Conspiracy nuts

[vegetariantaxidermy]

I think people are rightly sceptical. That's to be commended. The unfortunate thing is that they are allowing their politics to get in the way of their being receptive to answers. They simply cannot bring themselves to be objective and rational. Paranoia is paranoia...

This is the paradox of trust. If you distrust "them" and you have brought yourself to believe that "they" are objectiely untrustworthy how can you trust anything "they" say?

Keep stretching/expanding the category of "they" to include every human being on the planet (except yourself) and you arrive at misanthropy.

It's about a lack of education as well. It's much easier to just say you don't 'believe' something a scientist says than it is to actually make an effort to learn about it. Lazy ignoramuses.

[Dontaskme]

Thing is, can any human trust another human.

A human who is able to do by intent. A thinking organism works with intent, intent is the rider of the will.


There is no hope for the thinking organism. Nature is showing this to be the case, since there is only nature.

Enter A.I. through mechanical robots, and the exit redundancy of all slow mechanical thinkers. Nature wins everytime.

Talk to Elon Musk about the future of intelligence. He's very intelligent.

[FlashDangerpants]

I have the germ of an idea. Whatever enjoyment people, let's call them normal people, get from a book or a film, they know that when the closing credits roll, the story is over. Whatever larks may be had playing with the themes and logic, it's time to unsuspend disbelief and understand that what has been seen is a fiction. Perhaps for conspiracy nuts it is not enough to play with ideas and stories, they have to be real - a story isn't compelling to a conspiracy nut if they are not an actor in it. I have said before that, in my view, philosophy is basically story telling with a set of rules attached. In that sense, philosophers create coherent narratives based on a fairly limited palette of initial premises. The people who provide the material for conspiracy role play, ranging from the fairly respectable Dan Brown, who uses conspiracy theories to create ambiguous stories, to the flat out fruitloopery of the David Ickes of this world, are just doing the same thing, but with a more colourful set of premises.

There seems to be two sorts of conspiracy theorist in general. I think you are describing the classic sort of tinfoil hat wearer who continually stumbles upon new evidence of malpractice. That guy somehow gets himself embroiled in mystery every time he brushes his teeth, always somehow in proximity to events larger than mere Earthly politics.

Then there's the other sort. The conspiracist stuff for those guys is part and parcel of belonging to a group, always praising themselves for being truly independent thinkers while, coincidentally of course, all arriving at the same set of group defining beliefs about other groups telling them lies. The story element seems to be that the only story tellers to be trusted are the ones telling them what they want to hear about who the bad guys are, once you've established that the bad men want to tell you X, then "we" (completely independently, but in lock step) believe Y. After that, evidence is all negotiable because group loyalty determines from whom you are willing to accept evidence, and you will reject that which originates from sources your group doesn't trust. They are totally independent, utterly free thinking conformists.

[Atla]

In the real world, say 20% are conspiracy theorist idiots, 70% are anti-conspiracy theorist idiots, and 10% can think.

So they use the 20% nuts, to convince the other 70% that there are no conspiracies. That's why even though the last 10% can figure out that a few big conspiracies have actually happened, they can't do shit about it.

So 70% + 20% + 10% + they = how many percent?

The worst part about a conspiracy theorists is he can't tell he's a conspiracy theorist. Like this idiot.

20% dummies
70% anti-dummy dummies
9.999% thinkers
0.00099999% "they"
0.00000001% Skepdick*

Happy now, or should I come up with much more accurate percentages, for you to get the point?

(*this last group doesn't even reach the cognitive abilities of a conspiracy theorist nutter, but acts smart in order to "fit in" with the 70% crowd)

[Skepdick]

While you are trying to convince us you are part of the dummies you could've stopped there.

A% dummies
B% anti-dummy dummies
C% thinkers
100 - (A + B + C)% "they"

Happy now, or should I come up with much more accurate percentages, for you to get the point?

They tell me what makes you a dummy is not the percentages.

[Atla]

While you are trying to convince us you are part of the dummies you could've stopped there.

A% dummies
B% anti-dummy dummies
C% thinkers
100 - (A + B + C)% "they"

Happy now, or should I come up with much more accurate percentages, for you to get the point?

They tell me what makes you a dummy is not the percentages.

Been wondering, when you edit your comments like 3-10 times as you just have, are you having a conversation with yourself or what are you doing?

[Dontaskme]

In a world where lying, cheating, and stealing has not only become the norm, but an accepted means to a particular end, your society reaps what it sows.

"-isms" are the true opiate of the masses.

The entirely of the 20th century was spend studying the psychological make-up of the human animal to the degree where institutions have been able to manipulate individuals into just about any type of behavior. Imagine being able to convince highly educated people that their entire race is racist and there is nothing they can do about it.

This epic manipulation does not bode well for the future.

Note how not one soul commented on your post.

Know why?

They know you're right, and in acknowledgin' it, they'd open the door to mebbe, grudgingly, havin' to accept that mebbe I'm not completely off the mark.

Silence, you see, preserves. them.

No, you are wrong to make that assumption.

