People who are into conspiracy theories

[Wasneverintomickeyandminnie]

Are they mentally ill?

I read once that they’re more likely to be

I love a good conspiracy theory and uncovering the truth about things.

Currently quite obsessed with the whole Epstein thing, find the McCanns situation very odd, covid was strange etc

Are you into them too, am I mentally ill 🙈😬😅

I wouldn’t consider any of these conspiracy theories.
They are speculation based on conflicting information, or facts coming to light that questioned the narrative.

Biden being unwell played out in front of cameras while his team denied a problem.

conspiracy theories are:

the earth is flat
the illuminati
lizard people
covid is part of the great ‘reset’
birds aren’t real.
9/11 was staged.

they are ‘supported’ by ‘facts’ and speculation that have been widely discredited. Or there’s a wealth of evidence which supports a different reality.

thats not progressive- its critical thinking

I think often they are pot smokers.Also have time on their hands and are cut off from society a bit .either not working or like friends abroad living off radR .works doing gardening. Lives free in return for labour. Like young people i I but in their 40s I do think some kind of thinking though rather than just believe all we are told.still not sure about covid. Apparently not 14.4 million saved by vaccine. Much lower success rate.some are just mad though.birds aren't real but have batteries .who knew. Why bird poop on car then.RF are lizards and so on .David Icke has made 20 million!

I think at one point or another, most of those were considered to be conspiracy theories. The COVID being developed in a lab was absolutely not the accepted theory when COVID first came out, it was all about wet meat markets.

Paedophilia in Hollywood and BBC etc was once thought of as a conspiracy theory, I remember watching videos about certain people years and years before their crimes were ever spoken about mainstream.

I don't believe many conspiracy theories but sometimes they do turn out to be true. Once they are proven, people forget they called others stupid for believing it.

I think this thread is the deep state collecting information on truth seekers.

I've known a few conspiracy theorists. Fear seems to be the main driving force. They've gone looking for reassurance and found people who tell them they are right to be scared, it's worse than they think! Obviously they have poor critical thinking skills, one tells me my 'problem' is I won't just accept the truth like she does, I need to analyse everything and have proof. She seriously said that. Autism seems to play a large part in it too, the conspiracy becomes their special interest.

I think people find it comforting to think there's a great hidden plan behind everything rather than their life being basically meaningless and their personal misfortunes being a result of their own actions and circumstance.

I had a dear friend, during the COVID lockdown I believe he had some kind of breakdown. He became obsessed with conspiracy theories, he shut himself away and soon started spouting stock phrases. I'd ring to check in on him and get stuck in a 2 hour phone conversation about everything he had uncovered. He completely lost himself and changed his whole life due to all the nonsense he was digesting.

I hung on for a couple of years but he became quite manic and controlling if you didn't believe everything he said. I've seen on Facebook the people he now socialises and speaks to are basically an echo chamber, all backing each other up. In his photos he looks gaunt and quite grotty, very different to the care he used to put into his appearance. He no longer works, and has left all his 'old friends' behind as we're Sheeple and too dumb to see what's going on around us.

I do believe he had a mental break, or rather is still going through one. It's really sad, because the chap I once adored seems completely gone.

My mum believes in a lot of them, although she did recently tell me she was talking to a flat earther a while ago and almost believed them, but then decided it was too fantastical even for her to believe in, so there may be hope for her yet.

She's not mentally ill, but she did leave school at 16, isn't very well read, hasn't practiced critical thinking the way someone with a higher level of education has, and lacks confidence in her intelligence. If someone presents a mildly coherent argument to her, she automatically assumes they are more intelligent than her and, therefore, must be right.

I noticed a correlation between CT and dope smoking in the ones I know who are strongly in to it.

I’m not massively into conspiracy theories but I’m fascinated by unsolved missing persons cases - I could read about all the theories for hours.

Have you watched that amy Bradley documentary on netflix if you haven't its worth a watch

I was just about to post the exact same thing. I've just finished watching it, and it has left me with some questions I didn't have before.

There is a thread about it under telly addicts, I think.

I used to trust BBC News as a completely reliable source. But once I started checking and digging deeper into a few stories, I realised how often the reporting is selective, distorted, or slanted to fit a narrative. Now I'm labelled a 'conspiracy theorist' just for questioning it.

Finland isn't real.
The Internet said so. Its just a mass delusion

People sometimes get into conspiracy theories in difficult times because they give a sense of order and control. It’s more comforting to believe that bad things happen for a reason (even if that reason is that we’re ruled over by lizard people or are being mentally controlled by chemtrails or whatever) than that bad things just happen by chance and so could happen again at any time.

Many years ago when I was a trainee accountant we had a farmer client who was seriously into a conspiracy and he was definitely not alright mentally. He was convinced the royal family were working for the Russians and were sending them info in code via the Daily Telegraph. For some reason he believed one of the partners would help him prove "the truth" and used to send him cuttings from articles with random bits underlined as "proof". Can't help thinking he would have loved Facebook, X etc.

