Are you a Conspiracy Theorist?

[trish]

Have you ever heard of a conspiracy theory that's only about the conspiracy but never about a single thing the conspirators did, or found or covered up? A conspiracy with no point? I’ve no doubt there are people who conspire together to have a good time, but those make rather dull stories for we outsiders. Most conspiracy theories (the false ones) feature an object, a discovery or a deed. It may be a wild, wonderful, mind blowing revelation or a scandalous deed or unscrupulous action underway as we speak. It’s what Hitchcock might call the MacGuffin. It’s the hook that draws you the story in the first place. The conspiracy is there to cover the ass of the story teller, who can’t provide any evidence because the conspirators have destroyed it, covered it up, or otherwise hid it.

...Think of all the high-tech alien movies hollywood puts out. They desensitize the world until the whole topic of "i believe in aliens" makes other people raise their eye-brows at the person saying that, as if they are nuts or very gullible.
Even people who claim to have been abducted by aliens are afraid to say so because of the public opinion.

I tend to think alien movies have the opposite effect. Desensitivity to a topic (imo) renders the topic more approachable. The movies show us how all the objections from science might be met in practice (albeit uncritically).
I don’t believe anyone who is motivated by the need for attention is really afraid to speak. Saying “I’m afraid to speak of it,” is part of the abductee’s fiction, unless the alleged ‘abduction’ is a psychological construct that allows them to speak of episode in their life that is otherwise very difficult for them to address. Perhaps an actual rape. In that case the story teller needs help of a different kind.

[Dahlia Babe Ailhad]

Hi trish,

I do agree with what you say about science fiction preparing the public for the arrival of aliens - these days. With all the UFA sightings pouring in these days, people are more accepting.

I was referring more to when these type of movies came out in the early days back in the 40s, 50s or earlier. It was only "science fiction" then, and really just imaginary stuff. So when someone said they were abducted or saw a UFO or had a close encounter of some kind, people immediately were reminded of all the kooky movies and would roll their eyes.
People were fired from their jobs, were ridiculed by friends and neighbors, severely, in those days. Even these days people don't really believe an abduction story. Comments which follow are usually like. "Oh so snd so forget his/her meds, again."
That's what i was referring to when i mentioned people being afraid of telling others or authorities that they had a close encounter, it was more back in those days.

Ever since the internet became a household item, the times have been changing.

Television shows like the X-Files (Mulder and Scully) and television movies like V (for Visitors) really made it okay to say you were abducted.
But still, people will look at you funny if you told them you met an alien or even saw one. The first reaction is to ask," How big was the joint you were smoking?"

I feel that people who are only looking for attention, would welcome all the bad reactions because they know they are just trying to trick people. They are getting the attention they wanted. So they don't really care what the reaction is - good or bad - so long as they become "special".

But the REAL abductees would become really troubled by people not believing them because these people didn't want "attention" - they just really needed to talk about what happened to them so they could deal with what happened. And the ignorant people would think they (the abductees) were becoming upset only because no one would, or wanted to, believe the abductees' experiences.

Once someone has been ridiculed for telling an INCREDIBLE (true) story, they want to avoid the bad feedback and negative repercussions - and that's why they are/were afraid to speak out.
That's what i meant to say.

I'm sure you've heard of that happening before.

Just think of our good friend, Stavros, he chuckled at the mere mention of Valiant Thor - a case in point in 2014.

Know what i mean, jelly bean?


Babe,
xoxo

[Dahlia Babe Ailhad]

I was sure i saw two ufo's last summer flying, what looked like, in a row (like follow the leader). They were quickly changing speeds and stopping as they passed through the sky when i was standing on my back balcony looking around.

When i realized what i thought i was looking at, i went to get my camcorder.
But it was too dark, and they were too far away, and i couldn't get the automatic focus to focus on them.

They were silent BUT far away.

[TempestTS]

“A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. A psychotic is a guy who's just found out what's really going on.”
― William S. Burroughs

[trish]

There's a little truth in every joke; the question that remains is, "How much?"

[thx1138]

Conspiracy theories that turned out to be true.

[thx1138]

More:

[trish]

Every crime, carried out by two people, successful or not, is a conspiracy. Every deal signed behind closed doors is a conspiracy. The eleven different herbs and spices in the Colonel's recipe are a trade secret known to just a few conspirators. The attempt to rescue the U.S. hostage from Al Qaeda last week was an extremely well funded government conspiracy involving the most modern, complex weaponry and machinery available. The world is brimming with conspiracies. Unfortunately for every actual conspiracy you can make up another dozen that aren't true.

The epistemological issue with conspiracy theories is that their clandestine nature requires a particularly astute and critical examination of the discoverable evidence to render a judgment as to the theory's veracity. The true believers among us who have the gift of self-deception, coupled with the desire to believe the fantastical and disbelieve the mundane, are unable or unwilling to apply their critical faculties to these sorts of knowledge fantastical claims (i.e. conspiratorial claims that most demand critical scrutiny).

[TempestTS]

I cant put my finger on it but there is something suspicious about what youre saying here...

Every crime, carried out by two people, successful or not, is a conspiracy. Every deal signed behind closed doors is a conspiracy. The eleven different herbs and spices in the Colonel's recipe are a trade secret known to just a few conspirators. The attempt to rescue the U.S. hostage from Al Qaeda last week was an extremely well funded government conspiracy involving the most modern, complex weaponry and machinery available. The world is brimming with conspiracies. Unfortunately for every actual conspiracy you can make up another dozen that aren't true.

The epistemological issue with conspiracy theories is that their clandestine nature requires a particularly astute and critical examination of the discoverable evidence to render a judgment as to the theory's veracity. The true believers among us who have the gift of self-deception, coupled with the desire to believe the fantastical and disbelieve the mundane, are unable or unwilling to apply their critical faculties to these sorts of knowledge fantastical claims (i.e. conspiratorial claims that most demand critical scrutiny).

[trish]

Yeah, it was the word order in the last sentence: should've been "sorts of fantastical knowledge claims" rather than "sorts of knowledge fantastical claims." Otherwise it's all straightforward and transparent.