Are we as nutty as people think we are???

It's no secret...conspiracy theorists are mocked by the media, teachers, family, and etc. No matter how rough it gets, we stand by what we say, and hope for the worst.
I ask you all to think back a few years when everyone was theorizing about how Bush was the Anti-Christ and how he was going to somehow stay president after his two terms were up... As bad is Bush is, it turns out he isn't the Anti-Christ and it looks like the elections will take place as planned.
Everyday I watch countless predictions made, and NONE of them come to pass. So ATS, I ask you this...are we as conspiracy theorists as crazy as everyone says we are? Are we just a bunch of paranoid people with too much time on our hands?

reply to post by goldbomb444


My personal opinion on this is, that a healthy dose of paranoia is good for the soul.

Dogma is probably more indicative of insanity than is paranoia. I believe that "conspiracy theory" can often get confused with "conspiracy obsession".

Anything at all can be described as "conspiracy theory", mainly because you can thoerize on anything you like. But, when one becomes obsessed by truly believing (via dogma) that the theory is absolute reality without first using their cognitive thinking abilities, then certainly those ARE "as nutty as people think they are".

AB1

[edit on 27-10-2008 by alphabetaone]

My friends and family now believe when I warn them about things to come. Just a few months ago, major bank and currency collapses were crazy to consider being a reality.

I think that we just might BE crazy. Some of us, at least. But, we have a purpose. Since most people do not see anything beyond what the MSM tells them is true, I think we have a responsibility to encourage others to think for themselves and look beyond what they are told by FOX, in search of their own truth.

The truth is, I think "Conspiracy Theory" these days goes beyond making up crazy conspiracies and pretending them to be true. These days we don't just sit around and make up prophecies, and pretend we have seen the end of times.

Honestly, we are the ones who read alternative news sources. News from other countries. We are in search of TRUTH, and not out to make up stuff. In these days, I see more respect going to the Conspiracy Theorist, than ever. Even Bush's "Let's not tolerate crazy conspiracy theories" didn't hold us down.

Ron Paul and Jesse Ventura, as well as others speaking out against the normal status quo, are getting more respect than ever!

Any thinking outside the box is feared by the masses. Those who don't conform to the expectations of society in their actions are labelled as crazy. What the general populace don't understand is that many of current mainstream ideas began by thinkers ridiculed for their thoughts.

In short, no we're not crazy, just not afraid to think.

Some of us certainly are a bit nutty, or at least incredibly gullible. Specifically those people who try to find a conspiracy in EVERYTHING. Ironically, these people are just as close minded as those who don't believe in any conspiracy because they refuse to consider all possibilities (even the less mundane, but more realistic possibilities.)

Originally posted by LostNemesis
The truth is, I think "Conspiracy Theory" these days goes beyond making up crazy conspiracies and pretending them to be true. These days we don't just sit around and make up prophecies, and pretend we have seen the end of times.

Honestly, we are the ones who read alternative news sources. News from other countries. We are in search of TRUTH, and not out to make up stuff. In these days, I see more respect going to the Conspiracy Theorist, than ever. Even Bush's "Let's not tolerate crazy conspiracy theories" didn't hold us down.

Ron Paul and Jesse Ventura, as well as others speaking out against the normal status quo, are getting more respect than ever!

But denying ignorance and creating ignorance are two different things. People that come here and say this guy said this are no better than the media that is making stuff up. I'm having trouble expressing what I mean. If an alternate news source says something, who are we to say it is any more credible than FOX news when really we have no more proof for the alt source than we have for the FOX story?

If you are not even a little bit paranoid, then you might have to face the possibility that you are stupid.

some think we are nutty however some now some of those that thought we are nutty and are actually seeing the stuff we have been talking about actually happen are actually coming to us for advice...

The crazy ones are the ones that make things happen.

Originally posted by goldbomb444

It's no secret...conspiracy theorists are mocked by the media, teachers, family, and etc. No matter how rough it gets, we stand by what we say, and hope for the worst.

It's mocked because the elite want the general population to perceive conspiracy theories precisely in that way. That's why there are parody tabloids poking fun at conspiracy theories.

Originally posted by goldbomb444

I ask you all to think back a few years when everyone was theorizing about how Bush was the Anti-Christ and how he was going to somehow stay president after his two terms were up... As bad is Bush is, it turns out he isn't the Anti-Christ and it looks like the elections will take place as planned.
Everyday I watch countless predictions made, and NONE of them come to pass. So ATS, I ask you this...are we as conspiracy theorists as crazy as everyone says we are? Are we just a bunch of paranoid people with too much time on our hands?

That's exactly why conspiracy theorists are frivolous to the masses, because of the few who misrepresent the intellectual part of the community. The community is very broad, and encompasses many different sub-groups, sub-views and sub-agendas.

Naive people who don't think for themselves believing in the anti-Christ, Blossom Goodchild, etc. crying wolf and preaching non-sense are the delusional ones. Some of them may even be disinformation agents tasked with injecting the paradigm with preposterous themes, concepts and fictitious material in order to further discredit the "movement".

reply to post by goldbomb444


I think every single conspiracy theory can be measured by the amount of arrogance and ignorance in the claims.

Arrogance in a theory is the thought in the followers that they are right and the learned experts are wrong, for no obvious reason, or for a reason that is never quite explained. They assume they know more than experts, and so when an expert pipes up and explains their position, they are met with cries of "disinfo agent!" or some circular argument is instigated to try to disprove the expert and prove their theory, all to the entertainment of people who aren't that arrogant, who realise that experts actually do know more than laypeople.

Ignorance in a theory is best illustrated when people, well-meaning I'm sure, simply get the wrong end of the stick because of their lack of understanding about something. They see something they don't quite understand, and through the usual human thought processes attribute some explanation to it. And from that, new conspiracy theories can be born.

