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I thought I was safe from this stuff until a guy I actually respect posted something on Facebook about how the WTC had been recently bought by a billionaire that immediately got insurance that would give him a ton of money should something happen. The particulars of this particular theory elude me right now. I am a bit favorable towards the idea that conspiracy theory is, at least in part, a misfiring of our pattern recognition mechanisms, much like superstition. We tend to look for and find patterns -causal patterns in particular- to explain the world around us, and find it very distressing when we can't. Like the man leaving the roulette table because a certain unlucky number came up (perhaps because he once lost big after that same number came up), conspiracy theorists go to past experiences (either personal or within the culture) when an explanation is too complex, too chaotic or not satisfying. Since there have been many instances throughout history of manipulation and lying by power elites, the leap isn't a hard one to make. A second factor is, obviously, the sense of belonging to an elite group. It's not a coincidence that truthers often refer to their moment of "awakening" as "taking the red pill"- casting themselves as the enlightened heroes. Now, if there was only ONE truther, he would most certainly feel extremely distressed. But since there is a group of them -facilitated by the Web- they find validation and belonging, two strong and pleasant feelings. Well, this guy said it better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgSbaKpCjq4
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Sep 12, 2013 18:39
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| # ¿ May 1, 2024 11:00 |
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HappyHippo posted:As a side note, I've noticed how convenient a tool the false flag attack is to the conspiracy theorist. It's because the false flag allows one to reassign blame however one wishes in order to fit any situation into your narrative. If A attacks B and B retaliates, well then that might be justified. But if the initial attack was actually a false flag by B well then now everything is B's fault. So if some event contradicts your view of who's the good guy and who's the bad guy just claim false flag and everything's back in its right place. It seems to me sometimes that the False Flag is akin to the old playtime retort of "no, you didn't shoot me, 'cause I have a forcefield!" It makes any conspiracy assertion infalsable, since if my conspiracy states that X runs the world in a scary, omnipotent way, X getting damaged or hurt would wound my conspiracy. But apply some False Flag to that poo poo and voilą, watch X become even scarier. Conspiracy theorists also show one element of Ur-Fascism in that the Conspiracy is simultaneously monstrous and scary and also buffonish and weak. Jones does this shtick particularly well; just watch him talk about being followed by goons acting like stereotypical film spooks, and how dumb are they to think he wouldn't notice. In order for the conspiracy to work it can't overwhelm the followers of the theory into stupor, but rather to hit a delicate balance: THEY are out there and THEY run the show but WE THE PEOPLE can easily win if enough of us WAKE UP. Of course, the leading voices in the theory know just how and will gladly tell you in their new book, on sale now. Sick_Boy fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Sep 13, 2013 |
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Sep 13, 2013 07:29
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Might as well throw this clusterfuck of a film here. It's not a conspiracy theory, it's every conspiracy theory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-iedPkmRRY And the thread in which I watched the whole thing and almost died, kind of: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2903479&pagenumber=4
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Sep 16, 2013 19:06
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Shbobdb posted:
Not on my end of the deal (jokes about popcorn buckets of pills notwithstanding). Can't speak for Creepy Conspiracy Lady. Keep in mind the commentary is full of typos and mistakes for various reasons: it was written "live", I had a huge fever through most of it and the film was killing my brain.
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Sep 18, 2013 01:15
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