What makes people wacko conspiracy theorists?

[DaShuckster]

Why Do People Believe in Conspiracy Theories?

What motivates people to believe in conspiracy theories? Discover some of the psychological factors that contribute to conspiracy beliefs.

www.verywellmind.com

I often wonder how in the hell so many people have "gone off the rails" and believe in all kinds of crackpot conspiracy theories nowadays. Once upon a time, it was funny to listen to the 'ignorantcia' talk about Obama being born in Kenya. But nowadays, everything (from the freedom to not wear masks in public to a stolen election) can be heard out of the mouths of people you would have previously considered sane and responsible individuals.

In pondering this development, I discovered the linked article above. Sadly, it doesn't really talk much about how to bring an end to this societal nonsense but it did make some interesting points:

What The Research Suggests:​

• One study found that people who feel psychologically and sociopolitically disempowered are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.
• Another study found that people are also more likely to believe in conspiracies when they are experiencing anxiety.

Why People Believe In Conspiracies​

• They are on the “losing” side of a political issue.
• They have a lower social status.
• They have experienced social ostracism.
• They are prejudiced against “enemy” groups they perceive as powerful.

What's the answer? Are we destined to be surrounded by nutjobs from now on?

 

[KnighttimeJoe]

Low income + trailer camps + trailer camp trash + tornadoes = tornado bait trailer camp trash = conspiracy theorists

 

[Crazyhole]

We self generated from a rock soup then becoming a more complicated male-female situation and continuing on to change from a water breathing fish to a land creature but will now need an injection every few month in order to survive.

 

[DaShuckster]

I suspect that social media has greatly exacerbated the problem. In the past, if I had some crazy, nutjob notions, I kept my mouth shut for fear of being laughed at.

Nowadays, I can go on Twitter and get goosebumps discovering that -- low and behold -- there are other people who believe the same crazyass things I do!!!! WhoooHooo!!! I can now boldly step forward knowing I'm not alone.

 

[NinjaKnight]

Low income + trailer camps + trailer camp trash + tornadoes = tornado bait trailer camp trash = conspiracy theorists

My Facebook feed confirms this.

 

[KnighttimeJoe]

I suspect that social media has greatly exacerbated the problem. In the past, if I had some crazy, nutjob notions, I kept my mouth shut for fear of being laughed at.

Nowadays, I can go on Twitter and get goosebumps discovering that -- low and behold -- there are other people who believe the same crazyass things I do!!!! WhoooHooo!!! I can now boldly step forward knowing I'm not alone.

You could go on Twitter right now and cite something crazy like horse paste is a solid remedy for fighting COVID and people would probably believe it, even as stupid as it sounds.

 

[Crazyhole]

Miami will be underwater by 2019.

 

[DaShuckster]

Funny you mentioned election fraud with the United States having no verification of mail in ballots. We have video evidence of fraud. We just don't know the scale. That isn't a conspiracy theory.

You're a textbook example of a wacko conspiracy theorist.

I wonder why some sheep thought they needed to wear gloves for takeout? Why they thought a cloth mask would help as the data showed it didn't make a significant difference across free states vs commie states.

Keep going. You're on a wacko conspiracy theorist role.

 

[DaShuckster]

Wearing gloves a conspiracy theory?

Nope. The closest I come to wacko behavior is posting here.

 

[Crazyhole]

2 shots didn't last as long as expected, but the 3rd shot will do the trick.

 

[Crazyhole]

People that walk 1500 miles across the desert and swim across the Rio Grande don't need to show proof of vaccination because they aren't planning on staying, but those flying into Orlando to visit Disney World might become permanent residents. -Psaki

 

[Crazyhole]

Photo ID to buy alcohol is OK but if it's required to vote it is racist.

 

[Crazyhole]

Love this thread ❤

The OP made for a pretty easy target.

 

[Crazyhole]

The Hunter Biden laptop story is Russian disinformation.

 

[_glaciers]

the left collectively forgetting about their 4 years of REEEEEEEEEEEEE'ing over Russia is downright amazing.

its like when you watch a flock of birds move in unison. I don't know the mechanics behind it but its just in their nature.

 

[Nautiknight]

Distrust .

I am a biologist by education and don't really practice in my field . science is about questioning and somewhat being skeptical while being curious .

In the early part of 2020 when COVID was ravaging the free world some scientists asked questions about the origins of the virus. Some ,actually many , speculated a lab leak located in Wuhan. As that built up some steam based on science ,along comes Uncle Fauci and his buddy Peter Danask (so) of Eco Health Alliance . They rounded every one up and squashed the lab leak and then ostracized and demonized anyone who believed it as a conspiracy whacko .

Turns out a year and half later Danask has had to resign from Lancet as he has had huge conflict of interest in this entire thing as Eco Health Alliance funded gain of function research in Wuhan using Faucis NIH grant money . Turns out most of the worlds scientist now think COVID cane from a lab. The bat explanation never made sense to me at all and I was skeptical of it's magical transmission from bat to people for a number of reasons .

SO, When bureaucrats lie ,the media does their bidding and when you legitimately have a real conspiracy under our noses , well that's why people distrust power and distrust the media and government. Voila , , you get conspiracy when the media especially is not interested in the truth.

