Why do people have such an aversion to conspiracy theories?

I don't get it. I understand why people have an aversion to mega-conspiracy theories like the ones about people who control the world, and the Annukai, etc. But I don't get why people have such an aversion to real conspiracy theories like COINTELPRO, and, how the police monitors and provokes peace groups into violence.

I was on my way to an anti-war rally and I was talking to a tea-partier. The tea-party person was saying that they generally were less violent than anti-war group protesters. She smeared anti-war protesters saying that they were marxists and they disrespected property so that's why they acted out in violence. I had to explain to her that the tea-party movement was still young, and, I had to explain to her all about COINTELPRO and about Agent Provaketeurs. She thought that I was just talking about conspiracy theories, and, she thought I should avoid them.

But then she said that there were Soviets spies in the peace groups, and, it's after this admission that I said that's my point. She just couldn't understand why the government or the police would actively instigate these people to violence. I was saying that there was a reason to- otherwise she wouldn't be doing it. And we know that this stuff is real... but she kept on treating it like a conspiracy theory, until, I had explained it in its fullest detail.

I also explained to her the conspiracy theory about cops in black boots posing as peace group protesters. She couldn't understand why that police would want to pretend as protesters when they weren't. I said they did it during the G20 meetings and the G8. They do it because they want to arrest protesters, and, cut the movement down. She couldn't understand that... even though seemed to have half-admitted that they did things like that during the Cold War.

My question is- why do people have such an aversion to these conspiracy theories, even though they're real? People know that cops spy and try to instigate protesters. So why don't people admit that it's more than just a conspiracy theory? I felt like I was talking to a brick-wall most of the time.

[edit on 20-3-2010 by Frankidealist35]

I don't understand

You say the woman knew much of what you were saying and in fact she volunteered much of the information (obviously, then, she was aware of it -- 'Soviet spies' etc)

So, she was aware

It rocks their foundation to the core.
Too painful to comprehend - or entertain.

I am a Christian and go to church. But, I am a well read Christian and dig deep to answer questions that arise during my studies. When I present my findings...Book of Enoch, more than one giant in Bible ( Goliath, King Og, inhabitants of Canaan ) the Watchers, Ezekiel's Wheel...UFO?....

Man, they blow a fuse. But when I show them the scripture, what can they say?

When we discuss politics, their moral implications... there are those that still believe if they didn't see it on CBS, it can't be true.

Like many here have stated, too many people's sense of reality would be rocked. Their values and belief structure would come unwound to think maybe..just maybe...9/11 was an inside job..or it was terrorists, but allowed to happen as a pretext ...a means to an end.

Or that there really is no difference between Dems and Reps, or that our next President....if we have elections, is already chosen.

I love my country, wouldn't want to live anywhere else, I am doing fine....BUT, I do peep around the curtain of Oz from time to time.

And we know that this stuff is real.

Hard evidence please,or is it just in your reality and not ours.

All of society has a set of norms that people attain to live within.

Others swim against the tide and can't see why others do not comprehend their reality.

You see, my response makes as much sense as yours does.

because they love their lives

they love buying easter eggs and stocking up on christmas toys in springtime.

they love their daytime soap operas and evening reality tv too much

they don't want it to end

I don't think people have an aversion to conspiracy theories, because there are plenty of people out there now adays who think that the federal reserve is stealing your money and funneling it into Rothschildes pockets -- who secretly control the whole world.

And they tell you this like it's common knowledge.. Then they go on to say that evolution is fake.



This tells me that people have an aversion to new information. Anything requring them to change your perspective, or contradict what they have previously selected as "fact," tends to turn them off.

Btw, this seems to mostly happen to people without a good methodology for discerning truth from fiction; the kind of people who aren't well read, have a HS education or equiv, but not college, and value things like spirituality over science!

reply to post by Oneolddude


It's quite well known that the government instigated anti-war groups during the cold war to get the soviet spies to turn themselves in. They've also caused violence at political rallies. I mean, it's documented fact. It's something real- not nominal.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


The people I speak to do not have an aversion to conspiracies. They did at first, but I wrote a list of things that would happen in the next decade at the eve of the millenium for the froup of people present (in a sealed envelope). Major terrorist attack on American soil (911), stock exchange collapse, attack on UK soil, Iraq war, rise in earthquakes, worldwide financial bubble etc.

I wrote this in a letter for all 20 people that were there in my home at the millenium dawn.

All of them are now aware of the truth of the matter, they asked and the got it. Theres now a whole band of people in my area that are aware of the things going on, also the people are now prepared for it as well as can be.

First step, switch off the tv. From there, anything is possible.

I am now a Christian and I say that loosely, because the term christian has become a pornograhers signature name these days. Any Christian should know what I mean by that.

There are still people who, despite reading the exact things predicted that have now happened, will not believe it and have accepted it as coincidence. How can anyone blame anyone else for thinking that?

Education system, employment system, government speeches, financial education etc. I am tempted to say it is nobodies fault but it is everybodies own fault because they listened to their blood.

The truth is hard to take, does not mean it is not true, the whole conspiracy game is just a game of trip up in the end after all.



[edit on 20-3-2010 by XXXN3O]

I'm not real sure how to answer this but I'll give it a good try. I think it may have something to do with questioning authority and who is really in charge now a days. I mean it seems like people are to scared to ridcule authority figures. Maybe it is the fear that some people have of being ridiculed themselves. More than likely, this is why you don't hear more people coming out against what the government does. As for the Agent Provaketeurs, I do believe that there are some police departments out there that do have special units that infilitrate anti-war protests just to spark violence. I also believe that this is what happened here a while back in Pittsburgh with the G8 Summit. I mean at first it started off really smooth, then about two days into it, it just went down hill. Yet this "peaceful tea-partier" kept saying that anti-war protestors were nothing but trouble.

