What Makes Some People So Closed-Minded to Conspiracies?

originally posted by: Enlil2215
a reply to: Moresby

It is my belief that these people either are afraid to even entertain a different theory other than the one given to them by the people they believe to be their protectors/providers/etc.

I think that speculation is the driving force in the vast majority of conspiracies, so it is just a lack of proof in the end more than anything else. The other side is people cherry pick their support in conspiracies and do not look at everything, or just outright discount anything in the official report...

I think the bigger question is why is EVERY official report discounted and bombarded by conspiracies. Is there anything official that you guys believe happen the way it is recorded? And when you do find one that you think is real there will be 100 people that will call you sheeple too.

a reply to: Xtrozero

Well yes but how easy is it for the general public to search for the proof of the conspiritorial claims they make when they don't have access to the scene of the crime Themselves? And no I'm not saying that we should allow any crack pot go in and try and look for there own evidence lol. But i think that taking something as fact because the word official has been slapped on it, without looking at the bigger picture behind it, is somewhat ignorant.

It just seems to me that many people like Occam's razor type of thinking?

The simplest explanation is usually the correct one?

To explore more complicated explanations, one has to delve further into research, and I think not only do people often have more things to think about/do than research conspiracy theories, (more pressing concerns: paying their bills, taking care of their families immediate needs...)

But they also are aware that delving into all that requires a whole lot of discernment, that isn't easy these days!
The internet is chock full o' BS, an it isn't easy to sift through and be confident that you have haven't been taken for a ride.

Sometimes too, people can just end up feeling like "I can't do anything about goings on that might be so secret and powerful, so why bother getting worked up about it? Why even know about it?"

I have seen for many years that the word conspiracy is presented in the media that such beliefs / people are silly/crazy (ever since 2001/9/11? at least). The whole word is associated as something negative.
People don't want other people thinking they are such people then of course.
So my conspiracy is that those who have power/control with the help of the media makes us belief such people are silly/crazy/odd.
Just look whenever you Q the official story (as you said), you feel like being attacked where you often must defend yourself and where emotions can get high.
As a result I also don't want that to happen so I try not to discuss my personal belief - keeping them more for myself, feeling it's not worth it (1; you don't make them think otherwise and 2 your personal relation with others can get damaged).
But that is not always easy, like on party where alcohol is evolved it's harder to stop saying what you think, and with alcohol emotions can get even more tense (example).

originally posted by: Plugin
I have seen for many years that the word conspiracies are presented in the media that such beliefs / people are silly/crazy (ever since 2001/9/11? at least). The whole word is associated as something negative.
People don't want other people thinking they are such people then of course.
So my conspiracy is that those who have power/control with the help of the media makes us belief such people are silly/crazy/odd.
Just look whenever you Q the official story (as you said), you feel like being attacked where you often must defend yourself and where emotions can get high.
As a result I also don't want that to happen so I try to discuss my personal belief or at least whenever I question things I keep them more for myself, feeling it's not worth it (1; you don't make them think otherwise and your personal relation with others can get damaged).

Exactly! I don't talk about the things I explore here with anyone! Can you imagine if your employer found out? Your business associates? Even some of your family and friends ! It could destroy many types of important relations!

What Makes Some People So Closed-Minded to Conspiracies?

They grow up with a view of the world that is tailboard for them by TPTB and believe the world works the way we have all been trained to see it. Its only since the internet that the masses have had any opportunity to hear a different version of events. When anything new is suggested that in direct conflict with what they have been taught to believe is true, they just cannot accept that it ha any merit at ll

The masses have been trained up to believe what the man (or woman) on the TV or radio says is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They have learned to believe that man on the TV always tells them the truth and politicians in a democracy are good honest people who would not lie to them.

originally posted by: Bluesma
It just seems to me that many people like Occam's razor type of thinking?

The simplest explanation is usually the correct one?

I'll take this one step further. I would say when a conspiracy splinters off into endless directions there reaches a point it is not valid. The problem is people like to ignore the problematic parts of their conspiracies.

A few things -

1. Collectivism/groupthink - At the most basic level, it's just this simple. All human civilization is essentially built on the idea that people have to stick together. Because societies have been designed from the ground up to be entirely interdependent, any kind of deviation from the majority is heavily discouraged. To the point of insults, personal attacks and so forth. It's just that simple. It makes for interesting movies but nobody really wants to be that guy who can't even get a job because everyone knows he's not "a team player".

2. A lot of the conspiracy theories are pretty scary if you think about it. Take 9/11. Now I personally think something stinks with 9/11 but the plain fact is that it's stressful, worrying and painful to think about. We were born into this society that we always knew wasn't perfect. But we kind of always just accepted that bad things happen and some things are necessary evils. Well, I don't know about most people but I never expected to see anything like 9/11 in an American city in my lifetime. To think that the government might be capable of something like that (and getting away with it) is scary as hell.

It's the kind of knowledge maybe you wouldn't want.

