The Mind of the Conspiracy Theorist

reply to post by davesidious


I wouldn’t confuse a conspiracy buff with actual conspiracy theorists. One simply immerses themselves in the notion of conspiracies, while the other actually relentlessly investigates them.

One kind of just looks for a happy alternative world view to settle into and honestly if you are the type of person inclined, as many are to worry about crazed lunatic Jihadists with exploding Qurans sitting down beside you on an airplane or subway…hey you might as go all the way and worry about imaginary lizard men too!

For such people like everyone else it’s all about deciding what they want to be worried about and scared of in life.

Conspiracy Theorists don’t mimic verbatim some YouTube Guru or other Media Cult Figure’s marketing schemes and campaigns.

We aren’t in it for the profit; we are in it for the challenge, the challenge of figuring things out.

Conspiracy Buffs get fixated on things; Conspiracy Theorists just keep searching for facts.

Like any good detective you might end up sending that innocent man to death row once in a blue moon, but just because there are some rather peculiar notions out there, is no reason not to investigate conspiracies or to assume based on the most peculiar notions that if they don’t exist no other conspiracy of importance exists.

A lot of conspiracy buffs in fact get really mad when you won’t settle into that precise cult like way of viewing things.

Is it possible that maybe you too are just a bit upset that what ever your favorite conspiracy isn’t universally accepted?

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


The only conspiracy theories I believe in have documented evidence.

Most, if not all, of the conspiracies on this site don't have a shred of evidence supporting them, and yet they have throngs of believers. I find that depressing.

Critical thought is the most powerful asset any human being has, yet so many folks here simply don't care for it.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


Agreed ... furthermore, inasmuch as one can define a 'true' conspiracy theorist, such definition would be characterized more on account of one's affinity to the process of discovery than any specific attachment to a particular theory or any expectation of final answers or resolutions.

Causality implies an infinite number of steps preceding any specific event ... to expect closure is imho missing the mark.

Unless one is driven by the process as a means of inquiry into the human condition and not a finite goal, one can separate the thought from the ego/identity and clarity prevails.

Of course, this is true pretty much across the board ... after all, as is well established but poorly actualized: "expectations are the building blocks of disappointment."

[edit on 28 Jan 2010 by schrodingers dog]

Originally posted by davesidious
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

The only conspiracy theories I believe in have documented evidence.

Most, if not all, of the conspiracies on this site don't have a shred of evidence supporting them, and yet they have throngs of believers. I find that depressing.

Critical thought is the most powerful asset any human being has, yet so many folks here simply don't care for it.

Well that would make you a conspiracy buff. The truth is that if there were a complete pool of evidence in any conspiracy it would have been an already run and over conspiracy.

It would be history. A conspiracy that took place in history but now just history, you see a conspiracy stops being a conspiracy when you have all the documented evidence of it. Then at that point it’s no longer possible for the conspirators to secretly conspire.

Naturally this believe it or not makes the actual conspirators involved try really hard to make sure there is no documented evidence to uncover.

Perhaps the least intelligent thing a person could do is being so skeptical as well as downright lazy as to say well if that’s real show me all the evidence that its real. Being a conspiracy theorist is about ferreting out that information and looking for the proof, proof which more often than not is not hanging out at your preferred URL, where you can just click a button and read something for you to mull over. It’s out there though and it takes a good detective to go out and find it.

Well you picked an odd interest in becoming a conspiracy history buff and finding it so hard to envision what ferreting out conspiracies at the contemporary level actual entails in the way of the investigatory and analytical process.


[edit on 28/1/10 by ProtoplasmicTraveler]

An important part for anyone seeking truth, whether they be a conspiracy theorist, a scientist, or a spiritual seeker, is the definition of knowledge and truth.

I think defining what knowledge is, what truth is, and how to determine what there is to know and what can considered truth is very important, and is actually what led me into conspiracy theories.

