AIBU To feel like I'm losing my sister to conspiracy theories?

[Thestreets]

My sister is a very intelligent, funny, interesting woman but recently , probably since lockdown she has been spending more and more time online and reading into conspiracy theories about the Hollywood elite and politicians and child sacrifices and all kinds of ludicrous claims.

This has utterly consumed her, you cannot have a conversation with the her that she does not turn to her trying to show some you tube video as "evidence". I'm so worried but do not know what to do as everything I say is met with "well that's what they want you to think".

Everybody is entitled to their opinion and that includes your sister. You really can't blame her. We have to admit there have been very illogical things going on in the past months, and things are going from bad to worst. I certainly don't trust the governments of this world to have our best interests at heart.

It sounds like you're losing her to weed smoking tbh. Today it's conspiracy theories but people who smoke a lot of weed often have compulsions and paranoia. I don't think there is any point in you trying to change her opinions or getting her to do a digital detox if she is still smoking. That would need to change first.
I'd drop all the conspiracy theory arguments and focus on the health risks associated with her smoking, how bad it is for her DC etc.

My ex has gone the same way, spouting absolute nonsense and posting all over social media about it. I'm only letting him see DD under close supervision by his mum at the moment, he's been to the doctor at my insistence but all they've done is signed him off work - not helpful at all. He smokes weed too and although he swears hes stopped now I think the damage is done. Its really sad and I don't have any advice really because I'm struggling with it myself

Personally I think the reason conspiracy theorists have latched onto covid is for them thinking that the government is controlling it all is less scary than the actual scientific truth, which is that life is we know it could effectively be over for good.

Can you one up her? Say you think these conspiracy theories are a conspiracy theory! Like powerful people want to distract people from the real "boring" conspiracies like tax avoidance and corporate lobbying by releasing sexy conspiracies that sound like the plot of a convoluted movie. Like why would they need to use a vaccine to microchip people when everyone voluntarily walks around with a gps enabled "microchip" with camera and microphone in their pocket on a day to day basis.

Everytime she mentions a batshit conspiracy just say ah thats what they want you to think to distract you from the less exciting truth.

Yes, i have a friend who has well and truly fallen down this rabbit hole! She's posting loads of stuff on Facebook and it's becoming more far fetched as time goes on. At first it was annoying and now it's worrying (and this, my friends, is how Trump will win another election).

How can they not see that the "proof" they keep bringing up is so obviously fake it's funny?

Because it's not 'proof' as generally accepted. ie a test of veracity... Generally it goes like this: I have this theory, I test it by doing X, Y, and Z. The results of the tests are as the theory predicted. The results are my proof.

To the conspiracy theorist proof is non-experimental confirmation. 'Evidence' rather than proof. They can't see the difference and can't examine the evidence other than to look for ways in which it confirms their beliefs. Just as Fundamentalist Religious types will use the Bible or the Koran* as 'proof' of their claims.

It's circular. The theory and the evidence confirm each other therefore both are unquestionable.

This is not just a conspiracy theory thing. The history of science is littered with similar circular thinking which becomes orthodoxy until the evidence against it mounts up and someone comes up with a better way of explaining a phenomenon.

The difference here is Science has the concept of Falsifiability. All theory can be proven wrong. Science acknowledges that there is doubt. Conspiracy theory doesn't. Conspiracy theory KNOWS. It's religion disguising itself as science.

*Other religious texts are available.

Oh and friend is a big weed smoker...interesting as I hadn't made that connection.

@redbushtea please read my earlier posts. It is not her option that worrys me but the fact that it has completely consumed her whole life and is affecting her work and her relationships by being so obsessed.

People are more worried because seemingly "normal" people are more likely to believe conspiracy theories nowadays, in the past the tin-foil hat brigade were outcasts so nobody batted an eyelid when they raised a wacky theory or two.

It's harder to understand when someone we believed rational starts believing something so obviously irrational. However it's a product of our time, more people are realising how biased mainstream media is and so more people are turning to alternative outlets (unfortunately ones that spout bollocks).

