The danger of conspiracy theories

jayem said:

Pasted from an intriguing article from the APA:

“Widespread belief in conspiracy theories is cause for concern, says Karen Douglas, PhD, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, because research links support in such theories to prejudice, violence, and terrorism. Several followers of QAnon have been charged with violent crimes, prompting the FBI to label the group a potential domestic terrorist threat in May.”

This is as much—and maybe more—of a public health threat as Covid-19. It’s a threat to our country’s mental health. And it’s spread by the internet and social media. I don’t support media censorship. I support rational, critical thinking. Our democratic republican system of government is endangered when significant numbers of citizens believe these whacked out, crackpot conspiracies.

Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD

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I agree conspiracy theories ruin minds and causes division instead of unity among the masses.

jayem said:

Pasted from an intriguing article from the APA:

“Widespread belief in conspiracy theories is cause for concern, says Karen Douglas, PhD, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, because research links support in such theories to prejudice, violence, and terrorism. Several followers of QAnon have been charged with violent crimes, prompting the FBI to label the group a potential domestic terrorist threat in May.”

This is as much—and maybe more—of a public health threat as Covid-19. It’s a threat to our country’s mental health. And it’s spread by the internet and social media. I don’t support media censorship. I support rational, critical thinking. Our democratic republican system of government is endangered when significant numbers of citizens believe these whacked out, crackpot conspiracies.

Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD

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You mean like people who believe the president is a Russian spy?

HTacianas said:

You mean like people who believe the president is a Russian spy?

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I particularly like the one about Covid shots making you magnetic. It effectively proves that there is no lowest level to stupidity.
Fact Check-'Magnet test' does not prove COVID-19 jabs contain metal or a microchip | Reuters

OB

jayem said:

I saw it reported that some QAnon screwballs believe Joe Biden is a robot. He often wears a mask because his mouth sometimes malfunctions. And he’s controlled by nefarious, super-secret, deep state criminals. At least when they’re not cannibalizing babies and drinking their blood.

QAnon believers apparently think Biden is a robot with a malfunctioning mouth

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They had to use a robot because the adhesive and latex were causing allergic reactions to the lizard shape shifter assigned to play Biden.

Occams Barber said:

I particularly like the one about Covid shots making you magnetic.

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Me:

*picks up paperclip*
*tries to put paperclip on left arm where shot was administered*
*paperclip falls to the floor*
Debunked.

The only chips that have entered my system are Lay's, Tostitos, and Doritos.

HTacianas said:

You mean like people who believe the president is a Russian spy?

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Well, the president of Russia definitely was

Free speech may be dangerous for the establishment. For democracy though free thinking and speech is necessary.

If the conspiracy theories are true there is no way of knowing if they are true, or of knowing much of anything. Therefore it is never logical to believe a conspiracy theory.
The way to prevent the temptation to conspiracy theories is to cure the isolation and alienation in our culture. That's a tall order, and will take work by individuals and churches to bring people together in their communities, and our government needs to become a better functioning, more democratic, multi-party system.

Percivale said:

The way to prevent the temptation to conspiracy theories is to cure the isolation and alienation in our culture. That's a tall order, and will take work by individuals and churches to bring people together in their communities, and our government needs to become a better functioning, more democratic, multi-party system.

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We have to be careful, though, that in all the bringing of people together we don't replace conspiracy theories with group-think. Some of my most misguided notions came through the influence of the community in which I was immersed, allowing my thinking to be assimilated into that of the collective.

There are people who keep to themselves who are also not into conspiracy theories, and who, due to the fact that their minds aren't bombarded with the noise of the crowd, are able to bring fresh perspectives to things. Some of those perspectives might not be popular, but then popularity is hopefully not the goal.

Rajni said:

....The only chips that have entered my system are Lay's, Tostitos, and Doritos.

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Doritos Flaming Hot Silicon?

Change is afoot and people are afraid and vulnerable to any notion that ties the world's chaos up in a neat bow. "The cabal that controls everything". Etc.

They are also vulnerable to demagogues who promise to set everything back aright again.

Of course there is always the danger of ignoring true dangers by shelving them as "conspiracy theories".
Two sides of the same coin. Lies either invented or ignored. The problem is the lie.

jayem said:

“Widespread belief in conspiracy theories is cause for concern,

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Is not the biggest danger in this,
that the ones who are involved in the business, profit making or other ,

that the truth about their business would hurt their profits if
, if,
people learned and believed the truth ?

i.e.the danger, a very true and real destructive force, is the one that
prevents the business at hand from being brought out into the light.

jayem said:

Pasted from an intriguing article from the APA:

“Widespread belief in conspiracy theories is cause for concern, says Karen Douglas, PhD, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, because research links support in such theories to prejudice, violence, and terrorism. Several followers of QAnon have been charged with violent crimes, prompting the FBI to label the group a potential domestic terrorist threat in May.”

This is as much—and maybe more—of a public health threat as Covid-19. It’s a threat to our country’s mental health. And it’s spread by the internet and social media. I don’t support media censorship. I support rational, critical thinking. Our democratic republican system of government is endangered when significant numbers of citizens believe these whacked out, crackpot conspiracies.

Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD

Click to expand...

All things are possible, but not all things are probable.

Robban said:

All things are possible, but not all things are probable.

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Or, some things are probable, and some things are possible. Some of what is claimed is not only improbable, it is impossible, but continues for money ?

Aaron112 said:

Or, some things are probable, and some things are possible. Some of what is claimed is not only improbable, it is impossible, but continues for money ?

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Well what is there to say?

There is so much lying, corruption, deceit, cover ups, contempt, spitefulness and hate.

Yet there are many wonderful people too.

jayem said:

Pasted from an intriguing article from the APA:

“Widespread belief in conspiracy theories is cause for concern, says Karen Douglas, PhD, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, because research links support in such theories to prejudice, violence, and terrorism. [snip]

This is as much—and maybe more—of a public health threat as Covid-19. It’s a threat to our country’s mental health. And it’s spread by the internet and social media. I don’t support media censorship. I support rational, critical thinking. Our democratic republican system of government is endangered when significant numbers of citizens believe these whacked out, crackpot conspiracies.

Click to expand...

I've [snipped] that woman's last sentence because it's even more prejudicial, in nature. That, and her (or someone else's) research parameters have not been given.
In court it would all be called leading the witness.
In journalism, it's called telling you what to think about and what to think about what you should be thinking about.

"His earlier thought returned to him: probably she was not actually a member of the Thought Police, but then it was precisely the amateur spy who was the greatest danger of all. He did not know how long she had been looking at him, but perhaps for as much as five minutes, and it was possible that his features had not been perfectly under control. It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself -- anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called."--Orwell, 1984

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Terms like "Representative Democracy" must be NewSpeak.

"A Republic, if you can keep it."

Republic: A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.

Democracy: The common people, considered as the primary source of political power.

So, if any "we the people" don't like __X__, then they shouldn't vote for a Representative who supports __X__.

What they should never do is burn a Galileo at the stake for being "a crackpot".