Vindication for all of us whack jobs...

This says it all: "Recent studies by psychologists and social scientists in the US and UK suggest that contrary to mainstream media stereotypes, those labeled “conspiracy theorists” appear to be saner than those who accept the official versions of contested events."

All I can say to that statement is well... duh.

Hmm... what flavor are you?

Just kidding of course. One reason people get so worked up with the conspiracy theorists is that the conspiracies go against their belief systems. People can get all kinds of crazy when you mess with their beliefs.

That entire site (therebel) is built on controversial link bait, it's a classic traffic/link building technique.

I bet they get massive traffic (seriously).

So 9/11 was an inside job after-all. :rolleyes:

-Chris

Not to disregard all conspiracy theories, but the research this article mentions comes from - University of Kent, SUNY Buffalo, University of Guelph (is that even a place?), Boise State University. Three out of four of these universities I've never even heard of before. And I've heard of SUNY Buffalo only because that's where most 'average' Indian students go to do their masters in the US. It is very likely that these researchers are conspiracy theorists themselves and had their own run in with the confirmation bias. Maybe the research would be more credible if it came out of one of the better universities - research in social sciences being less concrete than those in hard sciences.

That's not to say every conspiracy theorist is talking out of their ass. But, a lot of them are. I ran into one on Quora who made wild claims but refused to post even a scintilla of proof. He said that he'd heard it from a acquaintance, who according to him was a credible source and in a position to make such claims. I asked him if he could provide any source at all, he said that anything he said would be not good as an affiadivit from a (now) dead Indian politician. Then he went on to say I had no critical thinking ability and blah.. blah.. And then I said some things.

Most sane people have no problem debating a conspiracy theorist who has an alternative explanation of how things might have happened, but it's the "I am right, you are wrong and I don't need to prove it" kinds that piss me off. They breed other "I am right, you are wrong and I don't need to prove it"s. They have heard it from somewhere else, a nutjob friend or from political dogma, and think they are all wise.

Those who have read hundreds of articles on a subject and have informed opinions are really fun to debate, actually because they intellectually challenge you. I wouldn't call them conspiracists, they are just smart people.

But, on this study, I'll take a pass.

Yeah, being in the majority does NOT make you right! If anyone says it does, WATCH OUT! Some of the biggest discoveries and inventions have been so AGAINST the majority that the creators had their lives threatened. Some likely WERE killed.

STILL, the idea that a conspiracy could never be one unless the majority believes it is ludicrous. FURTHER, if you believe one, that is not PRECISELY as believed, it does NOT make you an idiot. It is even possible that, while not being a conspiracy, you may be 100% right on everything else. Meanwhile, your detractors may doubt the most basic of facts.

I long believed a conspiracy. The basic premise is fact, though some may choose not to believe, etc.... I thought the motivation was monetary greed, incompetence, and laziness. NOW, I hear people saying that the end result is/was PLANNED! They claim it was politically motivated. It IS mentioned in Agenda 21, which claims it is ECOLOGICALLY motivated!

OK, OK! Who knows? I thought it was driven by a common condition which, though a conspiracy, was driven by such a common condition that it simply fell into place. Agenda 21 tries to give it common goal to get some to force it and accept it. Outside of that, they claim that a relatively small party created it. That last one is hard to believe until you realize that they really are a major driving force in the industry! Does it really matter if the motivation or origins are wrong? It is STILL a conspiracy!

And people claim that A21 is nothing...., Just an idea, etc.... YEAH, one forwarded by the UN in meetings that many attend from around the world. Many of the dumbest ideas are already showing up. Does it matter if some may simply think parts are a good idea? I fail to see how anyone could think a virtual hovel for an apartment, or denying farmers basic water rights, or discouraging the removal of stagnant water is a good idea.

Steve

I don't need the site in question or any other for that matter to understand that what many people scoff at as "conspiracy" is very often truer and more relevant than what the mainstream media calls factual and relevant.