 

[DaShuckster]

Distrust.

Let me get this straight: You embrace batsh!t conspiracy theories on Twitter and Facebook because....you distrust the media and the government??!?

How can you argue against such iron-clad Chud Logic?

 

[KnighttimeJoe]

Distrust .

I am a biologist by education

I must have missed this the first 50,000 times you mentioned it.

 

[hemightbejeremy]

Conspiracy theorists lack critical thinking skills: New study

The more people believe in conspiracy theories, the worse they perform on critical thinking tests, a new study has confirmed.

thenewdaily.com.au

 

[UCFKnight85]

Distrust .

I am a biologist by education and don't really practice in my field . science is about questioning and somewhat being skeptical while being curious .

In the early part of 2020 when COVID was ravaging the free world some scientists asked questions about the origins of the virus. Some ,actually many , speculated a lab leak located in Wuhan. As that built up some steam based on science ,along comes Uncle Fauci and his buddy Peter Danask (so) of Eco Health Alliance . They rounded every one up and squashed the lab leak and then ostracized and demonized anyone who believed it as a conspiracy whacko .

Turns out a year and half later Danask has had to resign from Lancet as he has had huge conflict of interest in this entire thing as Eco Health Alliance funded gain of function research in Wuhan using Faucis NIH grant money . Turns out most of the worlds scientist now think COVID cane from a lab. The bat explanation never made sense to me at all and I was skeptical of it's magical transmission from bat to people for a number of reasons .

SO, When bureaucrats lie ,the media does their bidding and when you legitimately have a real conspiracy under our noses , well that's why people distrust power and distrust the media and government. Voila , , you get conspiracy when the media especially is not interested in the truth.

COVID escaping a Chinese lab is not a conspiracy theory; it's a logical, reasonable explanation that many people have embraced as the likely cause of the pandemic.

Claiming that the vaccines don't work, are killing people, have 5G tracking, etc etc etc are conspiracy theories. Crazy ones, too. These theories are rooted in absolutely nothing scientific, logical, or reasonable. Hence why many people spent the summer in an ICU, telling their nurse that they wish they weren't so gullible and dumb and had just gotten vaccinated.

 

[UCF11and1]

The Hunter Biden laptop story is Russian disinformation.

Just like nobody cared about Trump's descendants, nobody cares about Hunter.

BTW, did they finish printing all the emails and pictures? Did the package made it to CA?

 

[Crazyhole]

Just like nobody cared about Trump's descendants, nobody cares about Hunter.

BTW, did they finish printing all the emails and pictures? Did the package made it to CA?

They're still printing them out. Unfortunately all they have is a used, Russian made dot-matrix printer and the ink cartridges are sitting in a Chinese transport ship sitting off the coast of California

 

[NinjaKnight]

I must have missed this the first 50,000 times you mentioned it.

He's the new UCFBS, equally stupid and just as annoying.

 

[Crazyhole]

He's the new UCFBS, equally stupid and just as annoying.

You're the uneducated that Trump loves. The guys that you are insulting have college degrees, so by definition they aren't stupid. Right?

 

[Knight In TN]

Let me get this straight: You embrace batsh!t conspiracy theories on Twitter and Facebook because....you distrust the media and the government??!?

How can you argue against such iron-clad Chud Logic?

I’d like to get a clear answer here:

Do you think the virus came from the Wuhan Virology Lab that studied bat coronaviruses?

Or do you think that it came from someone eating a bat from a Wuhan wet market?

Or some other origin?

 

[Crazyhole]

I’d like to get a clear answer here:

Do you think the virus came from the Wuhan Virology Lab that studied bat coronaviruses?

Or do you think that it came from someone eating a bat from a Wuhan wet market?

Or some other origin?

I'm calling bullshit on the concept of anybody eating a bat in a civilized nation. It's the equivalent of me or you eating a rat under any circumstance that doesn't involve starvation.

"Yeah, throw a full bat with the hair and eyeballs into my soup" -said nobody. Ever.

 

[DaShuckster]

I’d like to get a clear answer here: Do you think the virus came from the Wuhan Virology Lab that studied bat coronaviruses? Or do you think that it came from someone eating a bat from a Wuhan wet market?

Seriously, how does the answer to THAT have ANYTHING to do with the decision to get the COVID vaccine??!? 🤪

 

[OLearyLastCall]

I’d like to get a clear answer here:

Do you think the virus came from the Wuhan Virology Lab that studied bat coronaviruses?

Or do you think that it came from someone eating a bat from a Wuhan wet market?

Or some other origin?

Signs point to the first. Also possible it could be the second. Not sure what other origin it could be. Why do you people think the vaccine is some bioweapon that will kill you when every single elite in this country has taken it and those that haven't are dying at alarming rates?

 

[Knight In TN]

Seriously, how does the answer to THAT have ANYTHING to do with the decision to get the COVID vaccine??!? 🤪

You started a thread about conspiracy theories, not about the vaccine.

Someone responded with something that was scoffed at as a wacky conspiracy theory and marked as misinformation widely across social media. Now it’s well accepted as a valid theory, if not the most likely and reasonable possibility.

