Conspiracy Theorists - A documentary for the future.

Hi everyone!

My name is Tyler Knight, a frequent visitor and poster as well as a photographer and filmmaker up here in Canada.

I recently had an idea for a documentary that I want to create over the next year or so outlining so called "conspiracy theorists" in their day to day life and showcase what an average person is actually like.

I am sick of not being able to do anything to spread information and try to open up the general populations minds.

I feel this would be a great way to remove some of the stigma behind the term conspiracy theorist and try to show the world that we are not crazy, tinfoil wearing, paranoid people. We live day to day lives like everyone else, but instead of conforming to how we are "supposed to"... we QUESTION the life we are in.

Does anyone else have an interest in working on this project with me as far as the content and organization aspect? I am a filmmaker and editor but I feel by bringing everyone in, we could get some great ideas!

reply to post by Tylerknight


Of course we don't walk around wearing tinfoil hats, that would just be silly.

We wear lead foil hats. Everyone knows tinfoil doesn't work to block out the Govt. Satellites.

reply to post by watchitburn


Sarcasm is going to be a very large portion of the film to so you're welcome on board haha

Are you wanting involvement in the way of CV's and resumes - along with our jobs and lifestyles? Or for people to interview others to get broader range of data?

reply to post by Dianec


Really at this point it is in a planning stage and just looking to see who would be on-board to help with anything really!

The main idea I have is to find 3 people to use as "test subjects" and follow their day to day lives.

I would like to do an on location poll of interviewing people on the street about certain topics to gauge the different points of view.

I feel in this day and age, the people who question the news and their stories are going to out-weigh the people who believe everything they hear.

The goal is to raise awareness and show that we aren't bad people, we aren't the bad guys because we don't agree with what is forced down our throats.

I'm hoping this will make a statement to the common people to think twice about talking down to someone who isn't satisfied with being told something and expecting it to be true.

I will need people to help me collect data from different locations in the world, people to possibly do on location interviews in different parts of the world and most of all I really want to find a psychologist or two who can talk about the actual science behind the different way of thinking of someone who believes in conspiracies vs someone who doesn't

I could maybe give you some music for free if you are interested....Im not sure my stuff is what youd want in the background but if interested you are welcome to use it for the documentary...might save ya some cash...

reply to post by cosmicexplorer


This is what I'm talking about! Thanks a lot I'd appreciate taking a listen either way. I am a musician as well and was featured on ATS radio a few months back but it's weird to use my own music in a film so I appreciate it!

reply to post by Tylerknight


Well I'm finishing up my PhD, have practiced as a clinician and more. I could use a good study as I have way too many interests and truly need to narrow it down. I would be happy to do some research to lend a hand and whatever else is needed.

In my client population I noticed younger people didn't really know what to do with the ability to think outside of the box - when told to live within the confines of the "norms" (taking what is fed to you and not questioning it). I was seeing that those who question everything are our most creative thinkers. They had higher IQ's (capacity to learn), and tended to feel emotions more deeply. In my observation of this younger population they have to balance deeper cognitive processes with the surface and more focused ones needed to function in society. Their assertions can lead to perceived paranoia by others so they are forced to hide it. I found when they could find an adult to take them seriously, and not dismiss their thinking, they blossomed. They more readily utilized the higher order thinking they were capable of just by having another to visit with.

What this leads to is an assumption that it varies - because one needs to not only question things but also know how to question the questions. So I imagine you will want to take a look at the psychological processes for those who end their thinking at dooms day scenarios and trust nothing - to those who are conspiracy minded but continue to converse and dig deeper to rule some conspiracies out. What do they all have in common - more intelligent perhaps? Are all more intelligent? If not is there a difference in how they work through the deeper thinking? What percentage of these people match the stereotype? What is the stereotype? I'm guessing most of this has been studied so it would really lend credibility to deep thinking to document the facts about this. I'm excited to see someone taking this on.

reply to post by Dianec


Dianec

Thank you for replying! This sounds like something that is right up your alley.

What got me thinking about this was a study about the difference in brain function of someone who pursues conspiracy theories to someone who dismisses them. Even if they are intelligent people on paper, they don't posses the thinking and reasoning to consider an outside the box answer.

I would love to have you on board for this project for sure.

I'm not sure what the policy on email addresses is here, but I would love to get a collection of people together to discuss via email>

reply to post by Tylerknight


I'm sure it would be ok to exchange emails via a private message so I'll check that in a bit. I like your question - if two people have the same intelligence quotient what makes one more dismissive while another is more skeptical. Thus far I'm seeing stuff like lack of trust for another's truth and cognitive schemes (IE scientists proving evolution but some don't want to integrate that into beliefs, etc.). It also appears that there is some dispute between psychologists on the idea of inner conflicts being externalized (psychoanalytic). I think the later can be true in some cases but certainly this does not explain most - who are just everyday people who believe in UFO's, etc., and have reason to not trust a non-transparent elite.

I think your heading into the area where your going to gather people's stories and get a fresh look at this. In doing that I believe it will lead to answers as well as more specific questions. I like your idea of starting broad but I'll spend a few days seeing what's been studied on this so it provides a good opening for your project (what we know about conspiracy theorists).