Philosophy Now Forum

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Too bad conspiracy theorists tend to believe every conspiracy theory that is out there in cyber space --- including the unfounded claim that Obama was not born in the USA. So, we are to believe that a newspaper in Hawaii published a fraudulent story about Obama's local birth in its paper, so that about 40 years later, Obama could fraudulently run for president? Now, how would anyone have known that Obama, at the time of his birth, would serve their interests as president of the USA to even make this conspiracy operationally productive?

Conspiracy theorists are unable to evaluate evidence rationally.

Science Fan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2017 11:33 pm
Conspiracy theorists are unable to evaluate evidence rationally.

What do you make of the Federal government imprisoning dozens of people and eventually trying eight of them for conspiracy to kill Lincoln?

Was Julius Caesar assassinated by a lone knifeman?

Do you even know what the word "conspiracy" means?

wtf wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2017 11:41 pm

Science Fan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2017 11:33 pm
Conspiracy theorists are unable to evaluate evidence rationally.

What do you make of the Federal government imprisoning dozens of people and eventually trying eight of them for conspiracy to kill Lincoln?

Was Julius Caesar assassinated by a lone knifeman?

Do you even know what the word "conspiracy" means?

Which is why intelligent people put '' or ' around 'conspiracy theorists' or 'conspiracy theories' to indicate that they are referring to nutters who will believe anything as long as there is nothing to support that belief (apart from a political agenda). Of course real conspiracies happen all the time. Those generally have a different 'feel' to them, and don't tend to interest 'conspiracy theorists'.

Bill Wiltrack wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2017 10:12 pm .









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If you call one being a bigger mass murderer than the other (so far) 'superior' then I suppose that's true (so far).

Do you even know what the term "conspiracy theorists" refers to? It refers to unsubstantiated, fictitious claims, like the 9/11 truther claim, or the claim that Obama was not born in the USA. Also included are the claims that the moon landings were faked, the Holocaust did not happen, the phone company killed Kennedy, etc., etc. It was very clear from the context of my comment what I was referring to.

Science Fan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2017 11:59 pm Do you even know what the term "conspiracy theorists" refers to?

Yes I do. And I see that you don't.

After the assassination of JFK, the US government was terrified that if Russian involvement were discovered, the public would demand a disastrous war which could easily go nuclear. So the government decided to go with the "lone gunman" theory. At the same time, the CIA started calling any alternative idea a "conspiracy theory" in a pejorative manner, to discredit alternative theories of the crime.

In the fullness of time, many serious researchers found major holes and omissions and outright fabrications in the Warren commission report. Indeed, in 1978 the US House of Representatives re-investigated the assassination and concluded that "Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy."

In other words the US government, or at least the House of Representatives, are "conspiracy theorists."

This is the origin of the phrase "conspiracy theory" to mean any theory other than the official government cover story. For example if one questions the official story of 9/11 ("19 Arab hijackers because they hate our freedoms"), one is labelled a conspiracy theorist, in other words a crank or a nut.

But in fact 19 is greater than 1; so by definition, the government's own story about 9/11 is a conspiracy theory in the actual meaning of the word. A conspiracy is simply a plot or action undertaken by more than one person.

Indeed, the chairman of the 9/11 commission doesn't even believe the bs the government put out. http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/03/ ... nment.html

Any time you use the phrase "conspiracy theory" to marginalize or dismiss a theory that you don't like, you are simply a victim of the government's smear of anyone who questioned the Warren report. A report which, historians are now agreed, was not about finding out who killed JFK, but simply about quieting the public's concerns about an actual conspiracy.

That's why you should always question yourself when you dismiss an idea you don't like as a "conspiracy theory." Do you really think the government tells the truth about everything to the public? I can't imagine anyone being that naive.

The government lied the country into escalating the Vietnam war with the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The government, with the hearty assistance and support of the New York Times, lied the country into the Iraq war, which we're still stuck in with no end in sight. The modern history of the government is lying to the public about things that matter.

When one dismisses alternative ideas as "conspiracy theories," one is falling into the trap of taking the government at its word at the expense of rationality and the search for truth.

No, you don't have a clue what you are writing about. The term conspiracy theorist or similar sayings like conspiracy theories refers to delusional claims. This is commonly known. This is why Alex Jones is referred to as a conspiracy theorist, not because anything he says is legitimate, but precisely because the opposite is true ---- he promotes falsehoods as explanations for events.

When people are speaking of an actual conspiracy, it's seldom referred to as a conspiracy, but as an actual crime. In any event, it is nonsense to state that by me referring to conspiracy theorists as delusional people who ignore real facts that I have denied the existence of actual conspiracies. For example, the Holocaust did happen, and the Holocaust happened as a result of conspiracy theories being rampantly accepted against the Jews. My recognition of the Holocaust is me recognizing an actual conspiracy; however, it is also me recognizing that this actual history occurred because of delusional conspiracy theories that were accepted by millions of Germans and other Europeans.