Conspiracy Theory Research Paper

To my dear friends that are into conspiracy theories, I love you, I want what you're smoking. Maybe not, after I asked myself why would someone say such things and spread such fear?

Just because we don't agree that the earth is hollow, doesn't mean we can't share a beer and talk.
I have a hard time accepting bullshit, always have. I just happen to have a brain, and have drawn conclusions based on observed reality. Sure, in some other universe these things claimed might be true:, the earth is flat, lizard men rule congress, and the moon is made of Limburger cheese. One reason I generally have trouble accepting conspiracy theories is that they're usually based on far-fetched claims that are nearly impossible to disprove, or prove.
Whatever you may think, in this universe, there is nothing really to fear, but fear itself. Fear is where conspiracies lay their foundation in a whole litany of issues facing us today. It's no wonder we take solace in 'knowing' something is true, even when proven the contrary. The rise in anxiety, American individualism, and external locus of control may therefore underlie the rise in conspiracy thinking. This is somewhat troubling because these personality trends show no sign of leveling off. “I reject your reality and substitute my own.”, quoting Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame, is the conspiracy theorists mantra it seems.

As Richard Hofstadter wrote in his 1965 book, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” conspiracy theories, especially those involving intrusive foreigners, are a favorite pastime in this nation.
Americans have always had the sneaking suspicion that somebody was out to get us — be it Freemasons, Jews, Muslims, Liberals, Conservatives, Scientist, Catholics or communists. But in recent years, it seems as if every tragedy comes with a round of outlandish tales, as the Web fills with stories about “false flag” attacks and “crisis actors” — not mere theorizing but arguments for the existence of a completely alternate version of
reality.

Our modern internet wasn't around when he wrote his book. You would think that in our modern, connected society, such communication would have helped reduce such psycho-ceramic speculations promulgated today. Far from it. Recent scientific inquiries on the subject shows that our connectivity with websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and the such, shows that it most likely only serves to make outlandish theories more convincing to the public. Adolph Hitler's, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”, still rings true today. Perfectly sane minds possess an incredible capacity for telling themselves stories, and even some of the weirdest conspiracy theories can be grounded in rational thinking, which makes them that much more harmful. Consider this: 63 pct of registered American voters believe in at least one political conspiracy theory, according to a recent poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Psychologist don't know exactly what is going on inside our heads.
They have only the tools available to them to make analysis through surveys and laboratory studies. Common traits were discovered that can be found in people that hold conspiracy beliefs. The findings are that believers are more likely to be distrustful about the world in general and politics in particular. Conspiracy theories also seem to be more persuasive to those with low self-worth, especially with regard to their sense of authority in the world at large. Conspiracy theories appear to be a way of reacting to doubt and impotency on the issues. I do believe that stress and economic factors may also contribute to their feelings of
powerlessness.

The claimant will latch on to looming threats, either real or fictitious, such as economic collapse, terrorism, natural disasters, space anomalies, political rhetoric, and cannot exhibit control over when they occur or how or what happens after. The part of the brain called the amygdala, it doesn’t exactly do anything on its own but triggers the thought processes into over analyzing information in order to understand what could be happening. The corpus amygdaloideum is the portion of our brains that has the role of memory processing, decision-making, and emotional reactions. Larger amygdala regions in peoples brains correlate to participants' responses with fear more often than those with smaller amygdalas. The threat exists and we have to think about what needs to be done now. It is a very useful evolutionary method to understanding the brain's capability for telling us stories after an event, which can also lead to so much fear and paranoia in this country. If you know the truth, and others do not, that is one way you can reassert feelings of having control. It can be reassuring to do your own research, even if it is flawed. It feels good to be the wise old ram in a flock of sheep.

Common 'Con-Theorist' practices often refer to bogus publications that suit their cherry picked meta-data in order to prove their point. Usually I find that the published paper referred to has not had any type of peer review or scrutiny from the scientific community at all. Especially prevalent theories concern themselves on issues such as nutrition, chemicals, GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), homeopathy, cancer cures, candida, vaccines, climate change, and space objects. Some non-mainstream publishers themselves are not reputable and lack any editorial governance. For instance, there was a paper submitted to a publisher claiming that chocolate was a beneficial food that helped weight loss. The 'scientist' was journalist John Bohannon. His goal was to show that “scientist who do a bad job and get their work published can end up making headlines because it is us -journalist, who are failing.” His conclusion was that because the media failed to do their due diligence, the “the world is awash with junk science.” For $400 I too can publish bullshit and have people believe it and promote it and I profit.

