Conspiracies and Neurotiscism

This topic is going to require some introspection.

I'd like to discuss the mindset of a conspiracy theorist.

What are the defining traits of a conspiracy theorist? What do people think of us?

Tinfoil hat. Doom posting. Chicken Little, the sky is falling mentality.

Got me thinking, Could it be that all the doom posting and sky is falling talk, jumping to wild conclusions and heavy skepticism is a breeding ground for neurotiscism and paranoia?

What does that do to the mind?

Do we take this knowledge and share with everyone like Prometheus or do we use our eccentric viewpoints to belittle others?

Are we unnecessarily stressing ourselves out, is what I want to get to the bottom of.

What I found is not just traits of a conspiracy theorist but motivation as well.

www.truity.com...

Conspiracy theorists have 3 major motivations.

1. A desire to understanding their environment.

2. Desire for superiority.

3. Paranoia and antagonism.

“Some personality types are indeed more inclined to believe in conspiracies,” explains Esmaeilpour. “Traits such as high openness to experience might lead to a curiosity for alternative explanations, while high levels of neuroticism could contribute to the anxiety and paranoia that make conspiracy theories appealing.”

Of course, it doesn’t end there. That is because there is something fundamentally antagonistic about refusing to go along with the mainstream. Indeed, people who relish playing the contrarian in social settings will naturally find themselves drawn to conspiracy theories."

These are common personality traits that fail in line with narcissists as well.

This brings me to quality. The quality of our conspiracies has been in decline for about 10 years now.

I came to the site long ago looking for Alchemy, Aliens and JFK. And in 10 years, conspiracies have turned from, God sent the Hurricanes to punish the sinners to, the Democrats sent the Hurricanes to punish the voters.

I believe Alan Moore, who created V for Vendetta and wrote a book about the CIA, Brought to Light, said it best:

"The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory.

The truth is far more frightening - Nobody is in control.

The world is rudderless."

Experiencing the current state of conspiracy theories is like watching a good friend date a narcissist. Political baiting. Motives. Versus the days of taking it with a grain of salt.

Being skeptical sounded smart and being counter culture sounded cool but now, I don't know. Maybe Alex Jones ruined it. The whole hobby seems tainted.

Along with the Alan Moore quote, this song made me rethink conspiracy theories:

youtu.be...

a reply to: TinfoilTophat

Well presented Tinfoil.

I think that Moore quote is a pretty good summation. It is a very difficult belief with very little comfort about it.

a reply to: TinfoilTophat

I don't consider myself a conspiracy theorist.
I don't believe in any of them.

I study them, ponder them, analyze them, contemplate them, and look at them from various angles.
They are stories.
Many folks believe in stories, including most of what we call genuine knowledge.
That's one of the reasons I investigate stories.

What do they teach in Elementary school ? Stories.
What is this site, the internet, and the world full-of? Stories.

Folks make the leap-of-faith, and believe in some of these stories.
That's why I am interested in why folks believe in the things they do.
But I need to read between the words, because folks get angry if their beliefs are challenged.
To them it's not a belief : it's knowledge.

History = His Story.


We see the marionettes dancing about, and we see the strings.
Just cause we can't see who is pulling the strings, doesn't mean nobody is.

I think the definition of conspiracy theorist has changed. It use to be "people who believe in the weird stuff" and now it's "anybody who has knowledge past the news headline". According to some, if you even question the official story, you're a crazy conspiracy nutjob.

I've given up on UFOs. I personally think there is something out there and having been interested in them for decades, I think I have enough information to make that decision. The govt is no help. For 80 + years they've went from "just lights in the sky" to showing the tic tac video, but the excuse stays the same "We don't know". They could have Congressional investigations and a 2 hour press conference, but their who spiel can be boiled down to those 3 words.

If they've been investigating something for that long and still don't know what it is, that leads me to one conclusion :

They are massively incompetent or they're lying.

We all know which it is.

a reply to: KnowItAllKnowNothin

I think you make a good point about belief.
As well, your bit about marionettes. It's much easier to see the strings that are pulling others than the ones that are pulling us. It's close if not the same as the Biblical teaching about the moat in the eye. And that, I think is central to the point OP made about discussing conspiracy yet needing some introspection to guide it.

Conspiracy theory cultist need the confirmation bias they get from sites that cater to their particular conspiracies.

Then some business will offer something to help relieve their anxiety. Others will clamber for donations to save the status quo..... Doin business the American way thru fear. It's a proven marketing tactic.

bettermarketing.pub...


Neurotics buy stuff all the time.

It's when CTist become obsessive that imagined delusions morph into emotional disorders needing professional care.

www.psychiatry.org...

a reply to: BingoMcGoof

Great insight Ter !

Perhaps a man whom does not see the strings on the marionettes, will never have a chance of seeing his own strings ?

Might it be easier for old hats like us who have seen them strings on others for so long, that has helped us over the years to see the strings pulling on us as well ?

We can see it in the new stories, that are attempting to pull us in whatever direction.
Much more difficult to spot the ones that are deeply incrusted, and for decades. I agree.

But that's why we're both here, isn't it ?

a reply to: KnowItAllKnowNothin

Yep. I could be hanging out on a site where most people agree with how I see things, right or wrong, but here this is not the case. It's holding up my thoughts on things to an adversarial crowd that helps keep me , at least, trying to be honest with myself.

Honestly, OPs original mention of self refection sent me back to my youth, searching for whatever it might have been that I slipped into that set me on this tangent. All the books back then by Orwell, Huxley, Wells, etc were important sure, but this morning I found, way back in my memories store, that Frost poem '' The Road Not Taken''

The sensations surfaced of what choice to make, looking down those paths where there was no end in sight only the trodden leaves to tell the difference. So similar and both, though of course there were so many others not mentioned, holding the promise of a future.

Taking that road less traveled was for me like Frost, the choice to make and i think that at least to some degree, essential to this question of what is some of the core of being into conspiracy. This then leads me into the notion that this road less traveled has become a thoroughfare, a boulevard nay, an eight lane autobahn.

a reply to: TinfoilTophat
NO! What you have parroted is the new mainstream debunking/ridiculing of conspiracy theorists. Your 3 motivations miss the target completely, ie. a conspiracy theorist believes his theory is correct/true and he pushes his theory to others to enlighten them of his, what he believes is fact. But you have fallen to the MSM propaganda of all conspiracy theories are false and flights of fancy or paranoia. BUT, if you've been on ATS for a number of years you will find that there are quite a number of conspiracy theories that were not theories but true.
Just because there are numerous idiotic/wild/paranoiac theories (I think that the majority of those are part of a discrediting operation... there's a conspiracy theory for you) does not mean all theories are fanciful/wrong, but the MSM are now pushing that meme big time now, especially coming to the election. Are you gonna wait for the election interference theory to be ridiculed and believe it because they say so.

Lots of Conspiracy Theories are presented purposely to be so bizarre, nobody will believe it. Many of those are real and the conspiracy is designed to be covered up. 😁

a reply to: TinfoilTophat

I believe Alan Moore, who created V for Vendetta and wrote a book about the CIA, Brought to Light, said it best:

"The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory.

The truth is far more frightening - Nobody is in control.

The world is rudderless."

That conclusion is rudderly preposterous. (sorry, had to do it)

Inevitably, the conspiracy lens must be focused inward to be sure exactly where in reality the skeptic is seated, relative to the phenomenon being dissected. How can you know the enemy if you don't know yourself?