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That's right. You have to dismiss them as stupid and deranged. For real though, the article makes the point that it's more than stupidity, it's a fear of what people can't control that turns them to conspiracies.
But why do they feel so out of control? Why do they not understand how anything works?
Is it possible that millions of people who lack the critical evaluation skills to determine when they're being scammed are victims of malicious grifters instead of just being people who are to be dismissed? And is it possible that lacking intellectual and cognitive skills is a disability and we should approach disability with empathy?
When you relegate people to the "stupid" and "deranged" categories, you dismiss them as people capable of learning skills (even if they haven't already for skills that are considered "basic") or possessing any other valuable skill that contributes. Dismissing them also shifts the responsibility from the people who are trying to take their money and radicalize them for their own ideological purposes.
The people trying to exploit others are the ones we should be condemning.
I really like how you've put this. You are completely right.
Thanks for understanding and being willing to entertain a different perspective! I'm glad I could help.
Whenever I catch myself wanting to call someone or their actions stupid, I consider whether telling a 5 year old child that they're stupid has ever helped them learn (good) lessons, and whether calling them stupid is a better teaching strategy than rewarding positive behavior. Research suggests that killing someone's self esteem isn't great for learning, especially pro-social behaviors, so it's probably also not a great first choice for whatever situation I've run into.
They feel out of control because they ARE being exploited by systems that are designed to obscure the fact. They don't understand how anything works, because those systems have replaced their education with propaganda.
"why do so many people believe in conspiracies"
"Well, to understand that, you have let me tell you about how The System is designed to replace education with propaganda."
Big time. Try opening a publicly funded law school, teaching the rulebook to the plebs, see the power structures try to jam it up, see if local corporate media doesn't publish constant articles about how much money it will cost and constant op-eds like "does [name of local area] really need more lawyers?," while their parent corporations and advertisers are represented in all things by lawyers at firms with 1,000 attorneys that each make in an hour what most working people make in a week. I'm telling y'all, it's sabotage.
Problem is that lots of seemingly regular Americans believe in some conspiracy theories to a greater or lesser extent. Having spent significant time living on both the US and Europe, I'm pretty shocked how many Americans always seem to think that someone is "out to get them." If it's not some random person, it's a criminal, it's the government, it's the school board, it's the gays. Anyone, really. It's tiresome.
Edit (case in point): https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-fathers-decapitation-went-rails-college-knew-say-rcna136647
Another one nobody really talks about is the whole "UFO coverup conspiracy" which isn't a conspiracy to cover up UFOs, but to hide military operations:
Paul Bennewitz died in that facility, still paranoid. Our government broke that man, a veteran, with a conspiracy.
It makes it hard for me to enjoy the X Files knowing all the suffering caused by its origin.
They definitely gaslit the dude, for the greater good of America, I suppose; I'm sure one could make the case that the success and therefore the secrecy of America's stealth and space programs were essential to bringing about the present world order, in which America is the lone superpower, for better or worse.
I think there are real cases in which various visual, optical, radio, or computer phenomena, have been misinterpreted by observers in good faith, who have reconciled what they could not explain with fantasies.
Or do you mean that, despite official statements to the contrary and lack of available evidence, in fact actual extraterrestrials have traveled to the earth and their presence verified and knowledge held in secret from the general public?
Any more about what this guy thinks it was in Michigan?
First time I saw the tic tac video, it looked to me like glare that I've seen before on a PTZ camera inside a clear dome aka a speed dome camera, and I found credible the many who say that's exactly what it is just from reflected infrared light. The voices, which I later learned are fake, are what made me think "nah, it couldn't be an artifact, the pilots would recognize it."
Found one more quote from Grenier:
I'm not doubting what you saw. I'm just wondering what that Grenier guy thinks you saw. He seems to say he has a good idea of what it is. He could be a total nutter but I'd still like to know what he thinks. Hasn't some podcaster tracked him down?
And are there any photos? I couldn't seem to find any.
in defense of air force, this was pretty funny
(and also rather simple and self-sustaining way of diverting attention away from then top-secret projects that resulted in wonders of engineering like B-2 or F-117)
Funny that they ruined a man's life?
if he wasn't chasing UFOs, he'd be going after cryptids or something
i'd say it's more about the want of feeling special and/or in control, not exactly about fear
there's an excellent Dan Olson video on this topic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTfhYyTuT44
Got a nice long ride tomorrow for the rest of this video. Very enjoyable listening.
In my experience it seems more effective to counter conspiracies with laughter and mockery than dismantle it. Which may sound strange since it sounds intuitive to counter a falsehood with truth or reason.... But disproving takes far more effort than the original conspiracy theory, and that's how these things get out of control. But laughing it off, mockery, and general comedy takes less time and still gets the message across to bystanders.
On the flip-side I do agree doing it wrong can send them deeper into the hole because at its core it's about a sense of community, and everyone has issues with ego and self-esteem clouding better judgment. It's just the circumstances these people are in, well, it makes them far more vulnerable to grifters preying on their ignorance, lack of time, lack of education, etc.
Definitely! There are some things in society that are harmful to the public, antisocial, breaches of the social contract--such as being unvaccinated, not washing your hands after taking a huge dump, or spreading conspiracies--but which are not illegal or redeemable in tort, things for which public shaming is a just and maybe only remedy.