To think that conspiracy theorists are everywhere

[CobbldyCook]

I recently acquired a dog and so now make small talk with lots of people I probably wouldn’t have spoken with before. Not because I would avoid them or anything, just because I wouldn’t run into them. Conversation usually starts normally enough but there seems to be about a 1 in 3 chance that the chat suddenly takes a turn for “mRNA experiments”, “turbocancers”, “contrails”, “chip totality”… you name it! It’s particularly prevalent in men it seems. I never had these kinds of conversations before. What changed? Is this all because of lockdown and/or people spending so much time on the internet/social media? Aren’t there enough real issues in the world to be interested in/worried about without making stuff up? Why are people so credulous?! How should I counter it?!?

I think many people are stressed and anxious, for very good reasons, but that makes some of them latch onto conspiracy theories. I can’t be bothered arguing with them because I find most conspiracy theories really boring. So I just change the subject. If they won’t talk about anything else, I avoid them.

Probably because, while certain far-fetched conspiracy theories DO exist, those specific topics you cite aren't remotely theories, they're facts. There's plenty of data/evidence to back any of it up, should anyone care to look - just like these people have.

Rather than try to 'avoid' or 'counter' them, you could perhaps try having a conversation with them to find out why they believe the things they do. Never know, you might learn something.

Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you...
Yes, plenty of people out there who have created reasons why things happen/don't happen/are about to happen/cause something/stop something....
Just tell them firmly that you don't agree and carry on walking. If you haven'the nerve to do that, just tell them you need to get home to make a tin-foil hat

Three replies. One who believes in contrails. Rather proved your point OP!

Oh gosh, that’s pretty funny. Took exactly three comments to bear your statistics out, as @Superlambaanana points out. I was going to ask, OP, are you certain you’re not being a conspiracy theorist about conspiracy theorists? But it appears not.

Theres currently conflicting sources of information floating around about many subjects and people are more inclined to draw their own conclusions than they were previously. Don’t let it worry you, most people will hold a ‘conspiracy theory’ view about at least one subject. Even suggesting transwomen don’t belong in women’s sports is enough to put you at odds with the government and mainstream media.

While there are undoubtedly people who believe weird things with limited evidence you should be aware the term conspiracy theory is used by those in power to discredit opponents or turn attention from inconvenient facts. If you don’t want a political discussion on your dog walk that’s reasonable but don’t assume because a media source labels something a conspiracy theory it’s necessarily untrue - examine covid origins lab leak labelled conspiracy theory now most likely true.

Same reason people join cults, they don't use the brains they were born with

School can only teach children so much, there is a difference in questioning the norm and believing rubbish

There will always be part of society who are gullible, I don't get people who deliberately seek out information then complain 'omg I am so anxious now' if you are willing to believe random stuff what do you expect?

When we got smartphones we stopped reading books. When lockdown happened we stopped talking to each other. We are now sitting ducks for all the fake news that AI can throw at us. Chemtrails, Q-Anon, nanoo nanoo vaccines that insert tracking devices into us, the lot.

Welcome to the continuing saga of how human beings manage to take every technical/technological advancement and almost immediately use it as a means of fucking ourselves over.

I am happy to use my smart phone for what is useful for me I also have enough brains to know if if I start reading random stuff it does make it useful or true

Like anything in history things have their uses depending on how they used, people can't blame technology because they are less brain cells than the rest

Wtf has transgender politics to do with conspiracy theories?

This is MN. You could ask for advice about your sick hamster and eventually someone will post “transwomen are men”

Nobody ever said Covid wasn’t leaked out of a lab as far as I can remember. There was speculation around the origins either being a wuhan wet market or a zoological disease lab. What people dispute is the people suggesting that it was a deliberate release and peddling that as fact.

OP, there are loads of reasons why people latch on to conspiracy theories, from fear and anxiety, to the desire to punish and blame authority for their unhappiness, the need to feel in control, narcissistic tendencies, irrational thought processes, lack of education that means they struggle to tell false information apart from truth. Usually a few of them occurring together creates the right conditions.

They tend to thrive in times of crisis, and given that so many people’s lives are shit at the moment and so many people feel out of control it’s not a surprise. The internet isn’t helping as it makes it very easy to spread them, and a lot of them contain grains of truth mixed in with bullshit and makes them very easy to believe.

Oh dear god!!

actually I take it all back once conspiracy I believe in is this 'Trans thing is no different to flat earthers, Trans people will jump out of under the bed and will bite me on the arse'

Want to find where they have hid the butter in the supermarket - blame trans people
Need to know which puree is best - blame Trans people
They are hiding in the skirting boards

the scary thing is these 'people'' who believe this rubbish are raising the next generation

There is a grain of truth in many conspiracy theories and people are increasingly anxious

i thought the chem trails one was utterly bonkers until I read about the cloud seeding and the floods in Dubai.

The floods in Dubai were caused by a typhoon that had already hit other Middle Eastern countries first.

This only happened after you got a dog, eh? Taps nose knowingly...

I recently discovered Cloud seeding very much exists. And has done since the 50s.

I wouldnt go down rabbit holes with things, but equally I would open my mind a bit.

I work with a CT, and I'm subjected to it every day. He says they aren't conspiracy theories, they are truths, and people need to get away from tv and mainstream media and research properly. In his case, Internet 😂 He doesn't see the irony.
There are often grains of truth that are extrapolated to something else.
I have often wondered how many people believe all this stuff. Some are interesting, some plain batshit others offensive we get them all.

People used to label people who spoke about concentration camps as conspiracy theorists too.
I try not to be too quick to discount things just because they sound crazy.

I’ve never heard anyone say any of these things, just keep men out of sports, prisons and rape crisis centres.
Which seems fair enough really.

This!

I've found myself being a bit of a conspiracy twat this week. I've been having problems with my heart and I'm only 35, in addition, I've also heard about 4 different people all locally with the same thing! One person said to me, do you think it's the vaccine and all of a sudden I started to think it must be.
I know it's silly, I know it's not, but my head has been turned a bit

In what way were they speaking about concentration camps? The German use of them? Don't think any one reasonable has doubted their existence after 1945.