Why do people cling to conspiracy theories?

Question

I think it is because it is easier for them to believe "someone" is in control. The weak minded might have comfort in the fact that Bush was behind 9/11 and not just 19 guys, over half of which didn't even know they were on a suicide mission.

I think the world according to a conspiracy theorist has order, so therefore is safer than a world that is more chaotic and weird stuff just happens...

Opinions?

Answer 1

Some good reasons were given. conspiracy theories are kink of like mad libs. You just fill in the blanks with whatever is in your head. Whenever something happens and we don't have all the answers, we tend to make things up. Nothing fill an information vacuum like wild speculation. After 9/11, the news was digging and speculating 24 hours a day. Most of what they came up with was later disproved, but if someone missed that part, the disproved story becomes a fact in the head of the theorist. South Park said it best,
why is it that1/4 of all Americans believe in a 9/11 conspiracy?
Because 1/4 of all Americans are retarded.

One more theory, For some people, believing what your told, even if it's the truth, is a sign of stupidity. So they follow a less conventional way of thinking in order to feign intelligence. How many times do you hear "Your just a sheep, believing everything they tell you." from these guys? I Hope it works out for them, but it usually doesn't

Jeremy. Your avatar says it all. you'll automatically believe anything you hear that will confirm your preexisting point of view. personally I agree with your assessment of Bush. That being said, I don't know of anyone who feels that way about him that gives him or his administration the assumed intelligence to pull it off. Don't forget, these are the same people who couldn't hide WMDs in the middle of a desert. And yes the news did dig. From what I saw, the news agencies were tripping over themselves to be the first on the air with any unvetted infomation they had. That's why there was so much misinformation out there. Like I said before, people like you believe that believing the truth is a sign of stupidity. You won't believe the news, but you'll believe some annonmious blogger, because He makes you feel like you have info no one else has.

Answer 2

The problem of these conspiracy theories can be magnified by economic or political conditions such as in Germany during the third reich or the whole 9/11 conspiracy business. The Bush administrations propensity for secrecy and some of the scandals such as Abu Graib, Patriot Act etc. tend to make people more cynical and more inclined to the believing of far out conspiracies, even though there is no connection and have been proven false...

Answer 3

You make a lot of good points. A starting point for any conspiracy theory is something unusual happening (Roswell, JFK, 911). Surrounding this unusual event is a lack of facts, and or several facts that do not seem to make sense. This leads people to believe there was a cover up (and there probably was) and so they invent stories that fit the facts as presented.

Many of these theories are quite simple-minded, but chances are their theory has as much merit to be right as the "official" explanation does (meaning some details are probably hidden).

Answer 4

why do some people dismiss anything that is labeled a "conspiracy theory"? I think it is because they are afraid of reality, and they like to believe that the government would never lie to them or kill innocent people for geostrategic gain. It is really a much simpler world where everybody is happy and butterflies flutter around and children play...

there are some conspiracy theories that are just ridiculous (such as we never landed on the moon, aliens at area 51, etc) and so people lump these theories together with legitimate ones.

from some of the answers it is obvious that you don't know anything about them except what you see on fox news or cnn.

i mean do you hear yourselves saying that conspiracy theorists think that they are smarter than everyone else, etc - and at the same time you are looking down your nose thinking you are in fact the superior. The hypocrisy is amusing.

"badmotherfucker" - you are joking when you say that the media was "digging" after 9/11 right? they basically rolled over and regurgitated the government's lie that osama bin laden did this....i mean good lord they have got you brainwashed. I hope you wake us some day, unless you prefer to believe a lie.


the more people who actually research the events surrounding 9/11, the more understand that terrorism from the middle east is a promulgated threat.

Do you know why we are suspicious of these people? because of the things that THEY HAVE SAID AND DONE IN THE PAST. click my link.


Edit again:

"thegforce" - there is your simple-minded follower right there. he probably is a fox news fan.

Answer 5

If it is feasible, then it perhaps actual. Maybe it particularly is a giant conspiracy through the federal government and all the media besides AM radio men. Maybe it is tremendous lizard persons who're operated directly to appear human and feature taken over management of so much countries. What if I suppose whatever even worse? You cannot turn out it isn't taking place at this very second!

Answer 6

PEOPLE DONT CLING TO CONSPIRACY THEORYS!! If anything to only people who cling are those whom believe and hold on to evrything people in power,such as bush say..People who question what they say,the actions they take and the decisions they make are the people whom are the most STRONG minded because they are smart enough to question what happens in this world,,people who dismiss theories as to what the real truth may be, are the weak minded as they dont want to accept that the people whom they have stuck to every word out their mouth could be false,,so instead of questioning it they just ignore the fact it could be false...and people who believe in conspiracy theories are not the people who are "believing" someone is in control!

It is also the weakminded whom take the comfort in the idea it was just 19 GUYS! not the conspiracists who have the idea that bush could be behind it,,they are the strong minded becasue they QUESTION the crappy and messed up world we live,,those you just listen to those in power are the people who like to just believe someone is control

Answer 7

Some people want so badly to come down on one side with which they 'identify' that they would prefer to believe a myth than to accept the facts.

Whether or not, for example, you believe there was a second gunman in the JFK assassination, he was not killed to keep us in Vietnam. That would require that he was going to pull out of Vietnam, even though he had done nothing but involve us more deeply in Vietnam over the 3 years of his presidency.

Answer 8

Conspiracy theories are simply far too fun to ignore!

Go read "Everything is Under Control" by Robert Anton Wilson.

Answer 9

Exactly, but it goes a bit deeper. It's that belief that your much more "in tune" than everyone else, since you can "see through" the stories. People who do this don't believe their paranoid, they believe they can see things the rest of us can't. The problem is, rarely do the actual facts support it, and none of them realize how difficult it is to keep a true conspiracy quiet.

Answer 10

It's all about JUSTIFYING ONES BELIEFS (or, in most cases, fantasies). In some cases, like Rosie, it's about stirring up controversy or seeking shock value. Some people thrive on that.