To think that conspiracy theorists are everywhere

I second the weed addiction comment. Every ct I know smokes loads of it and thinks it will cure all ills, but it seems to affect their mental health hugely. I think the healthier sane folk in society can critically disbelieve governments, politicians, large corporations without going down "flat earth" and "immunisation" rabbit holes and then calling everyone else sheeple to somehow feel special and intelligent. We can distinguish between what may be likely and what's utter batshit!

I think it’s a collective trauma response to not only Covid but the perpetual conflict that simultaneously feeds/disrupts our economic cycles. We’re in a very destructive state presently. Always, it seems. Life is hostile! Conspiracy theories abound the more divided and conquered and exhausted people are. Some are plausible and many are batshit. It is essential to teach our children critical thinking and the value of questioning everything.

As for dog ownership, nothing puts you more at the frontline of human madness and kindness all at once than the interactions we have with other dog owners. I have to be honest, my conversations never really go further than, “Fluffy is still intact and tries to mate with the Egyptian geese.” I don’t think I’ve ever really had any conspiracy theorists ask me for a spare poo bag.

I'd call it a con.

But it's been there in plain sight since the 80s. We live in a plutocracy.

We've had the odd bit of pushback (Bernie Sanders in the US, Corbyn and Ed Millibnad as Labour leaders) but they were never elected into power by the electorate to try and change things. They keep voting Tory in the UK or might vote Labour when they will preserve the status quo (Blair/Starmer).

Yes, I see where you're coming from. The votes were largely cast in that direction because we were sold the lie of benefit from trickle down economics which never fully materialised.

We did have a few cycles of boom then bust to keep us hoping, but now I think it's plain to see the effects of end stage capitalism.

And TPTB aren't even pretending there's a solution any more, except more and more deprivation for more and more people, while a few hoover up the fruits of the labour of the already deprived.

Modern economic decline is absolutely a vast conspiracy, hiding in plain sight.

Is that a conspiracy or is it democracy? People voted for Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan to change the major western economies into neoliberal 'greed is good' and the rich get richer while creating an underclass. That is not a conspiracy theory - people literally voted for it.

And they've still voted Tory for the last 14 years.

It’s particularly prevalent in men it seems. I never had these kinds of conversations before. What changed?

Weed addiction.

People falling into rabbit holes online.

Loads have people have rejected mainstream media, with the advent of social media, but the issue then is where they're getting their news/ideas from.

This is my experience too. They are very ill informed. They know a lot about the conspiracy but nothing about history or science or contemporary thinking which doesn’t support the theory. Their views are illogical with huge holes and often contradictory, you can’t discuss with them as they become irritated or angry and their only response is to say they don’t believe the sources of your information. Essentially, counter evidence is part of the conspiracy ( it’s been created by those seeking to control us), and people with counter views are sheeple who haven’t woken up and seen through the conspiracy.

Yep. I’ve noticed this too.

They're everywhere, in my experience.

All the old tropes about the Jews are cropping up again too. Blood libel, controlling the media, dual loyalties. It's frightening.

Just as nasty as a government who lied and laughed their arses off. A government who conspired with nudge unit ( behaviour psychologists) to change behaviour, to get more compliance. A plandemic that's wasn't nearly as deadly as they made out. Coercive manipulative behaviour to get everyone vaccinated! Disgusting lies in untested experimental vaccine thatw has fatal and utterly horrific side affects.

A lockdown that has caused excess death's,mental health. suicides rates went up and don't anyone on mumsnet dare say that's a lie. I work in an industry that will show you exactly what these globalist have done and are doing. So if were you I would check out who the really nasty ones are because some of these disgusting people joined forces with the government to bully people into not seeing their loved ones, and forcing vaccines and people having the real prospects of losing their jobs. Calling anyone who had the absolute right to not take a shitty fake vaccine with hard!y any long term data an anti vaxxer. Rotten human beings.

Your response comes across as a typical Conspiracy Theory response to me. You haven’t answered my question of whether or not you believe Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, just repeated your comments that having no video is ‘a bit odd’.

I commented that the lack of CCTV/ video footage from the area is probably due to security concerns as the CIA is based at the Pentagon, and that in 2001 there were no smartphones - if anyone did see the plane flying low toward the Pentagon, they couldn’t exactly pull out a phone to take a quick video. Any thoughts on those explanations for the lack of video footage?

Yeah it’s exploded. And there’s a really unpleasant atrocity denying side to it. I know several.

Just keep away from them. They are utterly batshit and believe some really repulsive things and the further they get into it, and they do, the madder and more repulsive their views get.

@EllieQ I have no idea. It's not like it's a big thing for me, spouting my theory about it 😀. I just find it very odd. One grainy video for the United States defence building? No other building cctv that caught it in the area? It's located in a built up area, and would have had to travel some distance at that low altitude, rather than come straight down from the sky. I just find it odd.