My only question is this.........

Has she heard what some tea-partiers are threatening to do if this Health Care Bill comes up to a vote in Congress?

Most people do not want to be seen as opposing authority, and like to label others who have differeng views as "kooks", "weirdos" etc etc.

Peronally I do not mind being labelled "conspiracy theorist" as I do not see it as a term of abuse. I see it as a label or badge of pride, which shows I am not afraid to be different, and think independently.

Some lyrics from Chumbawamba and Negativland say something similar

"Conclusion
There is a certain social process which is known and very visible but perhaps not acknowledged as much as it should be. It is that one where a new idea or an old one in new form, is accepted by a minority, while the majority is shouting treason, rubbish, cook, communist, anarchist, capitalist, or whatever is a term of abuse valued by that society--infringer--and they develop this idea, at first probably in secrecy or semi-secrecy, and then more and more visible, with more and more support until, guess what? What? This seditious and impossible wrong-headed idea, becomes what is known as... what? ...received opinion and is loved and valued... what? ...by the majority. What? What? "

Possibly because most conspiracy theorists devote as much time to convincing themselves they are right, as they do trying to convince others.
Most of them also have a negative attitude to life. They are not happy people unless they are busy trying to convince everyone that the world is ending, we are all blind, being led to the slaughter etc etc.
These folk thrive on it. I say delude youself as you please but get the hell out of my face and let me live my life, your wasting my precious time and my life isnt a dress rehersal.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


Because, these are people, who want to believe they can change Washington D.C., without those bastards in power, doing something to stop them, Agent Provocateurs and all.

Quote from : Wikipedia : Conspiracy Theory

Conspiracy theory is a term that originally was a neutral descriptor for any claim of civil, criminal or political conspiracy.

However, it has become largely pejorative and used almost exclusively to refer to any fringe theory which explains a historical or current event as the result of a secret plot by conspirators.

Conspiracy theories are viewed with skepticism by the scientific community and academia, and often ridiculed by pundits, because they are rarely supported by any convincing evidence and contrast with institutional analysis, which focuses on people's collective behavior in publicly known institutions, as recorded in scholarly material and mainstream media reports, to explain historical or current events, rather than speculate on the motives and actions of secretive coalitions of individuals.

The term is therefore often used dismissively in an attempt to characterize a belief as outlandishly false and held by a person judged to be a crank or a group confined to the lunatic fringe.

Such characterization is often the subject of dispute due to its possible unfairness and inaccuracy.

In the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, conspiracy theories have become commonplace in mass media.

This has contributed to conspiracism emerging as a cultural phenomenon and the possible replacement of democracy by conspiracy as the dominant paradigm of political action in the public mind.

According to anthropologists Todd Sanders and Harry G. West, "evidence suggests that a broad cross section of Americans today…gives credence to at least some conspiracy theories."

Belief in conspiracy theories has therefore become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists and experts in folklore.

The basic belief of those non-conspiracy theorist's, those we often call sheeple, is that Government is run by our voting, and that anything else is just politics in action, and that people like Agent Provocateurs do not exist.

This is of course, a false premise, because they do exist, many people have caught them.

And they are easy to spot, easy to stop, and as well easy to take care of legally.

You just have to think like an Agent Provocateur, or at least know how to think, period.

Quote from : Wikipedia : Agent Provocateurs

Traditionally, an agent provocateur (plural: agents provocateurs, French for "inciting agent(s)") is a person employed by the police or other entity to act undercover to entice or provoke another person to commit an illegal act.

More generally, the term may refer to a person or group that seeks to discredit or harm another by provoking them to commit a wrong or rash action.

British Agent Provocateurs Caught Operating In Basra


Just Because You're Paranoid, Doesn't Mean They Aren't Out To Get You...

The basic problem is, is because people do not want to believe their Government, would act in any way contrary to the way they believe Government should act.

The problem with idealism, is it can be such that it goes into a state of denial, for those people who want to believe, at any costs, even to their own detriment, that people who speak of those conspiracy theorists are just a bunch of fringe lunatics, because if they succumb to this way of thinking, then they will to, become one of those "fringe lunatics", therefore nuts.

This comes from the sense of a wanting to belong to a group, but not to the wrong group, the outcasts, societal speaking those shunned for knowing something not fully accepted by the mainstream thinking, that Government can do wrong.

It fits completely into the context that they see anything but Conservative or Democrat, as nothing more than a fringe belief, and therefore it is not acceptable.

Are You "Right-Wing Fringe", or "Left-Wing Fringe" and How Will They Push You

If you look to just how much of a taboo of speaking negatively about Government, used to be, under people like Hoover, you might understand more how it is uncommon in this day and age, because people still remember Hoover, the paranoid F.B.I. director, and what he was willing to do to smash "un-patriotic" Americans.

Blackmail : Keep Your Friends Close, Keep Your Enemies Closer, The Threat of Subversion Through Fear

So, in essence, these people are almost blackmailing themselves, via societal beliefs.

By making themselves conform to a standard belief and denying themselves free-thinking, they are in essence maintaining their own imprisonment.

Mentally speaking, of course, self-imprisonment into the machine, a cog within a machine.

Which Is It, "Conspiracy Theory", or "Conspiracy Fact"?

[edit on 21-3-2010 by SpartanKingLeonidas]