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ORIGINAL: Zensee

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ORIGINAL: subfever

I've found that more often than not, those who readily reject conspiracies theories tend to be invested in the status-quo. They also tend to be control-oriented people who are very uncomfortable with the possibilities that there are matters going on around them which are completely beyond their control.  It's easier for them to just scoff at a conspiracy theory and just lump it in with more far-fetched theories... and label believers as tin-hat nutballs.

A very interesting observation. Not sure I agree with your specific diagnosis but it does make me wonder if there are predictive mental or emotional characteristics of people who tend to see conspiracies vs those who tend not to. It doesn't seem to be a Dom / sub split. Is it a matter of trusting vs suspicious natures - optomistic vs pessimistic? Anyone know of any studies on the matter? (And, at the risk of sounding Mod-lin, hopefully people won't simply make this an opportunity to label each other pathological.)


Z.

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ORIGINAL: SirKenin

No.  I am a centrist and I do not believe in conspiracy theories at all.  I believe in facts.

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ORIGINAL: SirKenin

No.  I am a centrist and I do not believe in conspiracy theories at all.  I believe in facts.

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ORIGINAL: SirKenin

You guys are looking at two different definitions of conspiracy I think.  Now you are making  Me confused as well. 

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I've found that more often than not, those who readily reject conspiracies theories tend to be invested in the status-quo. They also tend to be control-oriented people who are very uncomfortable with the possibilities that there are matters going on around them which are completely beyond their control.  It's easier for them to just scoff at a conspiracy theory and just lump it in with more far-fetched theories... and label believers as tin-hat nutballs.

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ORIGINAL: subfever

On a side note... I personally know people who take the very same position that you do. What I find very interesting is that most of them believe in God... yet God can't be proven with facts any more than a current conspiracy theory.  

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ORIGINAL: luckydog1

It seems to me that the people who believe that the gov is out to get them, wants to take their freedoms, put them in camps in Alaska or Oregon, and blowing up its own buildings, ect. are full of fear.  And use fear as a prime motivator.  The church is out to get us, the state is out to get us, the Corps are out to get us, the facists are out to get us, and make us all slaves, ad nasuem.  I would also say that the disabled and other dependant classes have the most to lose if society gets overturned.

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ORIGINAL: luckydog1

It seems to me that the people who believe that the gov is out to get them, wants to take their freedoms, put them in camps in Alaska or Oregon, and blowing up its own buildings, ect. are full of fear.  And use fear as a prime motivator.  The church is out to get us, the state is out to get us, the Corps are out to get us, the facists are out to get us, and make us all slaves, ad nasuem.  I would also say that the disabled and other dependant classes have the most to lose if society gets overturned.

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ORIGINAL: Celeste43

Successful conspiracies require a great many people not opening their mouths and letting things slip. Not just the conspirators but secretaries asked to fax things, messengers not to mention to their coworkers who they delivered to etc. I don't feel it is likely that you could have a vast horde of people involved, whether knowingly or not, and nothing slip. Most people enjoy talking about themselves too much.

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ORIGINAL: Celeste43

Successful conspiracies require a great many people not opening their mouths and letting things slip. Not just the conspirators but secretaries asked to fax things, messengers not to mention to their coworkers who they delivered to etc. I don't feel it is likely that you could have a vast horde of people involved, whether knowingly or not, and nothing slip. Most people enjoy talking about themselves too much.

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ORIGINAL: Celeste43

Successful conspiracies require a great many people not opening their mouths and letting things slip. Not just the conspirators but secretaries asked to fax things, messengers not to mention to their coworkers who they delivered to etc. I don't feel it is likely that you could have a vast horde of people involved, whether knowingly or not, and nothing slip. Most people enjoy talking about themselves too much.

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ORIGINAL: SirKenin

No.  I am a centrist and I do not believe in conspiracy theories at all.  I believe in facts.

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ORIGINAL: luckydog1

It seems to me that the people who believe that the gov is out to get them, wants to take their freedoms, put them in camps in Alaska or Oregon, and blowing up its own buildings, ect. are full of fear.  And use fear as a prime motivator.  The church is out to get us, the state is out to get us, the Corps are out to get us, the facists are out to get us, and make us all slaves, ad nasuem.  I would also say that the disabled and other dependant classes have the most to lose if society gets overturned.

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

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ORIGINAL: luckydog1

It seems to me that the people who believe that the gov is out to get them, wants to take their freedoms, put them in camps in Alaska or Oregon, and blowing up its own buildings, ect. are full of fear.  And use fear as a prime motivator.  The church is out to get us, the state is out to get us, the Corps are out to get us, the facists are out to get us, and make us all slaves, ad nasuem.  I would also say that the disabled and other dependant classes have the most to lose if society gets overturned.

The term "conspiracy theorist" was coined to denigrate those who do not believe in a lone gunman in the school book depository killed the president of the United States by himself. I do not believe in magic bullets that come from the wrong angle either, so in essense I am a "conspiracy theorist".

I think something has been rotten at the top of the food chain in this country for a long long time. I do not need to believe in tinfoil hats, the illuminati, or other things I cannot prove. I have eyes, I have ears, I know that the government does things like allowing us to be attacked. They have done it several times, they have written memos about it in the past (re: Northwoods Document). The government also watches what we do, infiltrates peaceful groups, asserts its power and control for the benefit of a few. I do not need a big conspiracy to prove that....For example we are fighting a war for oil right now and we were all told it was because of "democracy"

Now you write that conspiracy theorists are all "fear driven", well some of them are. Some of us just do not believe in magic bullets and that the government loves us. Some of us do not believe that Dubya would go to Iraq out of the goodness of his heart to "free" people. Some of us are not fear driven, just logical.

I remember when I started to first question what the TV said, it was a very scary thing for me to question everything that I had been taught about government and the media... and I had not even been raised to trust in government and it was still scary for me. I have noticed that when I have talked to people about how people within the government DO conspire to steal their money and their freedom and show them how that is true, they just do not want to hear it. Some people even get angry about it.

So we have a choice, acknowledge that we do not live in a storybook, and that the USA is not inherently "good", or put our heads in the sand until it really gets scary. All empires fall, they usually fall on the citizens.