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My anecdata here is that people go all-in on conspiracy theories when they have a hole in their lives that they are trying to fill. You can't argue them out of
by jl6 5y ago
My anecdata here is that people go all-in on conspiracy theories when they have a hole in their lives that they are trying to fill. You can't argue them out of it any more than you can argue a person of faith out of their religion. These things are rooted in emotion, not reason.
But I do believe you can mitigate conspiracy thinking by helping the theorist with their underlying problems, whatever those might be. Distract them from their obsession and increase their real-world engagement. Give them back a sense of control over their lives and they can start to rebuild their sense of reasonableness.
- thinkingemote 5y agoI agree, your prescription should work. A conspiracy theory gives people some control over their lives in that it explains chaos or random events, and puts people in charge of things. or maybe it's an answer for meaning in the world. It's comforting for many to think a world government is pulling the strings for some reason. It's more scary to realise that no one has control and things happen at random, meaninglessly.
- justin_oaks 5y agoI was surprised the article didn't mention how conspiracy theories give people: 1. A feeling of control, e.g. "Now that I know the truth, people won't manipulate me with their lies!" and 2. A feeling of superiority, e.g. "I'm smarter than all those sheep who don't see the truth!" Besides the biases mentioned in the article, these feelings must contribute to people believing conspiracy theories, or so I would think.
- jb775 5y ago"Conspiracy Theories" are ideas. Since we aren't discussing any specific theory here, you're essentially making a blanket statement saying "I don't like ideas that involve things I don't understand, or that you cannot prove to me right now". Most major inventions, realizations, or advancements in the history of the world began by discussing things people aren't necessarily comfortable with discussing. Or things that might sound crazy at first. This line of thinking is on par with the people who considered it blasphemy to say the world wasn't flat....or the people who were on board with burning the "witches" at the Salem witch trials. Secondly, I find it interesting that you shift the focus of your argument from the idea, to the person...especially considering we aren't talking about any specific theory here. That tells me that it doesn't matter what's actually being discussed, because you've already made up your mind. This is the mental foundation that allows things like discrimination and stereotyping to exist. Do you really not see that? Your cognitive dissonance is so strong, that your mind is tricking itself into actually believing there's something wrong with another person, simply because they discuss an idea you already made up your mind on.
- jl6 5y agoAll conspiracy theories are ideas but not all ideas are conspiracy theories. https://www.instagram.com/p/CF5Kh57Aw5L/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/p/CF5Kh57Aw5L/?hl=en Clearly I am talking about the upper regions of this pyramid, not simply new/uncomfortable ideas.