On that theory, those wanting the truth to come out about Hillsborough were branded wingers, victim mentality, conspiracy theorists etc (as well as the whole of Liverpool). Likewise the decision to put Liverpool into a managed decline. It was shocking how far in the MET the bad behaviour/attitudes went. The patriarchy is often called a conspiracy theory. Everyone got their shit together to allow the post office scandal and bury the blood scandal. In Canada the truth about the treatment and murder of first nation people is still emerging. As said the phrase was used to cover up the murders of JK and Monroe. I wouldn't completely disbelief anything.

I’ve got a male relative who is into CT. He tries then out on us and I have to awkwardly nod along politely. A recent one is that MI6 was behind the invasion of Ukraine.

The cult like beliefs and the perception of superior inside knowledge is exactly why they are common amongst narcissistic people and lower educated individuals who like to fill that knowledge void and boost their self esteem by convincing themselves they are more knowledgeable than everybody else. The need to be stand out and be different. I too find it so fascinating and have studied it quite extensively. People’s minds are truly fascinating 😃

I find the study of conspiracy theorists fascinating!

It's that 'cult like' belief (and pleasure) that you have secret knowledge that only 'insiders' have. That linking of unconnected dots to come up with a conspiracy theory and the belonging of being part of the group that has the only real knowledge. Of course, the fantasy of that knowledge is always teetering on the edge of becoming dangerous

Although conspiracy theorists will label themselves as 'critical thinkers' the two are not compatible. High conspiracy belief is more likely to be associated with a low critical thinking ablity.

Anyway, it's a really interesting phenomenon and this thread is a good example

its very interesting how CT’s are really taking a hold in right wing populist parties listening to what is happening in the US and across Europe there is lots of mentioning of ‘they’

I had always (maybe wrongly) considered CT’s to be a more left wing talk of they

i wonder how it shall play out in our elections I think shall feature heavily in the US election

i think it comes down to people needing to feel a belonging and within that they feel powerful

Do you live in Totnes?

Are you saying you don’t believe a Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon? So what happened to that plane and the people on it, and what caused the explosion(s) at the Pentagon that killed over 100 people?

Bluntly, you’re showing a lack of critical thinking here. It should be obvious that there probably isn’t much video footage taken in the area around the Pentagon, given that it’s the home of the CIA. Also, in the pre-smartphone age, most people weren’t walking around with a video camera to quickly record a plane that was flying unusually low. The only reason there is footage of the first plane hitting the World Trade Centre is that a documentary was being filmed about a fire crew on that day. Then by the time second plane hit, there were news crews filming the area.

And what do you think about the people who were killed and their grieving relatives? Do you think they are all fake? There was an awful conspiracy theory about the Sandy Hook school shooting where a talk show host claimed the parents who’d lost children were actors, and it had never happened. Hideous for the grieving families who were harassed by conspiracy theorists as a result of this talk show host’s claims. That’s what conspiracy theories can lead to.

I used to work with the BBC and I don't trust them as far as I could throw them. Especially not after Savile.

The outcome of this is that the loudest, strongest, most powerful group will dominate, and force their beliefs on others.

Facts + trust + science are there to help the less powerful. Perfect objectivity does not exist, but we don't do any favours by down-talking organisations attempting to put out trusted information, such as the BBC. They are at least trying in the right direction.

During the pandemic, I literally had someone say they hoped I'd die because our area had suddenly gone into Tier 4 and I wanted to go to my regular supermarket that was in Tier 3! Sorry, but you don't get to be that abusive and not expect the same back!
If people can be that nasty about something so trivial, imagine what it was like for anyone

Anyone else wondering how conspiracy theories can take hold should look at some of the old pandemic threads on here.

I remember posters telling other posters they deserved to die because they bought chocolate at the supermarket and it wasn't an essential item. Or people suggesting melting butter into tea rather than buying 'non-essential' milk.

MN was objectively batshit insane during that time. Although I bet if you'd asked each individual poster they would have sworn they were the only sane one.

“Facts”

Please expand and I’d also be really interested to know to what level you took your post-graduate scientific studies.

Conspiracy theories have been around forever, but social media has allowed them to explode and spread way faster than they were able to before. 30 years ago if you happened to hear someone talk about the flat earth then you'd regard them as an isolated loon. Now there's a whole ecosystem of flat earthers, spinning ever more elaborate stories among themselves, grifting money and gaining status.
Flerfers are easy to ignore. It gets more serious with the likes of QAnon where the conspiracy theories are influencing people's political views and voting decisions. That whole dumb thing about 15 minute cities meaning we'd not be allowed to travel was a conspiracy theory stirred up for political reasons which the gullible fell for hook, line and sinker. The influence these things have, and the ease with which they can be invented and spread, is worrying.