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Psychology of conspiracy theories

Psychology of conspiracy theories

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shavixmir
Lord

Sewers of Holland

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https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0clbp99/the-psychology-behind-conspiracy-theories

It’s a five minute BBC film. And very interesting (although not very indepth).

The basic summary is two-fold:
- certain personality types are more inclined to believe in conspiracy theories (narcissists for example).
- conspiracy theories offer stability, where as facts basically offer instability (you keep updating the perspective as new facts come along).

So, people who are scared or insecure are more likely to latch on to a conspiracy theory.
Hence, for example, during a pandemic (whether people want to admit it to themselves or not, brought a lot of people anxiety and insecurity) lots of people grab hold of stabalising theories to make sense of the world.

Beautiful really. How the mind works.

Beowulf
Misfit King

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1 edit

I can agree with that.

Also, some people refuse to believe that life is pretty boring and dumb so they need some extra stimulus.

The only outlandish theory I ever got interested in was the hollow earth theory. I was very young. πŸ€—

s
Fast and Curious

slatington, pa, usa

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@Beowulf
So the Earth is NOT flat and men actually walked on the moon?πŸ™‚

Beowulf
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@sonhouse said
@Beowulf
So the Earth is NOT flat and men actually walked on the moon?πŸ™‚
Well the earth is definitely not flat...😏

MB

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@shavixmir said
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0clbp99/the-psychology-behind-conspiracy-theories

It’s a five minute BBC film. And very interesting (although not very indepth).

The basic summary is two-fold:
- certain personality types are more inclined to believe in conspiracy theories (narcissists for example).
- conspiracy theories offer stability, where as facts basically offer ...[text shortened]... ab hold of stabalising theories to make sense of the world.

Beautiful really. How the mind works.
But everybody believes in conspiracy theories.
You just described the human race.

shavixmir
Lord

Sewers of Holland

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13 Jul 22

@metal-brain said
But everybody believes in conspiracy theories.
You just described the human race.
No they do not.

Sigh.

MB

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@shavixmir said
No they do not.

Sigh.
I can prove it.

I will start with African Americans. What percentage of African Americans believed OJ Simpson was innocent of murder right after the verdict was announced?

What percentage of Americans believed election interference claims by Hillary Clinton? What percentage of Americans believed election interference claims by Trump?

Suzianne
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@metal-brain said
But everybody believes in conspiracy theories.
You just described the human race.
Desperate to seem normal, are you?

Yeah, believing in conspiracy theories is perfectly normal... among the stupid.

MB

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@suzianne said
Desperate to seem normal, are you?

Yeah, believing in conspiracy theories is perfectly normal... among the stupid.
You are the perfect example. You believed HRC's election meddling claims. You still do. That is a conspiracy theory. You are in denial as usual, but we expect that from you. You are a conspiracy theorist who thinks your conspiracy theory is sensible.

News flash. All conspiracy theorists think their conspiracy theory is sensible unless they are making it up and don't really believe it.

Earl of Trumps
Pawn Whisperer

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@suzianne said
Desperate to seem normal, are you?

Yeah, believing in conspiracy theories is perfectly normal... among the stupid.
Did Hilary Clinton conspire with the FBI to spy on presidential candidate, Donald Trump?

Yeah, right,. Some conspiracy theories are actually conspiracy facts.

shavixmir
Lord

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@earl-of-trumps said
Did Hilary Clinton conspire with the FBI to spy on presidential candidate, Donald Trump?

Yeah, right,. Some conspiracy theories are actually conspiracy facts.
However, the moon landings did happen, vaccines work and trump is a criminal.

Suzianne
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@earl-of-trumps said
Did Hilary Clinton conspire with the FBI to spy on presidential candidate, Donald Trump?

Yeah, right,. Some conspiracy theories are actually conspiracy facts.
Spy?

Damn, you're as gullible as MB.

Wajoma
Die Cheeseburger

Provocation

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@shagdoodyforbrains

Shag you're our man on the ground (ok so you got stuck in a traffic jam and saw some signs) in the Netherlands, you reckoned the protest was fizzing out, I expect it's almost over you got a sit rep?*

*Deciphering a shag doody post: As with anything coming out of the CCP a factor of 10 should be applied to counter the exaggeration propaganda, it's either 10 times worse or 10 times better than anything he reports.

shavixmir
Lord

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@wajoma said
@shagdoodyforbrains

Shag you're our man on the ground (ok so you got stuck in a traffic jam and saw some signs) in the Netherlands, you reckoned the protest was fizzing out, I expect it's almost over you got a sit rep?*

*Deciphering a shag doody post: As with anything coming out of the CCP a factor of 10 should be applied to counter the exaggeration propaganda, it's either 10 times worse or 10 times better than anything he reports.
If anyone knew what you were on about, they still wouldn't care.

Wajoma
Die Cheeseburger

Provocation

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1 edit

@shavixmir said
If anyone knew what you were on about, they still wouldn't care.
'sit rep'

Situation Report dumbo.

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