Conspiracy Theories

[Doktor Howl]

If that were true, it would explain why Discordians and conspiracy theories are like bread and butter...

I had something to add to this, then I got to this last line here.

Fuck off.

I think it's more like

it would explain why random wannabe anarchists who think they are Discordians and conspiracy theories are like bread and butter...

Oh, okay.  I was basing it on his earlier attitude, and got a "You People" vibe off of it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

If that were true, it would explain why Discordians and conspiracy theories are like bread and butter...

I had something to add to this, then I got to this last line here.

Fuck off.

I think it's more like

it would explain why random wannabe anarchists who think they are Discordians and conspiracy theories are like bread and butter...

Oh, okay.  I was basing it on his earlier attitude, and got a "You People" vibe off of it.

I could be wrong, and would not be surprised if I am, given my track record.

[Cain]

RE: the OP.  That's certainly a large element of it, though I'm leery of psychologically dismissing people whose worldview I disagree with.

Also worth considering:

- some people belive these things because it's profitable to do so.  Alex Jones, for example.  There is a vast "conspiratainment complex" where, if you come up with sufficiently wacky and fact-free "theories", you too can make a buck on the conspiratainment circuit, maybe even get a book deal and some radio interviews or two.

- some people are just actually crazy.  I am willing to put David Icke into the category of "mental breakdown" without much in the way of hesitation.  In fact, his "enlightenment experience" sounds suspiciously like a religious or conversion experience, which have also been linked to mental breakdowns in terms of cause and effect.

- Some people have a vague feeling that things are wrong, but don't know exactly what.   Conspiracy theorism provides a simple, direct and completely wrong answer, whereas the actual answer, involving actual conspiracies (like the role of the arms trade in global conflict, false-flag terrorism and various assassinations) are usually vastly complex, difficult for an outsider to get into, and involve parsing and analyzing vast amounts of paperwork and data.  For example, how many conspiracy theorists have you heard discuss the assassination of US-based arms dealer Dale Stoffel, who was almost certainly killed by elements in the US military and/or private contractors associated with arms companies threatened by his deal to supply the Iraqi Army?  Virtually none, I'm guessing.  How many conspiracy theorists have passed around the "Clinton Death List" or "Obama Death List"?  Practically all of them.

- Political expediency.  See the examples above.  Because [those other guys] are literally baby-eating Satan worshipping lizards.

[The Johnny]

One thing that drives me crazy are all the people who seem to have absolutely no idea how to vet their news sources, who post tabloid-Naturalnews-Food Babe bullshit while claiming that Establishment Scientists are concealing the truth and working for Big Pharma, while meanwhile scientists are busily waving their arms trying to bring attention to climate change, ocean acidification, desertification, food supply vulnerability, bias, graft, lobbying, collusion between big business and government, species extinction due to habitat encroachment, how escalating cycles of hostility worsen the terrorist problem, and a host of other actual serious problems.

But no. The problem has to be cell phones and the vaccine conspiracy.

You probably mean it in a more broad sense in which i would agree, but the APA board and psychiatrists have been shown in investigations to be hot in bed with pharmaceuticals... but this im saying is a very specific thing about mental health treatment methodology, nothing to do with the anti-polio-cause-autism freaks.

[The Johnny]

Regardless, to OP:

Maybe its a thing about "us" and "them" group dynamics mentality... its "THEM" (the Illuminati) that are to blame for all the evils in the world, while "US" are pretty butterfly victims that are helpless to do anything productive or ethical in this world.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One thing that drives me crazy are all the people who seem to have absolutely no idea how to vet their news sources, who post tabloid-Naturalnews-Food Babe bullshit while claiming that Establishment Scientists are concealing the truth and working for Big Pharma, while meanwhile scientists are busily waving their arms trying to bring attention to climate change, ocean acidification, desertification, food supply vulnerability, bias, graft, lobbying, collusion between big business and government, species extinction due to habitat encroachment, how escalating cycles of hostility worsen the terrorist problem, and a host of other actual serious problems.