One only has to look to the coverage of the climate change riots or BLM protests to see how one-sided it is. Dissent cannot be tolerated, even support isn't tolerated if it is not deemed supportive enough. This leads people to think that the BBC, for instance, will only show one side of the argument on other issues too.

All news sources have an agenda they are trying to push. Some are obvious (Daily Mail, Guardian etc) but in increasing numbers people are realising "respectable" outlets like the BBC are just as bad. In some ways worse, they are better at hiding their angle and conning people.

It's no surprise that in this climate people turn elsewhere. A conspiracy theory just means that the "right" people don't support it. All the claims of Russia meddling in western elections are a conspiracy theory, but the correct people believe in it so it is treated as news.

I actually think the Covid conspiracy people are dangerous tbh. I work in a hospital, in health research and see the daily figures and my job is to read the peer reviewed research papers that show exactly what impact Covid-19 is having on the nations health (direct and indirect).

These people who are saying 'They are manipulating the stats, EVERYONE is dying from covid according to death certificates, its all a scamdemic to control us etc' are dangerous.

People say they are entitled to their opinion but what if their opinion is scaring people or affecting people's behaviour or spreading disinformation?

I'm concerned about your sister's child, OP. Please call SS and explain what's happening.

I think people turn to conspiracy theories during times of social and economic turmoil and when people feel disenfranchised or at odds with mainstream society. Knowing a bit of history, there is absolutely nothing new about the basic Apocalyptic fantasy - a powerful elite who perform satanic rituals involving the sacrifice of children and a ‘saviour’ who will come to save this dark world from an ‘Antichrist’ - it is as old as the hills. In medieval Europe during the Black Death, for example these ideas spread and spawned all kinds of outbreaks of violence, specifically against the Jewish communities in Germany and France. It was believed the plague was deliberately started by Jewish people poisoning the wells.

I’m not saying there are no conspiracies - we know, historically there have been and are - but the kind of QAnon, satanic evil elite sacrificing babies in a Pizza restaurant are just a continuation of the old fantasies of the Middle Ages and have little to do with reality.

Norman Cohan’s ‘Pursuit of the Millennium’ is a good book on this subject.

I agree @ComplexPTSDmaybe I'm all for everyone having their own opinion but where it comes to believing COVID does not exist and has been made up so the sheeple will conform that is where the line is drawn between harmless and harmful.

My dsis will not sanitise her hands or wear a mask even when she had to take her DD into hospital last week. She did not care that there could be vulnerable people in the hospital that she might infect as COVID does not exist. She lied and said that she had trauma preventing her from covering her face which is despicable.

My partner is obsessed with Bill gates and a name that I can't remember today annoyingly. He mentions the elite or control most days. The thing is sometimes I think he has points. But he lets himself down by being too invested.

For example yesterday their was apparently a big riot in London for wearing masks. This was shown on a new channel called RT but not the BBC etc. The RT channel is alot more real.

The thing is there are some issues at the moment about the world in general. We don't need 5G. We really don't. Technology like this could lead to more health issues. Mobile phones on their own will do that. WiFi and stuff isn't good for the brain. I do think technology has gone too far. I don't particularly think about it until he starts. But when he does start I can see machines are taking over. You can see that by going in Asda and realising humans no longer operate the tills and they are adding more and more in to cut staff down.

I don't know about vaccines. Alot of people think bill gates is a nasty piece of work and has an agenda.

The thing with coronavirus stats is to actually look on the NHS website daily stats. You will find way less are dying when you see it on there. What you have to remember too is the testing system is corrupt. They don't do postmortems and tests on every human that has died. many have died from other things or with Covid on top of an end of life illness. But they just put it down as covid. Ofcourse some have died. It's absolutely tragic. But thankfully there's not many young healthy people dying. Infact theres not many middle aged people dying either. A huge majority are over 80 and we don't even know if it really was covid. The usual media outlets are controlled. They can only print certain things.

Masks will not be as amazing as people think. They make you feel safer. But really half of them are made by random people who perhaps are not using a material that's protective enough or it doesn't fit right. Many disposable ones are snapping etc. Read reviews on Amazon. The government are really messing people around.

But you can't live in fear and over think these things. Most of it is likely crap. But the world isn't what it seems either.

