Why do people believe in conspiracy theories, or why does Tom exist...

[justintempler]

Sheep that run in the opposite direction are still sheep.

Conspiracy theories get a bad rap because most of them are garbage. If they have any merit to them they get proven. Don't give me conspiracy theory, give me conspiracy fact.

If "conspiracy theories" are for people that actually want to think for themselves...
How come 9 years after 911 we're still talking about thermite and buildings falling at free fall speed?

Truth is pretty much a meaningless word. Politicians and religious people always speak about truth but they can never agree. Truth is subjective because it based on beliefs.

I don't want truth, I want facts and I'll make up my own mind.

[tom502]

I just read this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39427032

And they recently picked a UN alien ambassador, plus they already has an Outer Space office I did not know of.
The a new secret shuttle was recently launched.
An ex-NORAD commander is predicting an Oct 13th contact.
A national press conference of retired military officers have disclosed their info about UFOs and nukes.

Might be something going on........

[truthwolf1]

I think it is good to have the Templer's, Danielan's, Joe's and others who are stubbornly persistent in their mainstream views on many of these topics.

It makes for great discussions here at SnusOn and sometimes, (very rarely) we all can agree on something.

[sgreger1]

But I don't make fun of people for believing in conspiracy theories, I make fun of people that don't use their brain.

..and just because we don't have all the answers to something doesn't automatically make it a conspiracy. Sometimes there is no answer, some people can't deal with that.

Kind of like a few hundred years ago when people thought lightning was the gods being angry. When you pretend to have all the answers you stop looking for the real answers. It's OK to say you don't know.

Right and I understand that. I'm not talking about a conspiracy with aliens or the new world order or chemtrails here, I referenced conspiracies to do things such as blow up buildings in the US to go to war, which was signed off by the join cheifs of staff, I noted a conspiracy to overthrow goverments by using drug funds to fund revolutions etc. These are all conspiracies that DID happen. I don't see how your "we just don't know the answers so that doesnt make it a conspiracy" thing fits into something that we know to have happened now. I am not talking about chemtrails or something here, I am listing conspiracies that occured in the past and that are the breeding grounds for some of our current conspiracy theories. It was meant to be an explanation of why people think the gov is always doing shady shit, BECAUSE THEY HAVE DONE A LOT OF SHADY SHIT.



Justing, with all due respect your "people arent using critical thinking" argument would work if we were discussing chemtrails or something unproveable here, but we are not. We are discussing historic events that are not contested. The CIA paid news organisations to publish propaganda pieces against disidents, they maintain lists of millions of people who they deem to be a threat of some sort, they keep all of your financial data (which they obtain without warrants) in large databases. These are all things that are real, not some speculative internet dribble about nazi UFO's.



Could you note which one of the things I listed did not happen in your opinion, as an explanation for why you think believing that it happened makes you lack critical thinking? I think people who believed a bullet magically hit kennedy from two directions are the people who lack critical thinking. Or the people who think the government would never spy on it's own citizens without a warrant.



Conspiracy theoriest: "I heard the government is secretly using billions of dollars to make a super weapon that splits atoms to release energy that would destroy entire cities!"
JustinTemplar: Lol, lack of critical thinking much?
*20 years later*
Conspiracy theorist: Told you so, dick.

[truthwolf1]

I just read this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39427032

And they recently picked a UN alien ambassador, plus they already has an Outer Space office I did not know of.
The a new secret shuttle was recently launched.
An ex-NORAD commander is predicting an Oct 13th contact.
A national press conference of retired military officers have disclosed their info about UFOs and nukes.

Might be something going on........

There are a lot of things as of late that have seem to hint towards a coming disclosure.
Even the odd Vatican and Hawkins statements.

[tom502]

Flight 93 was to hit the Building 7, but was shot down. So they had to pull Building 7 so the evidence could not be found. But I wonder if flight 93 even crashed....