Not all posts are read. So how can a post that has not been read YET be responded to?

SCULPTOR plays that silly assumption game as well.

[Skepdick]

Been wondering, when you edit your comments like 3-10 times as you just have, are you having a conversation with yourself or what are you doing?

Which part of the current version is confusing you? All of it?

[Atla]

Been wondering, when you edit your comments like 3-10 times as you just have, are you having a conversation with yourself or what are you doing?

Which part of the current version is confusing you? All of it?

Maybe that's the only way you can find someone who speaks Skepdick?

[Dontaskme]

There’s only two types of people in the world.

Haters and Lovers.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

In a world where lying, cheating, and stealing has not only become the norm, but an accepted means to a particular end, your society reaps what it sows.

"-isms" are the true opiate of the masses.

The entirely of the 20th century was spend studying the psychological make-up of the human animal to the degree where institutions have been able to manipulate individuals into just about any type of behavior. Imagine being able to convince highly educated people that their entire race is racist and there is nothing they can do about it.

This epic manipulation does not bode well for the future.

Note how not one soul commented on your post.

Know why?

They know you're right, and in acknowledgin' it, they'd open the door to mebbe, grudgingly, havin' to accept that mebbe I'm not completely off the mark.

Silence, you see, preserves. them.

No, you are wrong to make that assumption.

Not all posts are read. So how can a post that has not been read YET be responded to?

SCULPTOR plays that silly assumption game as well.

True, I only just saw it. For the record I agree with it

[Dontaskme]

I was "told". By a few hundred independent hospitals across multiple countinents/countries. All observing the same thing.

No you weren't. You were told about the Coronapocalypse by government officials, by way of news outlets.

No, people actually die horrible deaths from this virus, they really do, my own friend and neighbour died from the adverse affects of the virus…But believe what you want to believe moron, as long as the virus is not affecting you, you’re all right jack, you’ll not believe anything you are told, and just call them a liar. Your an idiot.

[vegetariantaxidermy]

I was "told". By a few hundred independent hospitals across multiple countinents/countries. All observing the same thing.

No you weren't. You were told about the Coronapocalypse by government officials, by way of news outlets.

No, people actually die horrible deaths from this virus, they really do, my own friend and neighbour died from the adverse affects of the virus…But believe what you want to believe moron, as long as the virus is not affecting you, you’re all right jack, you’ll not believe anything you are told, and just call them a liar. Your an idiot.

It would seem that those idiots only 'believe' in the virus when they are dying of it.
I've never had polio, or seen anyone with polio, so I suppose it doesn't exist then

[Dontaskme]

I was "told". By a few hundred independent hospitals across multiple countinents/countries. All observing the same thing.

No you weren't. You were told about the Coronapocalypse by government officials, by way of news outlets.

No, people actually die horrible deaths from this virus, they really do, my own friend and neighbour died from the adverse affects of the virus…But believe what you want to believe moron, as long as the virus is not affecting you, you’re all right jack, you’ll not believe anything you are told, and just call them a liar. Your an idiot.

It would seem that those idiots only 'believe' in the virus when they are dying of it.
I've never had polio, or seen anyone with polio, so I suppose it doesn't exist then

Good point, But something is stinking to high heaven, and what ever it is that’s suddenly killing people is actually happening. My neighbour was fine and healthy one minute, then complained of feeling flu symptoms…then promptly died.

[uwot]

There seems to be two sorts of conspiracy theorist in general. I think you are describing the classic sort of tinfoil hat wearer who continually stumbles upon new evidence of malpractice. That guy somehow gets himself embroiled in mystery every time he brushes his teeth, always somehow in proximity to events larger than mere Earthly politics.

Then there's the other sort. The conspiracist stuff for those guys is part and parcel of belonging to a group...

That's religion and politics in a nutshell.

...always praising themselves for being truly independent thinkers while, coincidentally of course, all arriving at the same set of group defining beliefs about other groups telling them lies.

Which is when religion and politics become dangerous. What has happened across the pond, it seems to me, is that the Republican party has given up trying to be a coalition of interests, opting instead to appeal only to the hard of thinking among a shrinking demographic. This despite knowing full well that they cannot command a majority; as Trump said: “The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... oronavirus Still, if you're going to rely on one section of the electorate, it makes sense to choose the one which is most heavily armed.
Ironically, the pandemic might have saved us from god knows what Trump would have done with four more years, thanks to his inept and callous handling of the situation - which should p**** the interest of some of our indigenous conspiracy nuts. It seems that some people are more loyal to the conspiracy than to Trump, given that he was booed when he recommended getting vaccinated. Perhaps the booers are your first type of conspiracy nut.

The story element seems to be that the only story tellers to be trusted are the ones telling them what they want to hear about who the bad guys are, once you've established that the bad men want to tell you X, then "we" (completely independently, but in lock step) believe Y. After that, evidence is all negotiable because group loyalty determines from whom you are willing to accept evidence, and you will reject that which originates from sources your group doesn't trust. They are totally independent, utterly free thinking conformists.

Aren't they just?