Look at things like the NHS and it's underfunding for cancer and many other things. All the cut backs. Closing maternity units. Shutting local a&es. Yet they have found billions for Coronavirus. it's almost like they don't want to save people.

@Jihhery I think that would do more harm than good because at the moment my nice stays over quite a bit of the time to play with her cousins and I would be afraid that dsis would cut me off. I dont believe they would be able to help her either if I'm honest, it would just prove her theories right of authority being out to silence her because she is speaking up.

@Devlesko

She's not entirely wrong is she? Do you believe what the media tell you to believe or do you have a mind of your own.

The problem with conspiracy theorists is they believe nothing unless it backs up their theories. If it backs up their beliefs then they will believe it without any critical analysis or proof.

Yes, of course we should all apply critical thinking to what we read. However, very few conspiracy theorists, despite telling us how we are being fooled and need to critique media reports, actually apply any level of critical thinking at all to the lunacy they are peddling.

I think the best way to handle this is the same way you handle psychosis , so not disagree with her, do not tell her she’s crazy but do question her, ask her what evidence there is to back up these theories? Ask her why these things have not been spoken about in the main news (BBC)? Make her see that these are not logical theories.

It sounds like she’s become obsessed, maybe to fill her time whilst feeling lonely, she needs to find other things to keep her brain busy, intelligent people are great at over thinking everything and blowing things out of proportion.

Behind the Curve on Netflix is an interesting documentary about flat-earthers and how the cement their views. Even when they carried out an experiment themselves to supposedly prove the earth was flat and it didn't work they just made excuses.

@redbushtea

Everybody is entitled to their opinion and that includes your sister.

Being entitled to an opinion isn't the same as your opinion being right, or even acceptable. Opinions that are demonstrably false or wrong need to be challenged whenever they're raised.

@OchonAgusOchonO the last minute of that documentary was classic!

I think mistrust of mainstream media (which generally have some degree of bias), social media and the difficulty of verifying sources, the internet meaning content can be shared worldwide combined with Covid-19 has created the perfect environment for conspiracy theories to become more prevalent. Humans react in funny ways to fear and events outside their control. Having something to believe in can make you feel more in control.

That said, conspiracy theories can turn out to have kernels of truth. We should be careful not to dismiss conspiracy nuts without at least thinking about what they are saying. For example: coronovirus being made to control us/fear of it being used to control us. I don't believe there is a global 'they' seeking to control us but on an individual basis people/governments are taking advantage. Was it Hungary(?) where laws passed for quick decision making in relation to covid-19 were used to pass legislation unrelated to covid-19. And I know lawyers in the UK who are concerned about sloppy wording in recent legislation plus the blurring of lines between guidance and law and what is enforceable how - all of which could have future consequences.

Sadly, I fear there is little you can do to help your sister as it sounds like she is well into extreme conspiracy territory and any objections from you will be rationalised as part of the conspiracy.

The flat earth documentary made me see how these slightly marginalised types got to finally belong to group. Suddenly they had a social life, people to communicate with, conferences to go, causes to get behind, friendships, romantic partners even.

Just finally a sense of belonging really. It was just a random, relatively harmless platform on which to create the platform for that sense of belonging. It could have been 'We wear Pink on Wednesdays''

With the Conspiracists that I've come into contact with , there has seemed to be a direct inverse correlation between intelligence and belief in The Big Theories. They want to appear to be more clever and more 'with it' than others (probably because they've never been in that position before in the real world), so they take the little bits of various theories that make sense to them, build on them in their own heads, construct their own theories and then put them out into the world.

Where they are picked up by others in the same boat, and put forward as being 'true', even though they were just dreamed up by someone else joining the dots, and inserting their own dots when the picture wasn't what they wanted it to be.

@L8Bloomer

let her figure it out on her own eventually.

A friend was telling me a couple of weeks ago about some hormone ''chromium'' that was released when children were in terror and that various celebrities used it as a fountain of youth potion. I remember thinking what.the.fuck......... I got home and googled chromium and it's a skit from a film.

It's called Adrenochrome, oddly enough there is a scene about it in the film fear and loathing in Las Vegas m.youtube.com/watch?v=m6kFCNsnQpQ