Another conspiracy theorist has been successfully sued.

[Lovebirdshatecats]

Survivor of the Manchester Arena attack successfully sued a conspiracy theorist who claimed the attack was a hoax. Richard D Hall sells books promoting various conspiracy theories
These people are money off the misery of others. He said the attack was staged.

Bbc news just reported.

Maybe more court cases like this are needed. Why should these people make claims like that and profit from selling their conspiracy theory books etc.

The Obama thing is weird but isn't unusual for famous women. Brigitte Macron sued over allegations that she was born male. However, it's true that black women are often accused of being 'masculine'.

As for flat earth theory, people can get very defensive about it because it's based on faith not evidence. I think for some it's similar to religion.

Hopefully.

I am all for these thick, objectionable gobshites being hit where it hurts.

The former as I don't think the general population, as a whole, have ever been adept at assessing the motives of the media we consume but, the advent of the internet and rise unregulated social media has supercharged the impact.

In years gone by people could only be manipulated by a limited number of media outlets or through direct interaction. Now it's as easy as drawing breath to find an echo chamber that supports whatever view it is you want to believe.

A university ‘friend’ thought the 7/7 bombings were a hoax and the victims were just actors, the bus, trains etc were just props borrowed from a film set. A flatmates older brother had suffered life changing injuries, apparently this was just stage makeup.

He also claimed anyone who had a covid vaccine would die within 18 months, he stayed oddly silent in the matter when people started messaging him to say they had hit 19 months and were very much alive.

He used to make records of himself coverting people to believe the same conspiracy theories, but the people were just him answering back in another voice. He used to send us both the recordings and scripts and ask for feedback. He got this recording ‘tip’ from a friend who was removed from the uni for extreme stalking of another student, said stalker made the same sort of recordings but he would pretend to be his victim answering back. So I imagine a large issue is that conspiracy theorists often socialise with people like them, so in their circle it is normal behaviour.

It’s not always stupid people though. An old friend has property gone down this rabbit hole: vaccines, chemtrails, the lot.

She is degree educated, worked in national newspapers. She is clearly gullible but not uneducated.

My thesis is that most of the time it’s linked to mental illness and low self esteem. I think in most cases people know deep down that it’s a load of shit but it’s tied into their identity as a rebellious outsider who doesn’t swallow the mainstream narrative bla bla.

I agree generally about education and lack of critical analysis, but deep state is mentioned all over the place, it isn't just Trump. I have heard EU leaders talk about it in interviews. It is basically the notion that extremely wealthy and powerful individuals are able to influence government policy from behind the scenes. This is widely accepted as having happened for many decades. In relation to the US I think it is also to do with influences on or by the CIA not being subject to enough scrutiny? And this sort of things gets lumped into the same concept, or something. I might be wrong though.

As far as I know, 'deep state' is a state within a state. Truss said that she had lost her job because of the deep state.

Are you new on here? People believe insane stuff all the time hopefully the gullible are less likely to be in positions to influence others, well hopefully anyway

Take a group of folk some of whom want a diamond (real or not) some of whom had a real diamond (but no-one believed them) some of whom have real diamonds, they may have hidden or stolen from the two former groups.

Where better to hide those real diamonds than among a multitude of fake diamonds?

Each time someone says there’s a real diamond in there it’s real easy to pick up a fake diamond and prove it’s fake, and then ridicule and discredit folks from either of the two first groups.

Eventually most will get fed up of diamond hunting and diamond hunters, of doing due diligence, of paying for investigating each ‘diamond’ and so next time someone says this one is real, folks just shrug and say ‘uhh huh sure it is son’.

I think people can be so desperate for something that they suspend disbelief, especially with so much make-believe being made possible online and even in real life.

I also think a whole lot of disinformation and seriously dumb CT make for very good cover for real scandals.

We have a lot of information and disinformation, CT’s and real scandals, victims and greedy clout/money chasers.

No wonder, as poster on another thread said, the world is an utter shambles right now.

The guy I know who is into all manner of 'theories' (he tells everyone it's facts).. spends every available minute 'researching', he quotes, laws, treaties, the 'English constitution', although a lot seems to be American in origins etc..Although not educated, he's not stupid but he has deep distrust of authority, mainstream and conventional beliefs/ knowledge and an encyclopedic memory to all these theories. He seems to have got sucked in during covid, and it's ballooned. Currently, it's weather manipulation and chemtrails, which he believes is routine, and all our weather is engineered. Oh, and Trump, who is the saviour of the world.

No I'm not and I haven't noticed a plethora of conspiracy theories on MN. Perhaps there's a forum within the forum🤔

@joinbyog
I think you have a point, we know stuff does get hidden/ lies/ scandals. Many theories have a grain of truth that gets extrapolated.

@wastingtimeonhere

The guy I know who is into all manner of 'theories' (he tells everyone it's facts).. spends every available minute 'researching', he quotes, laws, treaties, the 'English constitution', although a lot seems to be American in origins etc..Although

Yep. It helps to have a lot of time on your hands to be a conspiracy theorist. I just wouldn’t have the time or energy for all this YouTube, sorry “research”.

When it’s happened to people I have known (two friends) it’s been triggered by something: the breakdown of a relationship in one case and a financial crisis in the other.

I think it’s when people lose their moral and intellectual bearings and seek something to fill the vacuum.

Its easy to put it down to stupidity but I think the people who get really into conspiracy are rarely stupid, often they have the potential to be quite intelligent but their curiosity has become warped by some sort of mental distress.