What if? The greatest conspiracy ever?!?

originally posted by: jlafleur02
Most conspiracy theories are just someone lying to themselves so they can think things are the way they see them or wish them to be.

Not believing in most conspiracy theories is someone lying to themselves so that they can see things the way they wish them to be, not what they really are. Because the truth is scary.

Fear breeds denial, denial breeds ignorance, ignorance breeds hate, hate breeds destruction.
Choose your path.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
What if sometimes bad people just do bad things? And instead of there being this deep, mysterious plan concocted by some nefarious group, it was just a whack job who did a whack thing?

What if that guy you called a shill just thinks you're full of it and disagrees with you?

What if groups like Freemasons are really just a bunch of dudes who like to hang out and have dinner and be bros? And the higher ranking Masons are just the guys who know the most interesting theories out there about what people think Masons are really up to? (Sorry resident Masons, you're an easy example)

What if sometimes a black helicopter is just black? Or the military trains somewhere in the U.S. because they want to train and it's just a good spot?

What if a cop sometimes just makes a crappy decision and shoots somebody they shouldn't have?

Now...since you've made it this far: what if there's a group who has spent decades, centuries, millennia, whatever capitalizing on the human need to rationalize the irrational? And they're just sitting back laughing at all of us?

Randomly popped in my head earlier. Good day

That's a fair post and a fair point. We should always try to stay grounded. However, I don't think it's a bad thing at all that there are people who are skeptical about everything. You don't have to swallow every conspiracy theory whole in order to think about it and wonder about it. I notice most people here even have their pet theories. They don't necessarily fall for every theory out there.

For example, I have never been too keen on the aliens thing. I don't completely discount the possibility that there might be something to it but I'm just not interested. It's way too much of a hazy subject for me.

I get more interested when it comes to things that will definitely affect my life. You kind of have to pay attention when even the nice man on TV is telling you that the government is spying on absolutely everyone. Stuff like that deserves to be taken seriously enough to at least discuss it.

I don't know about you but if I see a military helicopter buzz 50 feet above my house, I'm going to wonder why. It's probably nothing but when you don't know, you wonder about what you don't know.

And yes. I do always consider the distinct possibility that a crazy gunman is exactly what he appears to be. But it does seem fishy when it keeps happening within a short period of time. As far as I'm concerned, it's just an interesting question to ponder. I accept that I'm probably never going to know the truth if in fact the truth is something different than what we've been told. It's just kind of an intriguing mind puzzle. You wonder if there are deeper meanings behind things. And really. Does it hurt anything or anyone to just plain wonder? If the official story is the truth, the people who work in government and law enforcement will know it and will not be bothered by people who don't have access to the evidence asking dumb questions that people ask when they don't know everything.

a reply to: BrianFlanders

Nail on the head. Well put response/rebuttal.

My OP was pretty much a stream of ideas. It started out with why people have to try and rationalize the irrational, and then it took a hard turn in to the whole "what if there really is some dark group out there playing on that whole human need" aspect and I was like woah....

Coffee musings and such I guess.

Most proposed conspiracies operate under the premise that people are far more intelligent and capable than we actually are. Most people, including those in authority who run things are merely average. Half of them are even below average and sooner or later (usually after it no longer makes a difference) the things they do come to light. What you have to watch out for are the groups of intelligent people who have the power and money to grease the wheels.

The more mundane th