I asked you what you thought about that particular piece of information, and you deflected into talking about the vaccine.

A straight answer, please.

 

[DaShuckster]

You started a thread about conspiracy theories, not about the vaccine.

That's because KNIGHTTIME has used it numerous times to 'explain' his vaccine suspicions.

Someone responded with something that was scoffed at as a wacky conspiracy theory and marked as misinformation widely across social media. Now it’s well accepted as a valid theory, if not the most likely and reasonable possibility.

As has been stated in this thread earlier, COVID escaping from a Chinese lab isn't a conspiracy theory.

If you want to argue that people DON'T jump on wacko conspiracy theories, explain away Qnon, the anti-vaxxers, or the Stop the Steal movement.

 

[hemightbejeremy]

Sections of family tree that don’t branch…primarily.

 

[Knight In TN]

That's because KNIGHTTIME has used it numerous times to 'explain' his vaccine suspicions.

As has been stated in this thread earlier, COVID escaping from a Chinese lab isn't a conspiracy theory.

If you want to argue that people DON'T jump on wacko conspiracy theories, explain away Qnon, the anti-vaxxers, or the Stop the Steal movement.

I never said people don’t jump on conspiracy theories.

But what was a conspiracy theory and actually censored on social media this time last year has been all but proven to be the truth at this point.

In fact, quite a lot of things that were laughed at as right-wing conspiracy nonsense has actually started happening already, especially concerning vaccine mandates.

I’m not talking about 5G, microchips, mind control, or anything like that. I’m talking about vaccine passports, mandates to keep working, etc. which plenty of people laughed at and said wouldn’t happen. They said the people who were afraid of such things were hysterical conspiracy nuts, and it turns out they were right.

 

[hemightbejeremy]

I never said people don’t jump on conspiracy theories.

But what was a conspiracy theory and actually censored on social media this time last year has been all but proven to be the truth at this point.

In fact, quite a lot of things that were laughed at as right-wing conspiracy nonsense has actually started happening already, especially concerning vaccine mandates.

I’m not talking about 5G, microchips, mind control, or anything like that. I’m talking about vaccine passports, mandates to keep working, etc. which plenty of people laughed at and said wouldn’t happen. They said the people who were afraid of such things were hysterical conspiracy nuts, and it turns out they were right.

People said that vaccine mandates (which existed long before Covid) were a conspiracy theory? People said that travel contingent on proof of vaccination (which existed long before Covid) was a conspiracy theory?

That’s funny.

 

[Crazyhole]

People said that vaccine mandates (which existed long before Covid) were a conspiracy theory? People said that travel contingent on proof of vaccination (which existed long before Covid) was a conspiracy theory?

That’s funny.

What vaccination has the US required to enter the country in the past? I honestly don't know, I thought that was always a thing that other countries required.

 

[Crazyhole]

Maybe my favorite wacko conspiracy theory ever:

The government wants to protect Healthcare workers, so they are going to stop patients from going to the hospital unless they are healthy and then force the hospitals to fire all of the nurses. The nurses can't go out to eat in a restaurant unless they have a card that says they have been vaccinated, and only if they wear a mask. They can take the mask off when they sit down, but if they get up to go to the bathroom they have to put it back on, and that is only allowed if they carry a card that says they have been vaccinated which means they can't get sick or get anybody else sick, but the mask is required to protect others while they walk to the restroom. Then when they go to pay for their meal, if they have 600 dollars or more in their bank account the federal government will be alerted to the details of their purchase. If they have less than 600 dollars in their bank account it will also be reported to the federal government because that means there is the possibility that they are hiding something. Oh, and if they go to a schoolboard meeting the FBI will be alerted.

 

[hemightbejeremy]

What vaccination has the US required to enter the country in the past? I honestly don't know, I thought that was always a thing that other countries required.

We don’t require a vaccine to enter the US. But other countries have required vaccinations to enter. I was more speaking to the concept of conditional travel. I mean at the height of Covid we had outright bans on travel.

 

[Knight In TN]

We don’t require a vaccine to enter the US. But other countries have required vaccinations to enter. I was more speaking to the concept of conditional travel. I mean at the height of Covid we had outright bans on travel.

Precedent existing is a very poor way to justify anything. There’s examples of other countries doing a lot of things that I hope we never see here or anywhere else ever again.

 

[hemightbejeremy]

Precedent existing is a very poor way to justify anything. There’s examples of other countries doing a lot of things that I hope we never see here or anywhere else ever again.

We were discussing whether those things were “conspiracy theories” not if there is justification for them. Try and keep up.

 

[Knight In TN]

We were discussing whether those things were “conspiracy theories” not if there is justification for them. Try and keep up.

Cute.

They were called conspiracy theories by people who laughed at those who predicted vaccine requirements to travel.

 

[DaShuckster]

They were called conspiracy theories by people who laughed at those who predicted vaccine requirements to travel.

What??? Vaccine requirements to travel was a 'wacko' conspiracy theory??!?

I suppose the easiest way to explain away these wackos is to reinvent what they believe in.