Forum Post: On Conspiracy Theories
Posted 12 years ago on May 20, 2012, 4:08 a.m. EST by riethc
(1149)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I've been seeing some postings on the topic of "Conspiracy Theories" and a lot of arguments around the subject. In response to this, I'm putting up a link to some videos for an objective approach to the subject. I believe if people on this forum use this approach they will be much more successful in their dialogues.
How to Make Sense of Conspiracy Theories: http://www.collativelearning.com/conspiracy%20theories%20-%20contents.html
Let me know what you think.
Note: The music may be a little creepy to most but I think the lesson is invaluable.
I've started skimming through the article. I especially liked this gem:
"The Cambridge Dictionary does contain a description: “someone who believes in a conspiracy theory”. This idea that a person who believes in one or more “conspiracy theories” is a “conspiracy theorist” supports the notion that everyone is a conspiracy theorist … because everyone believes in at least one conspiracy theory at some point in their life. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/conspiracy-theory
And this too:
"A few major difficulties have emerged with this new public monitoring of power institutions.
Poor research has been widely disseminated on many conspiracy subject due to the limited investigative skills or personal bias of those doing the research. Conspiracy theory dissemination has developed a commercial edge; with some films and books being sold for higher prices than would be expected in high st retail stores. In some instances individuals may vindictively fabricate conspiracy theories to bring disrepute to some other individual, organisation or government. In some instances conspiracy theory dissemination may be part of a cognitive infiltration tactic designed to discredit more convincing versions of the same conspiracy, or to discredit conspiracy theories in general. In some instances conspiracy theories may be covertly disseminated by one government or power institution to demonize another."
Thanks so much. I hope this post lasts at least as long on this forum as do the hateful racist rants that pop up from time to time and last a day or more.
I don't expect many people to follow the link, but at least those with inquisitive minds and some free time will.
Thanks for responding. :)
Our whole society is a conspiracy. How's that for a theory?
o_O
The LIBOR scandal would be a conspiracy theory in the U.S.
With enough "half-truths" you can construct an entire false reality. Sometimes, the very conspiracy you are trying to expose is discredited by one piece of misplaced truth.
I think the lesson is invaluable http://www.youtube.com/v/AasgECoBgWE?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata
Hmm, I just watched the video you linked me to. There's quite a few fallacies in it, after 24:10: Jackson killed the National Bank, which was not a private central bank. Also, there's no proof that Kennedy was about to issue Constitutional money, even though Kennedy was a great president.
"Populists" can be as much manipulators as any politician. They simply tell half-truths instead of complete lies.
i never attend school in USA. maybe that is why some parts of the history reveals for me with different angle :) google helps us to put thinks on places where they are belong http://www.google.com/imgres?q=dollar+bills+kennedy&hl=en&sa=X&biw=994&bih=636&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=F6AWMGOpOlxZZM:&imgrefurl=http://dollardaze.org/blog/%3Fpost_id%3D00255&docid=MDwZcfRwjoFSvM&imgurl=http://dollardaze.org/blog/posts/2007/October/19/1/Kennedy5DollarLarge.jpg&w=724&h=310&ei=KCLVT9q5I4rq6gGfpcGtAw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=333&sig=115301780524158786937&page=1&tbnh=57&tbnw=132&start=0&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:86&tx=37&ty=40
Finding something on a webpage (through Google no less!) doesn't make it any less of a fallacy.
did you follow the link? did i understood your post right, - "there's no proof that Kennedy was about to issue Constitutional money"?
My problem is with the Jacksonian populism that basically killed the right for the USA to create its own money.
Knowing the way the Federal Reserve works is essential.
I think it is very useful.
Many people cling to their belief systems, whatever they are.
That often blocks reasonable debate.
Thanks. Conspiracy theories have had a huge stigma in society which isn't useful when your enemy hides behind the mass media and politicians.
and the secrecy of the ballot box count
[Removed]
Social fear, ridicule are taught at childhood in America. They begin with the church and ascribe or enforce the notion that the the society the church created is the only real society.
We do not know what we do not know, therefore all that the church has worked to prevent us from knowing can be used in secret and people of the church society will punish those who profess knowing what should not be known. It is all an enforcement of secrecy by ignorance of HOW the best secrets are kept. In the unconscious mind.
The proportions of our unconscious existence to our conscious existence are a fact that prempts all scepticism with medical fact. Here is a graphic that show the facts.
http://i41.tinypic.com/a15nx3.jpg