Why the closed-mindedness with conspiracy theories?

[BadHippie]

1. A conspiracy-theory is basically a theory about a conspiracy. Conspiracies can also be called plots, schemes or secret plans to deceive a group or an individual, or to gain some advantage over someone else. 

So a conspiracy-theorists is basically someone who studies, analyzes and understands (subjectively spoken) the social-techniques to deceive and releases them for public usage. A good example for practically used conspiracy-theory was the Stasi in Germany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stasi), if you read their handbook there are tons of techniques to study there about how to manipulate public opinions. 

 

2. Conspiracy-theories without negative framing come into being if someone can explain things, like that there are economic-crises or that people come into positions of power - which can be explained easily on the surface-level of events - by saying that there is someone pulling-wires in the background. 

E.g. when people started dying in some village back in the middle ages, a lot of people said there is some witch or something to explain those events. Or when someone explains wars by saying that it´s all because of the Bilderberger-meetings, because they want to give a boost to the arms industry (I am not saying any of these theories are true)

Yet these theories are quite attractive to people, because it relieves them of the necessity to do the research that would be necessary to understand a system that´s so complex.

Basically they use the experiences from their own life - people lying, people are bad - and project them onto some group or individuals. And tada, now some people think you know who´s good and evil and who you have to remove in order to make the conspiracy stop. 

 

3. So conspiracy-theories emerge in societies if you can explain certain events differently. Different explanations for (most of the time) public events . e.g. JFK, 9/11, the pandemic. These perspectives are competing against each other, and people wanting to believe than one version is certainly true. And people thinking it would be for the best if the other perspectives could be pushed to the side and not listened to. 

So basically everyone who has a different opinion (explains things by saying there is some wire-pulling), about some collectively known "truth" (most of the time) is a conspiracy theorists, who is full of shit. People will rationalize the opinion by saying he is stupid, has some "evil" agenda, fell prey to right-wing propaganda and so on...

 

So why is it not allowed to discuss (conspiracy)-theories about the world here? Even Leo said in one of his videos that we are a lot like chimps, who do a lot of scheming , fighting for status, backstabbing etc. Which basically is conspiring.. 

 

 

 

 

[Megan Alecia]

In conspiracy theories anyone can say anything. We need facts to keep a conversation informed.

[Rilles]

Conspiracy theories used to be kind of fun and a curiosity 10 years ago, now theyve been become bloated and toxic and can/has lead to disaster. The WHO has classified anti-vaccination as a major global health threat, this is in very large part due to conspiracy theories. Not to mention that conspiracy theories lead to paranoia and outward projection, which is not the goal of a self-actualizing person.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Rilles

[GreenLight]

They can lead to dangerous consequences. The Qanon movement is now being purged from Youtube, Facebook, and Patreon cause of the storming of capitol hill in the U.S. Other videos and live streams are being censored because of this. Cause now these companies became very vigilant. You can get your video now deleted on Youtube if there is even the smallest "medical misconception" in it.

[Epikur]

@BadHippie

If you can not beat them join them. The one with the power tells what is right and you better try to rationalize why they are right or bear the consequences.

For conspiracy theories there are other forums anyway. 

This philosophy has legitimacy problems anyway so you don't want extremists flooding your forum so moderating becomes to much work.

 

[Boethius]

I agree that conspiracies often help give voice to concerns that have been socially marginalized.

For example, politicians who seem disingenuous and slick can be described as lizard people in human disguise. And one cannot "argue" with a conspiracy theorist who believes politicians are lizard people until one addresses their underlying concerns about politicians being deceptive liars.

The problem, for me, is when conspiracy theories are used to provide cover for things like anti-semitism. Not only can you not argue with an anti-semitic conspiracy theorist about whatever fantasy they've latched onto (a cabal of Jewish bankers who are secretly pulling the levers of power, for example) but you also can't address their underlying concerns without engaging in anti-semitism yourself.

