Conspiracy theorists... are they all just a bit thick?

Conspiracy theorists... are they all just a bit thick?

Author
Discussion

Cold

14,109 posts

77 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
Is there another side of this coin that means you believe everything you read and are told without question or query? Because some might suggest that's just naivety.
Surely it's correct to be objective and curious instead of quietly accepting something simply because the nice man on the BBC* said so?

Yes, there are definitely some loons around with crackpot theories but I think it's right to maintain an amount of cynicism of some stories, news outlets and individuals - especially elected individuals.


*other services are available.

Harrison Bergeron

5,444 posts

209 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
Roman Rhodes said:
A bit of reading for many on the various COVID threads:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55350794

Must of course be dismissed because BBC, MSM!
You don’t think this is a bit dodgy
bbc said:
Encourage critical thinking
People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
I’ll bet you believed the graphs that had the country at 1000 deaths a day rising to 4000 now.
Obvs calling people thick is a fantastic way of convincing them you’re right

mike74

3,687 posts

119 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
I think there are 2 ends of the spectrum... yes anyone who believes in all the most wild and outlandish conspiracy theories is clearly a bit thick, but equally anyone who takes anything and everything at face value that they have spoon fed to them, especially government propaganda via the MSM, is equally thick, gullible and incapable of critical thinking.

StevieBee

11,725 posts

242 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
mike74 said:
I think there are 2 ends of the spectrum... yes anyone who believes in all the most wild and outlandish conspiracy theories is clearly a bit thick, but equally anyone who takes anything and everything at face value that they have spoon fed to them, especially government propaganda via the MSM, is equally thick, gullible and incapable of critical thinking.
I totally agree with this, though with one important add on.

If we are not to take news at face value then we must explore the truth ourselves - or at least to a level that adds meat to the bone. Simply believing that a news story is "a load of old bks" is fine but you can't credibly share that view without some evidence to back it up - or at the very least a well thought out argument. Without that, such a view becomes the root of conspiracy theories.

Roman Rhodes

4,531 posts

76 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
Harrison Bergeron said:
Roman Rhodes said:
A bit of reading for many on the various COVID threads:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55350794

Must of course be dismissed because BBC, MSM!
You don’t think this is a bit dodgy
bbc said:
Encourage critical thinking
People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
I’ll bet you believed the graphs that had the country at 1000 deaths a day rising to 4000 now.
Obvs calling people thick is a fantastic way of convincing them you’re right
That last sentence is you doing your “own research” is it? Looks suspiciously like you making stuff up actually. rolleyes

grumbledoak

30,929 posts

220 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
lord trumpton said:
Conspiracy theories first crossed my path following 9/11, then it was the death of Bin Laden and more of late the whole covid-19 rubbishers etc.

Some of the supposed theories are truly laughable in my eyes and I just wondered if it's a certain type of person who believes and propagates this kind of guff?

You know, the suggestable type, the type that buys/reads the red top papers and believes what they see on Facebook - are these the typical thicky gobstes synonymous with conspiracy theories? Or have the chemtrails turned me into a cynic?
Let me get this straight, you are attempting to portray yourself as superior to a large, diverse group of people that you have never met by labelling them with a pejorative term based on what you assume they believe, and asking if they are thick?

A few too many last night, or are you always like that?

rofl

captain_cynic

9,305 posts

82 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
Roman Rhodes said:
Harrison Bergeron said:
Roman Rhodes said:
A bit of reading for many on the various COVID threads:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-55350794

Must of course be dismissed because BBC, MSM!
You don’t think this is a bit dodgy
bbc said:
Encourage critical thinking
People who believe conspiracy theories often say: "I do my own research."
I’ll bet you believed the graphs that had the country at 1000 deaths a day rising to 4000 now.
Obvs calling people thick is a fantastic way of convincing them you’re right
That last sentence is you doing your “own research” is it? Looks suspiciously like you making stuff up actually. rolleyes
He did an excellent job of proving your point.

I don't see anything dodgy about encouraging critical thinking... I do see something dodgy about quoting an article that isn't linked.

There is no point arguing with these types as they'll never listen. They've made their minds up and any evidence to the contrary is a lie made up by the lamesteeam Meeja.

Calling them "a bit thick" is one of the more polite responses.

djcube

327 posts

57 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
I worked with a guy ten years ago and he was rattling on about everything like he is an expert and really knows whats going on , always posting on Facebook what truths he has found, some of it is plausible but mostly bks.

He is like a Meerkat with ADHD that has been at the Red Bull, to wash down the blue Smarties, anything happens in the world and up he pops.
You know my brother then? He also fits the title of this thread.

It was, at one time, good sport winding him up. I just try to avoid him now.



LimJim

2,274 posts

29 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
It's a rarer breed, but some apparently intelligent people can get sucked in. Intelligence is not flat. And expertise in one area can lead to overconfidence and susceptibility to conspiracy theories in another area. Especially if they are motivated to beleive.

Newton had some crazy ideas about religion and alchemy, even for his time. Tom Cruise is partial to a bit of scientology. And Musk was linking to some of the most dubious sources at his covidiot peak.

paulguitar

19,239 posts

100 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
LimJim said:
Newton had some crazy ideas about religion and alchemy, even for his time. Tom Cruise is partial to a bit of scientology. And Musk was linking to some of the most dubious sources at his covidiot peak.
True, and Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of ultra-logical Sherlock Holmes, actually believed in fairies.




cwis

1,077 posts

166 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
paulguitar said:
911 'truthers'
The engine's at the wrong end. Deal with it.