A guy I know over the last four years has spouted all of these as being true and we are all idiots for not 'doing our research' for ourselves:
chemtrails/ weather control
covid
vaccines- causing mass deaths, clots/ heart..
flat earth
dome over earth ( firmament)
ice wall with territories behind
tunnels between continents
birth bonds
sovereign citizen
McDonald's human meat ( abducted/ abused murdered children) to make their burgers
illuminati -elites
World Economic Forum
agenda 2030
climate change
Jewish conspiracy
Holocaust denial
Lizard people
Aliens/ 'they' will use holograms to replicate invasion in near future, recent alien stuff in USA was to gauge reaction( covid restrictions were practise for mass restrictions) Project Bluebeam is forerunner with drones
Boat people across Channel are invading army, stealth invasion
paedophile network 'elites' including all Royal family in cohorts with Disney running American paedophile network( see Macdonalds)
Giants
15 minutes cities, will trigger laws on movement, not allowed out of your 15 minutes without authorisation.
Believe me its exhausting listening to it all!

'

Are you suggesting that you are mentally ill?

The term conspiracy theory is highly loaded. People have always conspired. If you have ready any Roman history or learnt about the gunpowder ploy at school you will know this. Having a theory about an unproven conspiracy is also natural. Intrigue is interesting and sometimes the old adage that there is no smoke without fire is true. At other times it’s really not. Okham’s razor is your friend. That more absurd the theory, the less credible it is. In other words: if you start entertaining the idea that the royals are shape shifting lizards like that footballer (forgotten his name) then you are becoming a swivel eyed loon.

Im really interested in some conspiracy theories, a lot have their basis in a truth. I don't believe that LHO killed JFK, the evidence shows that it's impossible he did.

'Havana Syndrome' is interesting; there's a good series about it on BBC Sounds at the moment.

My favourite one is that the CIA wrote Wind of Change by the Scorpions. There is an excellent podcast about that too on Spotify. I think there is an underlying truth to that seemingly ridiculous theory, although not to the extent of the CIA writing the song.

I have no time at all for the Royal Family murdering Diana or 911 being an inside job, or Sandy Hook tragedy being staged. All repellent manipulation.

No time for anti-vaxxers, although I did decide not to give my DC the Covid vaccines; they'd had covid a couple of times and I was not on board with the risk of side effects for them to protect their grandparents.

Flat earth, chem trail, 5G, lizards... people are absolute loons.

Havana Helmet Club
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0lgrwds?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Wind of Change
https://open.spotify.com/show/3vikAuFxKVNe2GBZC61IYD?si=FD9HhxqGRnOu1aMpFhUNdA

JFK
https://open.spotify.com/show/6hD4xxJbvSRRyYoG196aSw?si=9ICr9sxqSWKu-DLKGySVzg

I saw a stand up bit once - can't remember who, it was an Instagram reel I think - about people who don't believe any conspiracy theories, something along the lines of "wow, that's a bold stance, you just think the government is TELLING YOU THE TRUTH ABOUT EVERYTHING??" it made me laugh but also stuck with me!

I love a conspiracy theory. But I am probably a bit mentally ill too, and I definitely get obsessive about things.

I was fascinated by the idea of the weather being under government control and that this was proved by the nice weather we had during lockdown which meant people were more likely to obey. I "read up" (down would probably be more accurate, not exactly intellectual) and it was quite convincing. I don't actually think it's true. Probably...

Funnily enough I was just having this discussion with a friend the other day. There are a couple of people in my office who fully believe in the existence of aliens, anytime the topic is discussed I get told that I should just open my mind and that I’m just closed minded, they don’t get it at all when I reply that if someone provided irrefutable proof then I’d believe, it just happens that nobody has ever provided any evidence that makes me believe they exist.
They don’t see that they are the ones that are being closed minded as they simply can’t accept that maybe they’re wrong.
Incidentally, the people in question do suffer from significant mental ill health.

I work with children in a safeguarding role and have come across quite a few parents who are heavily into conspiracy theories, sometimes massively to the detriment of their DC. IME they tend to fall into one of two categories.

Mentally unwell but with absolutely no insight into the fact that they are mentally unwell. They are therefore usually unwilling to accept treatment or support.

Not very bright and therefore gullible, but with absolutely no insight into the fact that they aren't very bright and therefore arrogant and scathing of educated people, professionals and experts as they think their "research" (watching YouTube) means they are better informed.

Statutory safeguarding guidance for people who work with children has now been updated to include "fake news and conspiracy theories" in the list of "online harms" that professionals need to be aware of. I know some people find CT's very entertaining but for children and young people who get sucked in, or have a parent who is obsessed with CT's, it can be hugely damaging. There are links between CT's and far right extremism and Incel culture for example and teenage boys with SEND who are socially isolated and rely heavily on screens for interaction and regulation may be particularly at risk.

Why would nice weather make people more likely to stay inside?

Yes this. It’s actually kind of comforting to think that there is a grand plan and it’s not all just random acts of incompetence.

Yep - it left me with more questions than answers tbh. It's all very weird. Those photos of "Jas" I always thought might be Amy but now I'm not convinced in the slightest. It's such a fascinating case in so many ways.