Why so many conspiracy theorists and what to do about them

[kwilco]

Why Wild Ideas Are Thriving (And How to Push Back)

Twenty years ago, flat Earth, fake moon landings, anti-vax fear, and fringe politics were laughed off. Now? They're everywhere. Why?

No more gatekeepers. Anyone can post anything, and shock spreads faster than truth.

Social media rewards outrage, not accuracy.

People have lost trust in institutions after wars, recessions, and pandemics.

Echo chambers reinforce beliefs, no matter how wild.

Simple lies beat complex truths. It's easier to blame a conspiracy than understand science.

Identity politics. Beliefs become tribal, not logical.

How to fight back?

Stay calm. Mockery fuels their fire.

Ask questions. Get people thinking, not defending.

Share sources they might trust—not just "mainstream."

Most importantly: build trust. No one listens to someone they think looks down on them.

It’s not about winning arguments. It’s about planting seeds.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Credible fact-checked journalism is often behind a paywall.

 

Conspiracy theory websites usually aren't.

[ukrules]

Why act at all? Who cares what someone else believes?

 

You might not realise it but many people are completely and utterly incapable of thinking for themselves, they repeat what they hear - like parrots.

Don't listen to the parrots and leave them to it.

[Red Phoenix]

7 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Why act at all? Who cares what someone else believes?

 

You might not realise it but many people are completely and utterly incapable of thinking for themselves, they repeat what they hear - like parrots.

Don't listen to the parrots and leave them to it.

 

Yes, I fully agree and recommend to those that agree with what you wrote to read Schopenhauer’s short essay, “On Thinking for Yourself”

>  https://luctalks.substack.com/p/arthur-schopenhauer-on-thinking-for

 

 

[impulse]

Why so many conspiracy theorists and what to do about them

 

Mark your calendar and look again in 6 months, because so many of them are actually spoiler alerts.

 

[Fat is a type of crazy]

Could be obvious but covid put the whole thing on steroids.

Mystery source of disease, big pharma using newish technologies to make medicines making big bucks, some aspects mishandled and some people treated unfairly, the lockdowns that some passionately were against and that gave them plenty of free time at home to ponder things etc. I think if covid didn't happen there would be many who wouldn't have moved on to the more extreme theories on the interweb.

I supported much of the actions as you could see on the whole people were doing their best with what was known and the results were overall very positive - despite no doubt many making money and taking advantage of the situation - but others didn't quite see it like that. 

Some now I think have conspiracy theorist as a proud part of their identity and like the notoriety even when people abuse or make fun of them. I think some deep down know many of their theories are dodgy at best. 

[Red Phoenix]

12 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I supported much of the actions as you could see on the whole people were doing their best with what was known and the results were overall very positive...

 

[Gsxrnz]

I'm with Ayn Rand. 

[Gottfrid]

5 hours ago, kwilco said:

It’s about planting seeds.

Did you do that now? 😂

[NorthernRyland]

You got this perfectly backwards. The so-called conspiracy theories are on the rise because people are able to communicate more freely now and don't rely solely on centralized media as their main source of truth.

[Stiddle Mump]

More conspiracy theories are not at all.

 

They are truths denied by authorities, to stop us becoming intrigued; and then investigating further.

[EVENKEEL]

Never gave the moon landing a thought till recently.  Was it faked?

[frank83628]

1 hour ago, Red Phoenix said:

 

This is posted on TWH 

[Stiddle Mump]

7 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

This is posted on TWH 

For those not asleep the following will be of interest.

 

When he tried to dive into the original studies on AIDS, Dr Kary Mullis, found there was none. And said so openly.

 

In 2018, Dr Mullis, said on TV, that Dr Anthony Fauci, didn't know what he was talking about.

 

The doctor had stated in early 2019, that the PCR test did not diagnose illness. And went on to say, on TV, what is actually did.

 

Dr Mullis, Nobel winner for the PCR test, died in some mystery in August 2019.

 

If wouldn't have been so good if the PCR inventor had been about at the start of covid PCR testing. One of the major driving forces of the pandemic.

 

[frank83628]

3 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

For those not asleep the following will be of interest.

 

When he tried to dive into the original studies on AIDS, Dr Kary Mullis, found there was none. And said so openly.

 

In 2018, Dr Mullis, said on TV, that Dr Anthony Fauci, didn't know what he was talking about.

 

The doctor had stated in early 2019, that the PCR test did not diagnose illness. And went on to say, on TV, what is actually did.

 

Dr Mullis, Nobel winner for the PCR test, died in some mystery in August 2019.

 

If wouldn't have been so good if the PCR inventor had been about at the start of covid PCR testing. One of the major driving forces of the pandemic.

 

Well, that will get you labelled a conspiracy theorist straight away. 

But many people have died similarly, most recently was couple of Boeing whistlenlowers. Seth rich, the supposed clinton email leaker.

Fauci was main man in the GOF research that developed the virus, is it a coincidence he was also main AIDS guy at the time too. 

The reason they still cannot find the origins after all these years is because it will implicate the USA via him. 