But no. The problem has to be cell phones and the vaccine conspiracy.

You probably mean it in a more broad sense in which i would agree, but the APA board and psychiatrists have been shown in investigations to be hot in bed with pharmaceuticals... but this im saying is a very specific thing about mental health treatment methodology, nothing to do with the anti-polio-cause-autism freaks.

Isn't that covered by collusion and graft, pretty much?

[The Johnny]

One thing that drives me crazy are all the people who seem to have absolutely no idea how to vet their news sources, who post tabloid-Naturalnews-Food Babe bullshit while claiming that Establishment Scientists are concealing the truth and working for Big Pharma, while meanwhile scientists are busily waving their arms trying to bring attention to climate change, ocean acidification, desertification, food supply vulnerability, bias, graft, lobbying, collusion between big business and government, species extinction due to habitat encroachment, how escalating cycles of hostility worsen the terrorist problem, and a host of other actual serious problems.

But no. The problem has to be cell phones and the vaccine conspiracy.

You probably mean it in a more broad sense in which i would agree, but the APA board and psychiatrists have been shown in investigations to be hot in bed with pharmaceuticals... but this im saying is a very specific thing about mental health treatment methodology, nothing to do with the anti-polio-cause-autism freaks.

Isn't that covered by collusion and graft, pretty much?

I had to look up graft, apparently common usage refers to biology language im not familiar with, and had to go deep to find "(uncountable) Illicit profit by corrupt means, especially in public life."

But yes, ok.

[Junkenstein]

For example, how many conspiracy theorists have you heard discuss the assassination of US-based arms dealer Dale Stoffel, who was almost certainly killed by elements in the US military and/or private contractors associated with arms companies threatened by his deal to supply the Iraqi Army?

That's got to be worth a thread, or at least a good place to start for more info.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One thing that drives me crazy are all the people who seem to have absolutely no idea how to vet their news sources, who post tabloid-Naturalnews-Food Babe bullshit while claiming that Establishment Scientists are concealing the truth and working for Big Pharma, while meanwhile scientists are busily waving their arms trying to bring attention to climate change, ocean acidification, desertification, food supply vulnerability, bias, graft, lobbying, collusion between big business and government, species extinction due to habitat encroachment, how escalating cycles of hostility worsen the terrorist problem, and a host of other actual serious problems.

But no. The problem has to be cell phones and the vaccine conspiracy.

You probably mean it in a more broad sense in which i would agree, but the APA board and psychiatrists have been shown in investigations to be hot in bed with pharmaceuticals... but this im saying is a very specific thing about mental health treatment methodology, nothing to do with the anti-polio-cause-autism freaks.

Isn't that covered by collusion and graft, pretty much?

I had to look up graft, apparently common usage refers to biology language im not familiar with, and had to go deep to find "(uncountable) Illicit profit by corrupt means, especially in public life."

But yes, ok.

Whoa, that's really weird... graft in that sense is very common usage here. Maybe that's only because Portland is incredibly corrupt and there is graft at almost every level of government?

[Cain]

For example, how many conspiracy theorists have you heard discuss the assassination of US-based arms dealer Dale Stoffel, who was almost certainly killed by elements in the US military and/or private contractors associated with arms companies threatened by his deal to supply the Iraqi Army?

That's got to be worth a thread, or at least a good place to start for more info.

Meh, it's fairly simple.  Stoffel's company was poised to become the sole arms contractor to the fledgling Iraqi Army.  Stoffel is killed by a mysterious jihadist group before the deal can be finalised and ratified by the Iraqi Cabinet - by a group who were previously unheard of, and carried out no attacks since.  His main contact and supporter within the Iraqi Parliament was also killed by a hitherto unheard of and supremely short-lived jihadist group.  It also turns out Stoffel was a source for US investigators looking into corruption in military procurements in Iraq.

Problem is, that information is mostly buried in extremely boring reports by desperately unsexy US government agencies.  So, no-one cares.