Now certainly, conspiracy theories wouldn't exist if it had not been for actual conspiracies such as Watergate, and the Iran-Contra affairs in the past. These dealings involved manipulating and getting around the democratic process. Lying and cheating in government is a real problem, but proving them is a difficult thread to follow. Billions of dollars were spent on researching claims, gathering evidence, and in some cases, fabricating such evidence when none could be found.

There are even some that believe that the Sandy Hook massacre, and the recent Orlando club shooting was a drama staged by actors to couch their arguments for the preservation of the second amendment. Just ask those loved ones that had their friends and family shot down in cold blooded murder if it were a real event. Yes, it was. The perpetrators were deluded individuals with no respect for life. Such recognition of these murderers needs to be squashed, and call them the assholes they really were.

Our access to fast and ready information has not lead to an age in which arguments of this sort can be easily solved with a quick internet search. In fact, the internet has made things much worse. Biases that pay attention to evidence that support what you already believe is a known human failing. It has been around for ages. Confirmation bias is not easy to overcome, you can not just throw facts at the believer for them to change their minds. In fact, the contrary happens. They grip tighter to their unfounded beliefs in a 4:1 ratio it seems. It has been shown as phenomenon called the 'backfire effect'. The more one tries to debunk an issue, the more the believer clings to the idea. It just goes to reinforce their fear and ignorance on the subject. In this way, the paranoia leads the believer to searches and websites that support their unfounded claims, while negating the hard science and actual fact based evidence on the issues. The person believes that they are in control for once with their nugget of misinformation. It is a difficult road to try and relieve that person on their golden belief nugget. It doesn't actually give them any control at all, but just seems to have the person withdraw from the conversation and not do anything about what they fear.

Conspiracy peddlers are far and wide. Just turn on the TV or search the internet for anything. Someone, somewhere will tap that fear response in you and try to convince you that things are not what they seem. Politicians will make hints at conspiracies for your vote and leverage their way into public office. But, if conspiracy theories are a tool the average person uses to reclaim their sense of power and democracy, it is an ineffective way of doing so. It can even have dangerous side effects, such as was believed in the 1980's by by ones that believed AIDS is a weapon of the government to control the population, lead to people only more likely to have unprotected sex. Or how corporations are hiding evidence that vaccines are making our children autistic and harmful, thus leading to parents not vaccinating their children. The results are unnecessary populations with measles and whooping cough, and even child death. It is just plain irresponsibility and endangerment of the whole community. Psychologists aren’t sure whether powerlessness causes conspiracy theories or vice versa. Either way, the current scientific thinking suggests these beliefs are nothing more than an extreme form of cynicism, a turning away from politics and traditional media — which only perpetuates the problem.

Conspiracy theories seem to be exempt from any evidence. They are closed, self-contained belief systems that resist their own critical analysis. They are a mental trap. Often conspiracy theorists are generally smart people (but lack critical thinking skills). Smart people are good at rationalizing and erecting convoluted belief structures. This anti-conspiracy theorist document is just another example of that – a string of explanations dismissing the very serious and legitimate criticisms of the grand conspiracy position.

I think the burden of proof is on the conspiracists themselves. Show me any solid evidence, not speculative, not anecdotal, not conjecture, but solid and reliable proof, that such a conspiracy is true. The burden of proof isn't with everyone else to disprove you; that's an argument from ignorance. It's like saying, "I believe in dragons because you can't disprove they exist!"
Provide me with clear, verifiable, reproducible, peer reviewed evidence for your belief. I will not accept “The Internet says so”, or “someone told me”, or here, look at this YouTube video. No, I will not believe someone's edited video. Technology has advanced finally to the point where the moon landings can finally be faked successfully. Don't tell me otherwise. Gene Cernan will kick your ass if you say he never went to the moon to his face. Give me a strong argument, and I am known to change my mind like most other scientist.

The lesson here is to not believe everything you read, hear, see or are told. Think critically. Ask yourself if this can be true, does it make any sense?

Hope it helps. Keep looking up!