 

 

[LosLobo]

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

Why act at all? Who cares what someone else believes?

 

You might not realise it but many people are completely and utterly incapable of thinking for themselves, they repeat what they hear - like parrots.

Don't listen to the parrots and leave them to it.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

- Edmund Burke.

 

[save the frogs]

14 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Credible fact-checked journalism is often behind a paywall.

If msm journalism is so accurate and reliable and full of integrity, then how come if you ask 2 different people about Trump, one person will tell you Trump is the best president ever and another person will tell you he's the worst president ever who is running the country into the ground?

 

Within MSM, there are so many different conflicing viewpoints that different people believe such different narratives, you wonder if we're all living on the same planet.

 

And so it goes with flat earth. It's a different viewpoint. 

 

It's all about "perception" based on what you choose to focus your attention on and how you interpret reality. 

 

Someone just started a thread about how the US has gone down the toilet.

 

It's just "perception of reality". 

 

That's all conspiracy is, but you don't need conspiracy as everyone has a different perception of reality, with or without conspiracies. 

 

So if you're suggesting that all conspiracy theorists need to be rounded up, the same argument can be made about all blockheads who follow mainstream news. 

 

The only solution is to keep expressing your own opinion and how you view the world. That's why now there are millions of YOU-tube channels. YOU-tube = YOU 

 

It's not someone else. It's YOU. What do YOU believe? Then you utter your blurbs and whoever wants to listen to it will, and whoever doesnt will follow another channel.

 

You think the earth is round and Trump sucks? Fine. Put your opinion out there. But don't expect everyone else to shut up. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

This thread is cat-nip for the intellectual sewer rats, sniffing out another thread to infect.

 

Flat earthers, the remedial class rejects who still think “gravity” is a government hoax. Anti-vaxxers, proudly unmedicated and unqualified, waving their crumpled memes like divine revelation. And the moon-landing deniers? Basement-dwelling Dunning-Kruger mascots who couldn’t navigate a microwave, let alone orbital mechanics.

 

They screech in like prophets of idiocy, with YouTube PhDs, mistaking ignorance for rebellion, logic for oppression, and their own stupidity for enlightenment. Their terminal idiocy is so blisteringly dumb it’s almost performance art.

 

It’s not a debate, it’s a freak show. And they’re the clowns who think they’re directing it.

 

 

 

[papa al]

4 hours ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Could be obvious but covid put the whole thing on steroids.

Mystery source of disease, big pharma using newish technologies to make medicines making big bucks, some aspects mishandled and some people treated unfairly, the lockdowns that some passionately were against and that gave them plenty of free time at home to ponder things etc. I think if covid didn't happen there would be many who wouldn't have moved on to the more extreme theories on the interweb.

I supported much of the actions as you could see on the whole people were doing their best with what was known and the results were overall very positive - despite no doubt many making money and taking advantage of the situation - but others didn't quite see it like that. 

Some now I think have conspiracy theorist as a proud part of their identity and like the notoriety even when people abuse or make fun of them. I think some deep down know many of their theories are dodgy at best. 

Did Oswald alone shoot Kennedy .?

If you dispute that

you are a conspiracy theorist 

as originally coined/defined by the CIA/FBI .

``````````````

WTC-7

USS Liberty.

[rumak]

3 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Never gave the moon landing a thought till recently.  Was it faked?

 

I remember looking at one of those landing photos on "the moon"  and was a bit surprised by seeing something in the distance .  It definitely was the McDonads arches !  

 

no doubt some of the gullibles here will not understand that I am being humourous .   ( a lost art )

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, papa al said:

Did Oswald alone shoot Kennedy .?

If you dispute that

you are a conspiracy theorist 

as originally coined/defined by the CIA/FBI .

``````````````

WTC-7

USS Liberty.

 

I can get why some conspiracies are legit - the Watergate Scandal, COINTELPRO, Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, MKUltra, Iran-Contra... These are backed by real evidence, solid investigations, and undeniable facts.

 

Then there’s the circus of idiocy - Flat Earth idiots, Anti-Vax morons, Moon Landing deniers, QAnon freaks, and the Chemtrail cult.... These clowns thrive on emotion, cherry-picked “facts,” and a delightful cocktail of willful ignorance and denial of basic science.

 

If your “theory” is just a dumpster fire of half-truths and gaping holes, you’re not a truth-seeker, you’re just a certified idiot looking for a stage to scream nonsense.

 

Also, many of the legitimate conspiracies seem to have originated in the US, which has apparently triggered a generation of nut-jobs who couldn’t separate critical thought from conspiracy clickbait if their lives depended on it. All the while, they walk around in a deluded haze, convinced they’re the true free thinkers while rejecting actual evidence and reasoning.

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, rumak said:

I remember looking at one of those landing photos on "the moon"  and was a bit surprised by seeing something in the distance .  It definitely was the McDonads arches !  

 

Careful... You've just documented that. Get ready, because your “observations” are about to be quoted as a witness statement in the next conspiracy circle-jerk.... 

[MalcolmB]

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

This thread is cat-nip for the intellectual sewer rats, sniffing out another thread to infect.