Funkmachine7

75 posts

91 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
The usual dose of Occam's razor in to the who's an why's of them deals with 99% of conspiracy theorys, and whats left is sane an logical but might not be true.

A sane theory' asks about things like David Kelly's death an corruption in government.
The insane heory' asks about lizard people, aliens an the illuminati.

paulguitar

19,239 posts

100 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
cwis said:
paulguitar said:
911 'truthers'
The engine's at the wrong end. Deal with it.
?

Leon R

2,690 posts

83 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
paulguitar said:
cwis said:
paulguitar said:
911 'truthers'
The engine's at the wrong end. Deal with it.
?
Lol.

woosh...

Ari

18,811 posts

202 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
Esceptico said:
Believing in conspiracy theories is very similar in my view to believing in religion (or equivalent nonsense such as ghosts or the soul that is inconsistent with our knowledge of the world gained through the scientific process). I think a weakness for magical thinking is part of human DNA and I’m not sure we will ever get rid of it.
Yup, this. I have a friend, nice chap actually and not stupid, but he believes in all of them, 5G melting your brain, Smart meters melting your brain, The Great Reset. He's even been on anti 5G protests!

It does come across as a religious thing. Just believe, and salvation will be yours.

He posts his 'facts' on Facebook recently and occasionally I debunk them for fun. A recent one was:

TWO PEOPLE DIED DURING THE VACCINE TRIALS! eek

There was a link to an official report and he was quite right. Two people who had been given the vaccine and had subsequently died. However it was out of something like 40,000 people and four people who had been given the placebo had also subsequently died - none of them in any way connected to the vaccine (four couldn't have been!). I pointed out that all this 'proved' was that you were twice as likely to live after being given the vaccine and he deleted the post! laugh

And that's the thing. When you point out that his 'proof' is completely wrong, he doesn't adjust his thinking, he simply ignored or deleted it, it's the same with very religious people.

Having said all if that, some of the government utter nonsense that's happening in response to the Covid, not to mention the censoring of the press and the censoring of things posted on social media that don't follow the official narrative does make you think...

paulguitar

19,239 posts

100 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
Leon R said:
paulguitar said:
cwis said:
paulguitar said:
911 'truthers'
The engine's at the wrong end. Deal with it.
?
Lol.

woosh...
Yes, I am sure a parrott is due. I have no idea what's going on here!

DanL

5,555 posts

252 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
paulguitar said:
Yes, I am sure a parrott is due. I have no idea what's going on here!
Porsche, not September 11. smile

anonymous-user

41 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
The greatest conspiracy theory at the moment is the US election. There’s an outright winner but the loser is using every CT going to sow seeds of distrust in the system and results and so cast doubt. The doubt is magnified by Twitter/FB posts and anecdotal stuff and it’s led to the US being divided and the current crisis.
It’s a dangerous time there, as if Aunt Fanny ‘claims’ she saw one ballot counter leave the room for a st then ten million votes get doubted and calls for them being thrown out as there ‘must have been’ a memory drive hidden in the bog cistern.

Trump says what they want to hear and gives air time to wild CT’s, his media lap it up and find another random Aunt Fanny and the whole thing goes round in ever increasing circles.

It used to be that if someone lied and was called out that anything else they said would be regarded as a lie - but not in the US now and less so here.

IMO Social Media is to blame as it’s not fact checked and allows those with no critical thinking to believe rubbish.

TheJimi

23,306 posts

230 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
paulguitar said:
Leon R said:
paulguitar said:
cwis said:
paulguitar said:
911 'truthers'
The engine's at the wrong end. Deal with it.
?
Lol.

woosh...
Yes, I am sure a parrott is due. I have no idea what's going on here!
Porsche 911...

Genau

33 posts

58 months

Wednesday 23rd December 2020
quotequote all
There's an awful lot of variation in the quality of conspiracy theories. Some are ridiculous but some are so close to the truth they don't deserve the name. In fact, it's the deniers who are the weird ones.

A couple in the stupid category from the past year (both COVID, sorry) were 5G and Hancock profiting from a vaccine. The "5G causes COVID-19" story was big for a few weeks back in spring but has died out now. Difficult to counter because it was so far into the realms of unicorn science - it's an equivalent of melting steel beams on 911. Generally, people don't know enough about it to be able to argue against. I really have no idea about the effect of burning aviation fuel on steel beams.

The other was pure stupidity. A company with "Porton" in it's name and located in Porton Down is working on a vaccine. A 70% shareholder is the Secretary of State for Health with an address at Department of Health HQ. Some very stupid, or very malicious, people claimed Matt Hancock was that shareholder and would thus make out like a bandit if the government funded this work. Anyone with an ounce of sense knows the 70% is the government's share in a Porton Down spin-off and that Matt Hancock and the Secretary of State for Health are not the same legal person. He does not personally own that share and will not financially benefit from it.

That's two untrue ones but what about the more borderline cases? Local councils abusing RIPA powers was a conspiracy theory until they got caught abusing RIPA powers. Maybe not in exactly the same way as portrayed in all of the conspiracy theories but the general gist of the story was correct.

A true meta conspiracy theorist knows the more ridiculous stories are spread to discredit the true ones. If the X-Files taught us anything, it was that.