Theories that are drenched in ignorance and arrogance are the most insidious - they are impossible to break open. The believers can not, and will not, be persuaded that they are off their rockers/completely misguided, simply because their arrogant defense of their ignorance is completely bullet-proof. They are perfectly tooled to dismiss any criticism, as they think they know more than anyone else on the subject, regardless of how much they actually do know.

A theory with no arrogance or ignorance behind it is an actual conspiracy theory that warrants investigation. No ignorance implies actual evidence of a conspiracy, and a lack of arrogance about the beliefs is being completely objective.

Chemtrails is a good example - there is no evidence supporting this theory. People who believe it are either arrogant ("I don't care what all these climatologists and meteorologists say, I saw a plane with a trail, and it has to be chemicals") or ignorant ("are you telling me it's water? water would just fall out of the sky!" / "look at the nozzles on this plane! It must be used for spraying chemicals, because I know of no other use for nozzles on a plane").

I'm not railing on anyone, just the ridiculous mindset that allows all these unfounded conspiracy theories to flourish, when they have absolutely zero evidence in support of them.

For each bunk theory that people discuss, actual evidence-supported theories don't get the attention they deserve. To truly deny ignorance, we must demand evidence. So many threads on this board are full of people flapping their gums without any supporting evidence, it's frankly embarrassing to be a member. The paranormal forum is especially good for that - people claiming all kinds of stuff without any evidence.

I can see why people take the mickey out of the nuttier conspiracy theorists - most of them deserve it. Surely any human being who prides arrogance and ignorance over evidence is worthy of being laughed at, for they have truly squandered their intelligence.

reply to post by goldbomb444


I always admit to my family and friends...that yes, I sound nuts and I know it. At least by coming upfront, it may dispel the notion my family and friends have of me actually being nuts.

reply to post by MOFreemason


If you can just show them some actual evidence of your beliefs, you won't have to convince them.

Rational people listening to you then going "huh?" is not a good sign of a sound belief.

reply to post by dave420


I agree 100%!

I don't believe in them all. I'm also not as cynical as some people. I think things happen, but I don't believe the people involved do it just because they are evil. I think they are just misled. Some people really do believe what they are doing will turn out good etc.

But I was called crazy lots of times and those people don't call me crazy anymore. Crazy would actually be one of the nicer things I've been called. They see it for themselves now.

I always say - Time will prove me right, it always does.

reply to post by goldbomb444



Not everyone goes along with all this. Some of us have some critical thinking skills. Not too many in the world outside ats, have critical thinking, so it equals out.

Crazy is continuous emotional instability. I notice, when talking to people, that mostly when they use the term crazy, it's actually a projection. As in, what I am telling them is so far from the norm, that it causes them fear, and emotional instability.

People tend to fear what they don't understand. Sure, some people who take in too many new theories without processing them fully, will be unable to adequately adapt, and may insue continuous emotional instability until the matter is worked out. I think, on the whole, it's more that people like members of ATS, who want to know the truth ( or I presume most do), think that others want to know this too. So they attempt to explain this to many people who are not at all in the know. Actually it's just like I explained above, except the latter is knowledge flowing to people who may not have the intellectual capacity or desire to know. People who are 'sheeple'.

Crazy is a crazy does, LOL. If we can hold a job, integrate (to a slight extent) with society, and think for our self, I think we are way beyond what the average joe would call crazy.

People often confuze crazy with seemingly insane, and insanity for genius. I think it's a way for people to look past the fact that we are smart, and feel better about their self by ignoring the truth and passing judgment.

I do know, after reading many threads here, that some people are off, and not in a way that seems to benefit them, or anyone else as far as I can tell. I'm not going to label, but it is rather bizzare. To say the least!

Who knows, it's all a matter of perspective, I'm sure someone on ats (possibly many people) think that I'm insane, crazy, schizo, or whatever. It wouldn't be the first time that I heard such labels pointed my way.

I would rather be called a nut than to be an idiot sleeping with my head in the sand anyday...
Funny thing is I told all my family and friends to get out of the market in june that something bad was coming and they where gonna loose alot of money. None of them listened to me and now that they have lost at the highest 3.5 million, they are all calling me and asking me how I knew. It was simple really look at the past and how they worked things figure in todays way of doing things and the picture was perfectly clear it was yet again time to crash the world to get people back to "trusting" the gov and not themselves. Guess at one point or another you no longer become a "nut case" and become the only "sane one" in the whole group!

If ignorance is bliss; I live in hell and I am damn proud of it!If

Originally posted by unityemissions
Crazy is continuous emotional instability. I notice, when talking to people, that mostly when they use the term crazy, it's actually a projection. As in, what I am telling them is so far from the norm, that it causes them fear, and emotional instability.

Yep, too true. Over the last few days i have been on another board, telling them about my life, none of them would believe the things i was talking about, because it is something that scares people. The topic was mind control,a nd the fact that the government does this to people.

they actually closed the thread, on a board where no threads are closed. This was a board too, that you cannot just sign upto, you have to get nominated, so its not something that people can see on the net freely, like this board.

People are scared, of certain things, and they call you nuts, for talking about such things. But heck like i told them, this stuff ruined my life, so what harm will it do me, to talk about it. the stuff against me, will happen no matter if i talk about it or not, i might as well try to persudae some about what was going on.

I think the reason it was closed, was because i was telling some truths, and maybe people whre starting to beleive, the thread, and the people on the board want to be careful. lol

reply to post by andy1033


Do you have any evidence it was closed because you were telling uncomfortable truths, or is that just your guess? If it's the latter, judging by the way you phrased your assertion, a pattern might be forming.