I read the headline and knew you would be a contributor.

[rumak]

39 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

This thread is cat-nip for the intellectual sewer rats, sniffing out another thread to infect.

 

Flat earthers, the remedial class rejects who still think “gravity” is a government hoax. Anti-vaxxers, proudly unmedicated and unqualified, waving their crumpled memes like divine revelation. And the moon-landing deniers? Basement-dwelling Dunning-Kruger mascots who couldn’t navigate a microwave, let alone orbital mechanics.

 

They screech in like prophets of idiocy, with YouTube PhDs, mistaking ignorance for rebellion, logic for oppression, and their own stupidity for enlightenment. Their terminal idiocy is so blisteringly dumb it’s almost performance art.

 

It’s not a debate, it’s a freak show. And they’re the clowns who think they’re directing it.

 

 

 

 

this guy is nominated for "lefties losing it"  poster boy of the month .   Should win by a landslide... but Big Bad John has yet to weigh in .   And of course Albert I'msosmart    up in Chiangrai .

hmmmm who will write the stupidest ad hominem blabber today ??

[rumak]

22 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Careful... You've just documented that. Get ready, because your “observations” are about to be quoted as a witness statement in the next conspiracy circle-jerk.... 

 

great to see you have something stupid to be the big warrior with today.   a one man circle jerk  555

 

now that you have shown how you are the smart and sane one here.... (one post alone containing the trolling accusations that others who don't see your way  are ..."idiots,  freaks, clowns, nut jobs ,morons, and deluded ")

 

why don't you learn to be a grown up .

[bunnydrops]

9 hours ago, kwilco said:

Why Wild Ideas Are Thriving (And How to Push Back)

Twenty years ago, flat Earth, fake moon landings, anti-vax fear, and fringe politics were laughed off. Now? They're everywhere. Why?

No more gatekeepers. Anyone can post anything, and shock spreads faster than truth.

Social media rewards outrage, not accuracy.

People have lost trust in institutions after wars, recessions, and pandemics.

Echo chambers reinforce beliefs, no matter how wild.

Simple lies beat complex truths. It's easier to blame a conspiracy than understand science.

Identity politics. Beliefs become tribal, not logical.

How to fight back?

Stay calm. Mockery fuels their fire.

Ask questions. Get people thinking, not defending.

Share sources they might trust—not just "mainstream."

Most importantly: build trust. No one listens to someone they think looks down on them.

It’s not about winning arguments. It’s about planting seeds.

People in power need them

 

From 1984

 

 

 

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I can get why some conspiracies are legit - the Watergate Scandal, COINTELPRO, Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, MKUltra, Iran-Contra... These are backed by real evidence, solid investigations, and undeniable facts.

 

But in most cases, there isn't enough evidence to be sure of anything 100% .

 

So people pick a side based on partial information, and partly on a hunch and partly on an innate mistrust of the powers that be. 

 

RFK Jr. has specifically named the CIA folks who killed JFK. I suppose you can conclude that RFK is lying ... but then doesn't that make you sort of a conspiracy theorist as well? Because now you're suggesting that a public official is lying. After all, RFK Jr is a govt official. So if you don't believe what he's saying, then you're saying govt officials cannot be trusted. And that makes you a conspiracy theorist. 

 

I will be waiting for your rebuttal amidst the Songkran mayhem, richard_smith237!

 

 

[richard_smith237]

26 minutes ago, rumak said:

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Careful... You've just documented that. Get ready, because your “observations” are about to be quoted as a witness statement in the next conspiracy circle-jerk.... 

 

great to see you have something stupid to be the big warrior with today.   a one man circle jerk  555

 

now that you have shown how you are the smart and sane one here.... (one post alone containing the trolling accusations that others who don't see your way  are ..."idiots,  freaks, clowns, nut jobs ,morons, and deluded ")

 

why don't you learn to be a grown up .

 

You've let your foot of the clutch too early... Read again.. I was supporting your comment, highlighting that some will believe it and use it as evidence... 

 

 

 

 

[rumak]

The smartest critical thinkers on this forum are the ones who did not take the experimental shots and who researched why the whole world suddenly went into lockdown mode.    The mass hysteria created by some globalists ( takes a lot of reading to get a true picture of what is going on) .  It would be great if what Bunnydrops hopes for could enlighten the world..... but most of us who have tried to lead others to check out other sources and real scientists did not have much success, if any !

But..... little by little things are changing a bit .  Before we were just attacked endlessly as "conspiracy theorists" .  Shamefully so .   Hey, but now we are allowed to post some links and ideas for some people who want to examine other sources of information.

( though ..... still considered "off the beaten track " .   A Badge of Honor !

[Fat is a type of crazy]

Some here don't believe in vaccines at all. Or the moon landing didn't happen. Freedom of speech and all that but life is short and it's all about objective evidence and most people will say - I will spend my time looking at issues where there is a reasonable degree of likelihood that a  theory has some validity. To some here that makes you a sheep. So be it - spend your time dreaming of a different reality to what is clearly apparent in the real world.