[sgreger1]

I just read this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39427032

And they recently picked a UN alien ambassador, plus they already has an Outer Space office I did not know of.
The a new secret shuttle was recently launched.
An ex-NORAD commander is predicting an Oct 13th contact.
A national press conference of retired military officers have disclosed their info about UFOs and nukes.

Might be something going on........

Tom, fyi it turns out that alien ambasador thing isn't true. The UN and the person supposedly chosen both claimed it was not true. It's jsut odd because mainstream media picked it up.

[sgreger1]

I just read this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39427032

And they recently picked a UN alien ambassador, plus they already has an Outer Space office I did not know of.
The a new secret shuttle was recently launched.
An ex-NORAD commander is predicting an Oct 13th contact.
A national press conference of retired military officers have disclosed their info about UFOs and nukes.

Might be something going on........

Tom, the guy who lead the team who found this new planet, Professor Vogt, he is my wifes friend and used to be her physics professor when she was in college at UC Santa Cruz ! Cool article.

[dEFinitionofEPIC]

I think the term "conspiracy theory" gets a really bad rap...and I am going to train myself to stop using it. Most "conspiracy theories" are after all based on certain FACTS.

IE. When I consider 9/11 I see some major inconsistencies with the "official story". I am not "theorizing" any "conspiracy" ... I do not KNOW what happened. I am just highly skeptical that the "official story" is the truth after being exposed to evidence and testimonials that are not in alignment with what we were told.

Even if you believe the "official story" it is still a "theory" because you cannot prove without a shadow of a doubt that it is indeed FACT. We were TOLD one thing... and can choose to believe it or not. Unless you are omniscient (ie were with every individual in the world and knew exactly who and what transpired to cause this event) you cannot know for a FACT that the official story is true... you believe in the "theory" that muslim extremists acting alone planned to fly planes into US buildings which in turn caused the buildings to collapse... you were not there when the event was planned... how do you know FOR SURE that this is what happened? Believing anything else is, likewise, a theory.

Either way you are BELIEVING something. You choose to believe the media and the facts presented by them. Or you choose to look at other facts presented from other sources and believe them.

Either way it is just two different opinions...two different points of view... two different BELIEFS.....and I believe it is unfair and narrow-minded to say that people who believe one thing over another lack critical thought.

[sgreger1]

This one's for you tom:


Does anybody else think it’s interesting that, in December 2008, Dr. Ragbir Bhathal detected an unnatural “laserlike” signal coming from Gliese 581e, then today we learn about Gliese 581g an earth-like planet that almost certainly supports life?


It appears that somewhere in the "general" area of this new earthlike planet they recieved something they believed could be interpreted as not naturallly ocurring. Then this week we learn that there is an earthlike planet there are "almost certainly has life".

[tom502]

Hmm..... I did not know this. I'll read it and get back.

[tom502]

From the link, I get the impression the signal did not come from that planet, or that constellation.

[truthwolf1]

Agreed Epic. It does really come down to if you believe in the investigation or not. Sometimes they are clear as day with all of the evidence, while other times the investigations seem to have been rushed/hushed which leads many to question the conclusions.

It seems that with many of these conspiracies the government is notorious for completing them in a shady fashion.

Alot of people also cannot fathom or emotionally accept the reality of what our government is capable of. They never question and only accept what is told to them.

[raptor]

There's a difference in acknowledging that something else could have happened than believing something else happened contrary to official explanation. This is why JT's comments are valid.

[dEFinitionofEPIC]

There's a difference in acknowledging that something else could have happened than believing something else happened contrary to official explanation. This is why JT's comments are valid.

Question:

So if I acknowledge that something else other than the official story could have happened, but still believe the official story... I should not be accused of lacking critical thought...

BUT

If I acknowledge that something else other than the official story could have happened, and decide to not believe the official story... I AM NOT a critical thinker ???

Please explain how his comments are valid... I am having trouble finding the logic here. ???