First off, science is not ultimate. Science utilizes our 5 senses in our physical reality to discern truth through repeatable phenomenon with physical evidence. Science's short comings, which in recent years has been trying to reconcile with Quantum Theory and String Theory, is that it relies on the PHYSICAL. We know for a fact that what we can record and measure, what we can see and feel, is know the entire picture of reality. There are a near infinite amount of spectrum's of energy out there that we can not even speculate on with science, and THAT is sciences downfall.

Another major down fall for science and academia in full is DOGMA. Science and Academia are very dogmatic. They have not been without their biases and their shortsightedness, and sadly we have not back pedaled at all on our biases and shortsightedness. We make wild presumptions about things regardless of the amount of evidence and ideas outside of the presumption that never make it to light in the major circles of science and academia.

The idea, that, ancient historical and religious texts, scripture and documentation of events in our past, can simply be discredited because it is too supernatural is absolutely stupid. When you look at the evidence yourself, of possible alternate time lines of our past than what is accepted by orthodoxy, you can see that there is NO reason to discredit outside of bias and racial or religious dominance. Which is really what happened. And when you have Hindu ancient texts talking about the nature of the cosmos and Buddha's teachings on the nature of existence and our reality...and they coincide with modern scientific belief and Quantum Theory...something is up. When you have a bloody, savage people with no technological means to do so, measure the planets, stars and other celestial objects to the extent that many of their measurements are about as accurate as modern scientific knowledge and even beyond our abilities, something is up. When you have similar stories, ideas, structures, and beliefs across the globe, and our orthodoxy tells us that they never shared it or had such massive amounts of travel, SOMETHING IS UP.

I'm a Jedi. I don't believe in coincidences. And what I discovered, through lots of research and esoteric practices, is that every significant rabbit hole, every conspiracy, every belief, all these wild coincidences, ARE connected. Some holes prove to be dead ends and fake, but there is a labyrinth of rabbit holes, that connect together in a small chamber and continue making more connections and more path ways, and at the core of it all, it ALL originates from one massive source. All these rabbit holes are connected to one source. One giant conspiracy over mankind, from political conspiracies, to UFO's, religious conspiracies, NWO, scientific conspiracies, academic conspiracies; there is a resonance of connection between them all. I don't claim to fully understand it yet, but there is a source in which all of these originate from.

That would be one massive coincidence. And again, Jedi here. We don't believe in coincidences.

Originally posted by schrodingers dog
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

Agreed ... furthermore, inasmuch as one can define a 'true' conspiracy theorist, such definition would be characterized more on account of one's affinity to the process of discovery than any specific attachment to a particular theory or any expectation of final answers or resolutions.

Causality implies an infinite number of steps preceding any specific event ... to expect closure is imho missing the mark.

Unless one is driven by the process as a means of inquiry into the human condition and not a finite goal, one can separate the thought from the ego/identity and clarity prevails.

Of course, this is true pretty much across the board ... after all, as is well established but poorly actualized: "expectations are the building blocks of disappointment."

[edit on 28 Jan 2010 by schrodingers dog]

That’s very true, the truly analytical mind doesn’t actually judge in a reactionary way the emotional aspects and or morality aspects of a conspiracy. It simply is what it is, with no one truth being more horrible or preferable than the other from a personal or emotional standpoint. The truth is simply the truth, what it implies is only secondary, arriving at it is what is primary, and recognizing it as the truth once one does.

It’s actually a detached and analytical process. Some of us actually simply believe the truth sets one free. It certainly is hard to have freedom when you don’t have situational awareness of your environment and the true restrictions that it entails and the actual impediments to freedom.

So understanding the lay of the land and wanting to have that situational awareness doesn’t actually in and of itself connotative of what the investigator will actually do with the information or indicative of their own morality simply because they prefer the truth and to know it.

I do believe though that the more information and accurate information a person does have the more masterful their own potential becomes to interact when in fact they so choose.

Much of detective work is simply understanding psychology and the various elements of the human condition, and how the motivational mind set of various personalities are more likely to act in ways that are specific to their perspectives and mindsets. It is mostly about studying why people do the things that they do and through it being able to recognize those patterns in behavior. If you get good at it, the vast majority of times you know what any one individual is capable of and likely to do even before they do.

