2 ms·

That’s awful logic. I believe X, therefore I also believe Y and Z because some people who believe in Y believe in Z. See how that doesn’t make any sense?

krapp 4y ago
That's exactly how it works, though. You believe X, and you're more likely to be convinced of Y and Z if Y and Z correlate with a worldview that already accepts X as normal. If you believe JFK was assassinated by the CIA, for instance, you're more likely to accept that 9/11 was an inside job, because a government capable of one is capable of the other. If you're already anti-vaxx, you're more likely to believe in COVID conspiracy theories, because you already believe vaccines are poison and the medical establishment is lying to everyone. People are emotional beings, not rational. Even most people who think they're as coldly logical and passionless as a compiler are driven primarily by a need to preserve their ego and reinforce their existing biases. Why do you think so many conspiracy theories spread across social media as well as they do? It's precisely because of that effect.
- postingposts 4y ago
  That’s not how it works. Not even remotely. That’s how your brain has decided things function and your explanation has merely been good or functional for you. It’s not logical.
  - krapp 4y ago
    Logic has little to do with human behavior, much less belief in conspiracy theories.
- tonis2 4y ago
  The same logic could be used in saying the word NO, if a person says NO the first time, he is more likely to say NO the second time, and a third time. So we should probably forbid saying NO at all, cause otherwise people will say NO to everything. But the real world, is not that black and white.
  - krapp 4y ago
    > The same logic could be used in saying the word NO, if a person says NO the first time, he is more likely to say NO the second time, and a third time. Yes, that's what a verbal tic is, people develop them all the time. But you're purposely ignoring the complexity of human psychology and social dynamics involved in what I'm talking about and employing a reductionist "logic' that doesn't even relate to my point. I'm not the one using black and white thinking. A better example of what i'm talking about would be the "Big Lie," a propaganda technique employed by Goebbels and Stalin. It works because people will eventually believe something, even something they know to be false, simply because it's repeated often enough. In an environment where one is surrounded by truth-bubbles like social media, that effect is multiplied because the propaganda tends to come from people you already trust. I mean look at most threads about conspiracy theory here on HN and you'll see plenty of comments justifying conspiracy A because conspiracy B was proven to be true, even though that makes no rational sense. That's the way people are.

krapp 4y ago

That's exactly how it works, though. You believe X, and you're more likely to be convinced of Y and Z if Y and Z correlate with a worldview that already accepts X as normal. If you believe JFK was assassinated by the CIA, for instance, you're more likely to accept that 9/11 was an inside job, because a government capable of one is capable of the other. If you're already anti-vaxx, you're more likely to believe in COVID conspiracy theories, because you already believe vaccines are poison and the medical establishment is lying to everyone. People are emotional beings, not rational. Even most people who think they're as coldly logical and passionless as a compiler are driven primarily by a need to preserve their ego and reinforce their existing biases. Why do you think so many conspiracy theories spread across social media as well as they do? It's precisely because of that effect.

postingposts 4y ago
That’s not how it works. Not even remotely. That’s how your brain has decided things function and your explanation has merely been good or functional for you. It’s not logical.
- krapp 4y ago
  Logic has little to do with human behavior, much less belief in conspiracy theories.
tonis2 4y ago
The same logic could be used in saying the word NO, if a person says NO the first time, he is more likely to say NO the second time, and a third time. So we should probably forbid saying NO at all, cause otherwise people will say NO to everything. But the real world, is not that black and white.
- krapp 4y ago
  > The same logic could be used in saying the word NO, if a person says NO the first time, he is more likely to say NO the second time, and a third time. Yes, that's what a verbal tic is, people develop them all the time. But you're purposely ignoring the complexity of human psychology and social dynamics involved in what I'm talking about and employing a reductionist "logic' that doesn't even relate to my point. I'm not the one using black and white thinking. A better example of what i'm talking about would be the "Big Lie," a propaganda technique employed by Goebbels and Stalin. It works because people will eventually believe something, even something they know to be false, simply because it's repeated often enough. In an environment where one is surrounded by truth-bubbles like social media, that effect is multiplied because the propaganda tends to come from people you already trust. I mean look at most threads about conspiracy theory here on HN and you'll see plenty of comments justifying conspiracy A because conspiracy B was proven to be true, even though that makes no rational sense. That's the way people are.