There are at least a half dozen serious scandals in Washington at present and the focus this summer has been Paula Deen and sensational murder trials. Sorry, that news might be mildly interesting to some but hardly relevant in light of the blatant nonsense including loss of freedom and liberty at the hands of our so-called leaders for the last 20+ years.

The article can also be seen as a clever satire of the pseudo-rationalist point of view of the mainstream media and most academic studies. There have been various attempts to "psychologize" the so-called conspiracy movement -attributing these beliefs to scientific sounding disorders. Here we see that the reverse can be done just as easily.

It makes sense to be skeptical of everything, whether the source is mainstream or alternative.

Well, we can talk all around this issue but no one has mentioned any particular conspiracy theory. Here's a doozy. I dated a woman a few years back who believed humanity was being guided by extraterrestrials and that their mother ship was orbiting the earth beaming people up and back as needed. They were able to clone various important individuals and the clones were silently working to change our culture to a utopia. She told me Bush and Cheney were clones and the real guys were being detained on the mother ship. She said there were tens of thousands of regular earthlings taking part in this movement.

Obviously, this stuff didn't surface until I'd known her for a couple of months but she was dead-ass serious about it. She explained that very soon all of humanity would be united and prosperous. Everyone on the planet would be millionaires.

So I asked what I thought was the obvious. "If everyone is going to be wealthy who's gonna pick the beans, change the tires and pump the gas?" Without missing a beat she explained that the mother ship had an endless supply of "replicator devices" and that everyone would receive one. All you had to do was point this gadget at anything you wanted and you'd immediately receive that item whether it was a turnip or a Boeing 777.

She wanted me to attend a meeting where the enlightened earthlings were choosing folks to replace the present members of Congress at transition time. At the proper moment these people would simply assume the reigns of power but by then we would be so enlightened that leaders wouldn't be needed as they are now. I declined making the meeting explaining that I had to wash my hair.

I actually did a few searches and found a lot of stuff out there that sounded similar. Now, that's a conspiracy theory to beat all theories.

On a more realistic note, look at 911 as being an inside job. I'm not going to go too far with this because the thread will get nuked or locked. But in light of what we know (documented, factual stuff) about how WW I got started (the sinking of the Lusitania with our leader knowing about it beforehand) and WW II (Roosevelt knowing we were going to be attacked well in advance of it happening) I somehow don't have a lot of trouble believing we aren't getting the straight story on 911, far from it actually.

Conspiracy or not, there is a long-standing cartel of highly influential families in Europe that want to rule the world. They've been trying for centuries. In effect, they already control a great deal of what goes on. One of their problems has been the United States and that pesky freedom and liberty thing. But it would seem they've got that under control in the last couple of decades. What they didn't figure into the picture was China.

After thousands of years the sleeping Asian giant is waking up and it doesn't look like they're going to sit still for domination from any old school European boys club. Conspiracy? There's plenty of credible evidence out there if you want it. Pass the popcorn, wouldya?

Since I'm not an actual "social researcher", let's see what the real researcher, Mike Wood, has to say about the article written by Kevin Barrett:

Setting the record straight on Wood & Douglas, 2013 | The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories

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I didn't know when you were telling me to STFU in the recent past, you were doing it without integrity at the time. If I only knew

Of course it's a crock. Won't be long before some stupid crap is "released" about Snowden either if they think they can pull it off. This time the evidence just keeps putting things further down the rabbit hole, though, so they might just lay off completely. ANYTHING they say or do right now might backfire. People are awake and extremely pissed off about this one and the resultant IRS scandal.

There are paraders right in here, Shane. There's one on my rock forum, too. They're all over the place. That shouldn't surprise anyone.

To a degree - There are people who come from a mostly fact basis and who can reason logically. I've seen some in this thread, so though it is not exclusive to a side, it need not rationally be equal for all sides.

Missed the commas.

Where might Thom have articulated any side Terra? or did you just feel compelled to claim it?

I don't know. You will have to ask the sides that don't.

Lol, you folks are in the middle of a sales funnel.

Keep debating, Kevin Barrett needs more Amazon book sales in the religion category.

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