The world exists in large part as it does because of the human condition. Understanding the human condition is the only possible way it could move forward. Conspiracies are about holding people up and examining that human condition.

I do believe the most important thing in life to know is the truth. To that extent I don’t think it behooves anyone to not constantly be searching it out.

Originally posted by davesidious
From what I've seen on ATS, most conspiracy theorists don't understand what actual evidence is, ranking things like amateur's opinions and oft-repeated claims alongside scientific study and official record.

If every single conspiracy theorist adopted critical thinking, there would be far fewer conspiracy theories, and any actual conspiracies that appear would be made public. Instead, we're all drowning in claims, half-truths, misunderstandings, opinion, and ignorance. If a real conspiracy was happening, and it made it on ATS, it would be drowned out by the sound of people wailing about how HAARP is eating their babies, or how reptilians are going to blow up the moon in 2012.

The mind of the conspiracy theorist seems to thrive on paranoia, and seems to not care about evidence. It also seems to have no desire to be proven wrong, ignoring evidence contrary to their chosen pet theories, and jumping on anything that seems to support said theories.

People in the conspiracy theory group continually talk about research, and yet their research seems to be limited to YouTube videos and websites written by fellow believers. If we look at past conspiracies that have been unearthed and presented to the public, we can see they were uncovered due to real research - people getting off their butts, out the door, and talking to people. Real research like getting court documents, or performing surveillance. Not finding someone who agrees with their claims and thinking that is evidence.

The whole conspiracy theory culture is mainly sad. The few rational people in it are given a bad name by the irrational behaviour present in others. I find it noble that ATS instructs its users to "deny ignorance", but I find it sad that ATS fosters ignorance by not categorically calling people out on their baseless nonsense as often as they should.

Critical thinking is difficult, and demonstrates that most conspiracies are not real, which is why people who want to believe don't employ it. Critical thinking is only used by those who want to know.

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AWESOME!

Personally I have a deep attraction to RELIGION-SCIENCE-HISTORY-UFOLOGY. Unfortunatley it makes me seem as if I am a conspiracy theorist yet I am far from trying to find out and debunk conspiracies. I am validating my creator within my own self and existance for it is mentioned that there has been encounters in the past from beyond in religious text and history text and I am just centering the CROSSHAIRS ON THE PROPER LOCATIONS. I dont care about what bull humans and friends do and try to hide for everything will be revealed in time so why bother racking my transmitter with such bs. @ the same time I would like to know as much as I can about existance in this dark realm called the UNIVERSE BY ITS INHABITORS SO I DONT MAKE ANY WRONG MOVES WITHIN IT DISTURBING IT WERE IT SHOULDNT BE DISTURBED. SO CHALK ME UP AS A CONSPIRACY THEORIST AND MISS MY WHOLE AGENDA-EVEN IF STILL YOU ALL ARE PART OF IT



[edit on 1/28/10 by Ophiuchus 13]

Psychology (lit. "study of the soul" or "study of the mind"[1]) is an academic and applied discipline which involves the scientific study of human or animal mental functions and behaviors. In the field of psychology, a professional researcher or practitioner is called a psychologist, and is a type of social scientist.

So, where did the study of the human soul go?

I contend some have made subjects here far more complicated that they need to be. If something is true, then it is self evident. If it is false, it will be exposed in time, no exceptions. If you attempt to disprove "Conspiracies" then who would you employ to prove the truth? The police departments around the globe are full of "Conspiracy Nuts".

Each conspiracy must be examined upon its own merits or situation, period. If you attempt to pile them up into one psychological disorder you are doing mankind a disservice, period!

The "Soul" has spoken, period.

The premise of this entire post is flawed by making suppositions about what a
defines a "conspiracy theory".. and who makes that determination... certainly not the govt or media.

Uncle Sam, who in the past has proven to be a chronic liar / unreliable witness, has his side of the story.. that a consensus of people agree doesn't jive with the reported facts.

Witness Sam is historically unreliable, untruthful, and untrustworthy.. yet disagreeing with him gets one labeled a "conspiracy theorist" in the public arena..