[DocWatts]

Because at their most benign they serve as a distraction, and inhibit productive discourse around important socio-political topics. Most Conspiracy Theorists tend to be willfully (and sometimes aggressively) ignorant about their own internal biases, and tend to be lacking in ego awareness. Hard to have a productive and mature conversation with someone whose view of reality is a patchwork of emotionally charged, paranoia fueled fantasies.

But more often than not they serve as a smokescreen for harmful ideologies, which can lead to deadly real world consequences. The Jan. 6th storming of the Capitol, and thousands of preventable Covid deaths from people refusing to adopt basic safety measures during a pandemic, are some of the more obvious outcomes that come to mind.

[Forestluv]

@BadHippie You seem to be talking about observing conspiracy theories from a detached view. For example, a grad student doing an analysis of conspiracy theories for a phd thesis. Or Leo doing a video deconstructing the mind dynamics of conspiracy theories. As well, there are great documentaries about conspiracy theories. I don't think that issue . I think the issue is more about people becoming so immersed into conspiracy theories that they believe they are true.

For example, I find the mindset of Qanon conspiracists to be interesting. What type of people are attracted to Qanon? How did they first get sucked in? What forms of truth was needed to provide them grounding? How were they locked in as the conspiracy got more bizarre.

Yet that is very different than someone who believes Qanon is actual reality. It is a very different mindset to believe that governmental employees and media journalists are satan-worshipping pedophiles that rape and eat children. And they are coming after you and your children. . . This causes harm to both the individual and society.

Regarding "closed-mindedness" to conspiracy theories, it depends on how you define "conspiracy theory". In it's loosest definition as conspiracy is "a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful." By this loose definition, of course there are conspiracies happening everyday. Yet the issue becomes the creation of the "theory" part. People can make up all sorts of wild stories and then they get immersed into the stories and start interpreting everything in life to align with that story. And quite often, there is some truth to the story to keep the person grounded and some drama and/or fear to keep them engaged. 

Conspiracy theories are like crack cocaine for some people, so there are tons of creative, whacky conspiracy theories. Just like there are tons of creative stories about books and movies. Asking "why be closed-minded to conspiracy theories" would be similar to asking "why don't you immerse yourself into this story?". Because some people don't want to spend their time engaging in that.

The thing that keeps conspiracy theories prominent is that they contain aspects of truth and involve real-life situations. For example, a conspiracy theory that Bill Gates and his secret agents are creating a "vaccine" for the coronavirus. The coronavirus is harmless, yet Gates is using is as an excuse to create a "vaccine" for mind control. . . This involves a real life story that involves us all (the covid pandemic). And it involves some truth: there is a man called Bill Gates that has spent years involved in vaccines and has shown interest in supporting a coronavirus vaccine. As well, there is a virus called the coronavirus. So there is some truth, yet then lots of bullshit gets created. If anyone challenges any part of the theory, then the person can refer to true aspects of the theory for grounding and defend their theory form challenge.

One thing I've noticed about conspiracists is that they are absolute. The entire story must be 100% and everything is equally true. They are not willing to look at aspects that may have truth and aspects that may be untrue. This is a reason many people are closed-minded to conspiracists. I would be willing to discuss Bill Gate's role in vaccine development. Perhaps he has done some good things and some shady things. Yet that is not the conspiracits mindset. To them, it is 100% Bill Gates is evil, he is100% creating vaccines for mind control and the coronavirus is 100% harmless. One cannot have a reasonable discussion about Gates and the virus with that mindset. Then when the reasonable person says "I don't believe in those conspiracy aspects", the conspiracist labels them as "closed-minded" to the conspiracy theory (since there must be 100% adherence to the theory). The reasonable person is not closed-minded to 100% of the theory, yet the conspiracist has a binary mindset of100% true and they will defend every aspect of the theory. To them, you are either "all in" or "all out".