might end your day at home by relating 'what happened at work' you can see the essence of it.

First, you are likely to make a story out of what happened. We are suckers for narrative. You are likely to leave out those things that don't add to your story and inflate those things that give it a little zip. And some stories are so good that you will add them to your long term store and bring them up for years.

Secondly, we tend to pick out things from a pool of evidences that support what we already think is true. So, if we think Americans are fat, we tend to remember evidence that supports this and dismiss or ignore evidence that doesn't. This is happening with global warming right now. Each side of the question holds it's facts up higher and labels them 'more important'.

Lastly, we modify our arguments instead of dropping them altogether. If you give me a good reason why the flag planted on the moon seems to be flying (and I cited this as evidence for no moon landing), I might agree with that small part and drop that evidence, but retain all the other evidences you haven't proven false yet. Conspiracy theories are very robust in this way. No one piece of evidence is essential. It's always a construct of many facts that may or may not be related in the way they are thought to be.

So, it's a human thing, not an intelligence thing. If you look at yourself you are very likely to see all of the aspects of conspiracy theory in a lesser degree.

Answer 4

Some conspiracy theories are wrong and some are correct. The difficulty has to do with deciding which ones are correct. By their nature, conspiracies are intended to be kept secret by the conspirators. Sometimes the secrets are skillfully kept, but once in a while the conspirators make mistakes. When a mistake is made, there's a chance that someone will notice and discover what the conspirators are trying to hide.

And some conspiracies are bigger than others, with more details to hide, or more conspicuous events to explain away with lies. The bigger the conspiracy is, in general, the more resourceful the conspirators need to be to "get away with it."

It would be stupid, of course, to believe every conspiracy theory that you hear. But the very stupidest thing of all is to believe that all conspiracy theories are false. They aren't.

Answer 5

Well it depends what theories you are referring to. Just because someone believes something doesnt make them unintelligent. I believe lots of theories, but then i dont think i am attacking science just choosing not to beieve it. I beleive Marilyn Monroe was murdered by the Kennedy family, despite post mortems to the contrary. thats not science thats a cover up.

Answer 6

You all are overanalyzing this. The obvious reason is that, as a rule, conspiracy theories are a lot more fun than facts. Why do you think tabloids sell better than science magazines?

Answer 7

Unfortunately a lot of 'intelligent' people do a disservice to science, by claiming things are truth when they are in fact philosphical ideas, or conjectures.

It's hardly surprising that wise people treat such claims with great suspicion.

Answer 8

first-what is scientific truth
2nd-to whom do you refer
3rd-there is lots science cannot explain therefore it gives rise to doubt, in doubt go to god is some peoples mantra, however the answer to the question is that hell they all just crazyz man deal!

Answer 9

It's just their way of life, who cares anyway. Drink gravy and be merry. Aaaah Bisto

Answer 10

A lot of intelligent people do as well. I think it's because we're, well, human.