Here is why conspiracy theories are so attractive nowadays

[noname223]

Maybe this thread will explode or as some other of my recent threads mostly be ignored.
I try to be somewhat nuanced.

First of all there are some conspiracy theories which proved to be true. Sometimes the word conspiracy theorist is used as a label in order to undermine someone without listening to his/her stance. I think there are some current conspiracy theories which I consider as plausible or even likely. Like Epstein or the covid lab theory.

On the other hand there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there which I consider as completely insane or obivously not true. There are some people who tend to go the rabbit hole quite often. These people can be intelligent or can have a high reputation in society. This is not necessarily a contradiction.
Some examples: the flat earth theory, the false claim the Ukraine government would consist of drug addicted nazis or microchips in vaccines. Sometimes these "theories" can be really dangerous. Some expert say we should not call them a theory rather a conspiracy narrative. (don't know the exact translation in English).

The conspiracy theory about the Ukraine is even widespread in western countries. It should legimatize an assault against another peaceful nation. It shall be an excuse for starting a cruel war and crimes against humanity.

Another example is the reptilian conspiracy theory. I think there was one man who started a shooting in a pizzeria because of it. He thought the elites would drink the bloods of babies and he wanted to prevent that.

Many conspiracy theories include antisemitic stereoytypes. And my country has proved which horrible crimes can be committed when evil and wrong prejudices are widespread.

Now I come to the root of this phenomenon. There always have been conspiracy theories. For example about witches which led to cruel murdering of innocent women. In a world which is becoming more and more complex the people crave for (simple) truths and meaning. Something to which they can cling to. Some of them want to feel special. Superior to the naive crowd which they consider as simple sheep. (a herd) The internet facilitates that. Online you can find people who think like you. Algorithms of websites like youtube are designed so that people go down the rabbit hole. There are a lot of echo chambers online. Some people drift into parallel existences. This can tear societies or even families apart.

Now I could add some tips how to reach people who went down the rabbit hole. But this whole thread is already too long and I am not an expert. My thoughts are: Don't give up on them too early. Try to be respectful show your disagreements. Maybe point out some contradictions of the conspiracy narratives. If the person has doubts about something maybe you can come to some agreements.

Do you know someone you have "lost" to conspiracy theories? There will probably some people who will disagree vehemently with me especially about the vaccine microchip conspiracy narrative. It is currently quite popular. In general I have the feeling some theories might be popular in this forum. But on other platforms it is similar with them.

 

[Tristan]

Those conspiracy theories got even more intense after 9/11. There is this guy called David Icke. He talks so much BS and people aactually pay to see him live.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I love me a good conspiracy but lately the conspiracies themselves have become too political and hateful I think this is part of a bigger conspiracy to weed out conspiratorial people and make them look even stupider than we already are.

 

[Manaaja]

I wish there were more positive conspiracies, because right now, no matter how believable a conspiracy is or how much proof there is for it or even if it is really proven real, part of me doesn't want to believe it because it's so negative.

 

[silent staring void]

I think people love to see patterns in all the chaos so that makes conspiracy theories attractive. For me though, I think that my brain is just a pile of mush so I don't trust my ability to really know what's going on.

Except for the theory that Justin Trudeau is Fidel Castros son. I'm 100% a truther on that one.

 

[Smart No More]

I wish there were more positive conspiracies, because right now, no matter how believable a conspiracy is or how much proof there is for it or even if it is really proven real, part of me doesn't want to believe it because it's so negative.

Understandable. Unfortunately there's little reason to hide campaigns for positivity. Although, given the world we live in, these days perhaps it is. I'm certainly with you on wishing there was a secret plan in play to fix things. Wouldn't it be great for someone to suddenly stand up and say "we've had this in motion for years and guess what, we can now declare we've been successful and fixed things".

 

[Manaaja]

Understandable. Unfortunately there's little reason to hide campaigns for positivity. Although, given the world we live in, these days perhaps it is. I'm certainly with you on wishing there was a secret plan in play to fix things. Wouldn't it be great for someone to suddenly stand up and say "we've had this in motion for years and guess what, we can now declare we've been successful and fixed things".

Fully agreed.

It would be better if it was kinda like in the tv shows were someone is like "Hey do you know what day it is today?" and everyone is like "Don't know, don't care, we have other things to do, we don't have time to hang out with you today" and then in the end it turns out that they were planning a huge surprise party and were only being rude and distant so the recipient wouldn't suspect anything and in the end it's the biggest and happiest birthday party ever.

I want to be positively surprised.

 

[Julgran]

Do you know someone you have "lost" to conspiracy theories? There will probably some people who will disagree vehemently with me especially about the vaccine microchip conspiracy narrative. It is currently quite popular. In general I have the feeling some theories might be popular in this forum. But on other platforms it is similar with them.

There are so many layers to the world of "conspiracy theories" and "conspiracy facts", meaning that was seems to be false for one person, is fact to someone else, who might know more than the first person.

From my personal perspective, things like the Illuminati are based in conspiracy theories, while false justifications for war - often called "false flag operations" - the Bilderberg group and The Great Reset, are not. Of course, I have no first-hand knowledge about any of these subjects, but I'm thinking that if I did have such first-hand knowledge, I would be one of the evil ones...

To anyone who prefers to stay happily oblivious to some real-world consequences of the actions of the groups mentioned above, I suggest not trying to research any of them. Normal people - such as us - have enough on our plates to deal with, without having to worry about political maniacs.

Fully agreed.

It would be better if it was kinda like in the tv shows were someone is like "Hey do you know what day it is today?" and everyone is like "Don't know, don't care, we have other things to do, we don't have time to hang out with you today" and then in the end it turns out that they were planning a huge surprise party and were only being rude and distant so the recipient wouldn't suspect anything and in the end it's the biggest and happiest birthday party ever.

I want to be positively surprised.

One such "positive conspiracy" is the invention and keeping alive of the myth of Santa Clause. Just think how many children in the world are fooled into thinking that Santa Clause exists - even though it's for a good cause.