3. Once you start down the path of thinking about conspiracy theories, you have to keep an open mind. If a mass conspiracy (and therefore a mass lie and delusion) is possible, what's impossible? It's hard on your mind to start going to such dark places and confronting the things you find there. Most people can barely hold themselves together with a job, some bills and a couple of kids. I mean, you have to be realistic. The people you're wanting to open their minds are stressed out, pissed off and just plain tired when they're not working their butts off just to keep breathing. It's like trying to have a philosophical debate with a factory worker in a 3rd world country. They just don't have time or energy to spend contemplating things they can't do anything about anyway.

originally posted by: Rocker2013

originally posted by: MrConspiracy
My mother will not hear of the 9/11 conspiracy. I think she feels if she accepts 9/11 was an inside job the world becomes a whole lot scarier.

See, this is what gets me.
There is NO EVIDENCE of any conspiracy, none.
Why is it that you demand you are absolutely right, while offering no evidence at all to prove a conspiracy?

Again, generational problem.
What you call "evidence" you mother would probably call bull*hit (although she probably wouldn't say that of course lol).

No.. my mother is a woman who doesn't swear. She's a gem.

And I never demand i'm right. I was merely pointing out a discussion is a no go area with her. Haha

Because the truth always hurts.

Cognitive Dissonance

en.wikipedia.org...

Ratlines (Operation Paperclip) is a good one to use as an example, because we have enough proof that the conspiracy to smuggle Nazi's out of Europe is indeed a fact.

People dont want to know that their government is just as evil as every fascist regime that ever existed, it takes away from their sense of security. If they acknowledged that their government facilitated the escape from justice of some of last century's worst war criminals, whos human experimentation is now infamous; how does that conflict with say a public health campaign, like forcing people to take vaccines???

The "ignorance is bliss" motivation to ignore whats really going on.

originally posted by: ItVibrates

People dont want to know that their government is just as evil as every fascist regime that ever existed

Partially true. But frankly, the problem is that this is not full blown dictatorship/fascism/whatever. This is soft totalitarianism. You can convince yourself it's not really that bad if you just obey and never ask any questions. They won't put you in a gas chamber. They'll say you're "mentally sick" and put you in a nut house until you really crack. That is until you crack in the way that makes you a nice, soft host for the latest software and gets rid of all the primitive human instincts, such as the desire to have your own life, control over your own body and the right to think and say what you want.

The real problem is we're screwed no matter what. And people aren't really that stupid. They know it. That's the real reason why they don't want to hear conspiracy theories. People are scared of the truth, yes. But people are even more afraid of things that human beings can't fix. There are things that simply can't be done by humans and no one wants to admit it. There's no such thing as "A good man". Not in objective terms. Life isn't that simple. Your best friend will probably eat you alive if it comes right down to it. And that's not capitalism, socialism or any kind of ism. That's just human nature. People are all about rights and good and evil as long as they're playing with other people's resources (Life/health/money/time/etc). Most people change instantly when they know they'll be on the short end of the stick.

Humans can't fix that. Not really. We can only do what we've always done. Figure out what works for most people and then cheat. Find a way to neutralize the minority. Whomever they happen to be today.

People talk about things like "equality". There's no such thing as equality unless you want to be turned into a Borg drone (assuming that could even be done). It's that simple. The people who talk about equality? What they're really talking about is getting rid of the troublemakers. The people who make noise. The people who are exceptional. The people who are too different to disappear into the melting pot. The people who care about their right to do as they please. The people who say unpopular things. Those are the troublemakers. They're not equal because they are obviously different and cannot be made to conform. What will be done with these people in a society that values absolute equality over anything else? Your guess is as good as mine but it doesn't sound like a good time to me.

It's not about "evil" per se. Unfortunately. It would be nice if it was that simple.

All that we have as information are various reports made by those whom were at the scene or were implicated in the events in question, sometimes there are problems with the "official stories" and in order to question these stories, we have to invest time and energy, we have to acquire additional information, think for ourselves, and "join the dots".

The mechanism of "conspiracy" is intriguing - we need there to be some kind of "bigger picture" so we have a permanent sense of distrust in society, we need to see that there is some kind of "deception" occurring in our lives so that we can scrutinise our sources of information, because they might be potentially hiding "something big".

a reply to: ItVibrates

Ratlines (Operation Paperclip) is a good one to use as an example, because we have enough proof that the conspiracy to smuggle Nazi's out of Europe is indeed a fact.

But Operation Paperclip was not a conspiracy, nor was it ever denied! One of its beneficiaries, Werner von Braun, was even a celebrity!

Just recently an actual conspiracy made headlines: London bankers were conspiring to manipulate the LIBOR and were charged with criminal violations. No-one here seemed interested. On the other hand, when a banker involved in an earlier LIBOR scandal turned out to be tenuously linked to a murder, the boards went crazy.

Conspiracy Theorists are not interested in conspiracies, they are interested in constructing a reality that sets them apart from everyone else. They don't want to hear about Operation Paperclip, they want to hear about secret Nazi U-Boat bases in Antarctica.

a reply to: VictorVonDoom

My experiences have been similar - people get very hostile when asked to confront the evidence of government wrong doing. It's much easier to place blind trust and just go on rather than sift through the facts to see what holds up. I still don't get why the reaction is so visceral, as you said equivalent to asking "can I have sex with your underage daughter?".
Maybe it's all the years of flag waving and saying the pledge and country music, the whole 'Murica thing. Love it or leave it, right?