JQ Public: "Hey Uncle Sam... quick question about building 7"
Uncle Sam: "You're a towel"

Dont be fooled into believing the "official" story parroted by the media is the correct one... it's nothing but 'another one'.

I quit reading after about page2... or was it 3, anyway, Conspiracy Theorists are projecting, borderline unstable, seek reassurance to it all, etc...ok. gotcha.

However, when you look at where Lee harvey Oswald positioned himself in Dallas in 1963, and used the rifle he did...I used to have one, and see the angle, distances, and timeframe...look at his ties...look at the people he surrounded himself with, look at what happened to the witnesses, and see where JFK was hit and all the things he had his fingers in...you're saying a "rational" person should accept the "official"story? But if you question, then we start to enter the realm of the CT? Why would I accept the "official" story?
Or for that matter..."global warming"? Good thing we have folks that question the "reality" projected by our leaders.

reply to post by GovtFlu


As soon as two or more people conspire, it's a conspiracy. Any theory anyone has that two ore more people are conspiring, that's a conspiracy theory. No one has to determine or label it - a conspiracy theory is defined by the very idea itself.

reply to post by AlreadyGone


Sure - as long as the people doing the investigating stick to hard evidence, and not fantastic conjecture, which is the root of most conspiracy theories on ATS these days. That's why people laugh at "conspiracy theorists", because to most people CTs are about Bigfoot or aliens at area 51, or 2012, or HAARP or some other baseless nonsense. If people on ATS knew when to let something go, we'd not be the laughing stock of the internet.

reply to post by argonfritz


Isn't a conspiracy theorist just a dysphemism for an alternative organized theorist?

The federal and local government, the military, fortune 500 companies, and The New York Yankees all contain Conspiracies, because the just can't tell you everything you want to know about what they do. So every theory about them not supported by them, makes you a...Well you know.

Originally posted by davesidious
From what I've seen on ATS, most conspiracy theorists don't understand what actual evidence is, ranking things like amateur's opinions and oft-repeated claims alongside scientific study and official record.

If every single conspiracy theorist adopted critical thinking, there would be far fewer conspiracy theories, and any actual conspiracies that appear would be made public. Instead, we're all drowning in claims, half-truths, misunderstandings, opinion, and ignorance. If a real conspiracy was happening, and it made it on ATS, it would be drowned out by the sound of people wailing about how HAARP is eating their babies, or how reptilians are going to blow up the moon in 2012.

The mind of the conspiracy theorist seems to thrive on paranoia, and seems to not care about evidence. It also seems to have no desire to be proven wrong, ignoring evidence contrary to their chosen pet theories, and jumping on anything that seems to support said theories.

People in the conspiracy theory group continually talk about research, and yet their research seems to be limited to YouTube videos and websites written by fellow believers. If we look at past conspiracies that have been unearthed and presented to the public, we can see they were uncovered due to real research - people getting off their butts, out the door, and talking to people. Real research like getting court documents, or performing surveillance. Not finding someone who agrees with their claims and thinking that is evidence.

The whole conspiracy theory culture is mainly sad. The few rational people in it are given a bad name by the irrational behaviour present in others. I find it noble that ATS instructs its users to "deny ignorance", but I find it sad that ATS fosters ignorance by not categorically calling people out on their baseless nonsense as often as they should.

Critical thinking is difficult, and demonstrates that most conspiracies are not real, which is why people who want to believe don't employ it. Critical thinking is only used by those who want to know.

Excellent post and I agree with you. Unfortunately, I think your common sense message may not be well received here. Right message, wrong locale.

from someone who is new to conspiracies. i often find myself asking if the people who wrote them are insane though i try to show them respect but i do also believe some of the conspiracies i read.

In my mind I find that anything that we observe that can not be explained is the seed of a conspiracy.

Being inquisitive and wanting to know how something works, how it fits together, how it came together, how it was planned and executed, and of course most of all we want to know its purpose for being.

The conspiracy is important but the purpose of the conspiracy is what keeps everyone coming back for more. We all subconsciously seek to understand what was it all about. Anyway, I really enjoyed this posting and found it quite intriguing and of a most interesting subject matter to ponder.