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Conspiracy theories

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trueblue84 said:
I wonder if we'll ever discover what in the brain leads us to believe stuff like conspiracies, ghosts, gods etc? It is definitely something, because they all have the same traits, like end-of-the-worlders and religions all bring centred around our destruction and the salvation of only those in the know. I remember reading that atheists display the same brain patterns in believing atheism that religious people display in believing in a god.

I reckon it is just because our intelligence hasn't kept pace with the growth in our brain capacity and we are still stuck with our primal instincts and innate tribalism.
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They already do know. Its the back of it. The front does all the rational stuff, the back does all the funsie stuff, and the bad stuff. Its a constant balance, and is why for no reason at all you can feel in a really good mood, or why you can get dead anxious for no reason. Thats when the balance is more towards the back.

If the back gets too dominant, then thats where panic attacks and such like come from. Knowing why, and how to cope if that happens is what sorts common and less severe mental health issues, and thats how sports psychologists make their money.
 
roydo said:
They already do know. Its the back of it. The front does all the rational stuff, the back does all the funsie stuff, and the bad stuff. Its a constant balance, and is why for no reason at all you can feel in a really good mood, or why you can get dead anxious for no reason. Thats when the balance is more towards the back.

If the back gets too dominant, then thats where panic attacks and such like come from. Knowing why, and how to cope if that happens is what sorts common and less severe mental health issues, and thats how sports psychologists make their money.
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That's where, not what. I'm talking about the mechanisms, hormones and genes. Will we ever understand these to the point where we can fundamentally change our behaviour?
 
Kenshin said:
If you went back in time then the same conversations would have been had about 3g and 4g.

It's just that more people talk online this time.
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Aye you would, like there were genuine concerns with regards to phones and cancer back in the 80s, 90s and early 00s. As of yet, the risk seems negligible.*

There's a stark difference between legitimate, rationale questioning (concern) and some of the absolute guff passed as fact that people believed on a whim.

*This may of course change over time.

trueblue84 said:
I remember reading that atheists display the same brain patterns in believing atheism that religious people display in believing in a god.
Click to expand...
I find that when it comes to religion I have a similar disdain for people who try to convince me/others that there is a God as those who try to convince the opposite.

I personally have some quasi-religious beliefs, but I would never try to pass on or convince a grown up that it's true, and I'd expect other people to act the same.

Because in reality it boils down to belief with neither being provable to a point where it's beyond reasonable doubt, yet people get so worked up about it.

With your latest point, I think there's a bit of empiricism in it whereby we will become more enlightened with experience of our emotions over time - bit of Hegel?

I don't think the human mind is at a point yet to fully grasp the deep-rooted mechanics versus our consciousness etc. that managed our behaviours.
 
trueblue84 said:
I wonder if we'll ever discover what in the brain leads us to believe stuff like conspiracies, ghosts, gods etc? It is definitely something, because they all have the same traits, like end-of-the-worlders and religions all bring centred around our destruction and the salvation of only those in the know. I remember reading that atheists display the same brain patterns in believing atheism that religious people display in believing in a god.

I reckon it is just because our intelligence hasn't kept pace with the growth in our brain capacity and we are still stuck with our primal instincts and innate tribalism.
Click to expand...
Wait, what?

People who believe conspiracy theories as you put it simply question their reality. I don't think there is anything different in their brain to invest in an alternative view of events. Because the truth is we are lied to about most things or misled at least.

The reason why so many more people question events is because there is much more of a wealth of knowledge out there. More footage , more accounts etc. Going back 20 years ago there wasn't access to such information .

I don't think it's anything different mentally, just those who question and those who accept.
 

Kenshin said:
Wait, what?

People who believe conspiracy theories as you put it simply question their reality. I don't think there is anything different in their brain to invest in an alternative view of events. Because the truth is we are lied to about most things or misled at least.

The reason why so many more people question events is because there is much more of a wealth of knowledge out there. More footage , more accounts etc. Going back 20 years ago there wasn't access to such information .

I don't think it's anything different mentally, just those who question and those who accept.
Click to expand...

I think there is a world of difference between questioning something and constructing an entirely alternative narrative for an event.
Those that do the latter are the conspiracy theorists.
 
trueblue84 said:
I wonder if we'll ever discover what in the brain leads us to believe stuff like conspiracies, ghosts, gods etc? It is definitely something, because they all have the same traits, like end-of-the-worlders and religions all bring centred around our destruction and the salvation of only those in the know. I remember reading that atheists display the same brain patterns in believing atheism that religious people display in believing in a god.

I reckon it is just because our intelligence hasn't kept pace with the growth in our brain capacity and we are still stuck with our primal instincts and innate tribalism.
Click to expand...
There’s tonnes of study on the subject. Both psychology and sociological.
podcasts.apple.com

Conspiracy theories

Podcast Episode · Thinking Allowed · 08/05/2019 · 28m
podcasts.apple.com podcasts.apple.com
Interesting podcast if you can stomach it.
 
kev said:
I think there is a world of difference between questioning something and constructing an entirely alternative narrative for an event.
Those that do the latter are the conspiracy theorists.
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What's the difference between constructing a brand new version of events based on evidence though?

A good theory has to have a what and a why to it for any credibility I think. That's why I dismiss 90% of covid conspiracy theories as there is no why to them.

But if that completely different narrative is based in evidence that comes via official sources , not Facebook but accounts and science etc then is that theory so mad?

I've seen a few theories on 9/11 for example that have more credibility than the official story. However offering a story without any evidence is just jackanory for adults.
 
trueblue84 said:
I wonder if we'll ever discover what in the brain leads us to believe stuff like conspiracies, ghosts, gods etc? It is definitely something, because they all have the same traits, like end-of-the-worlders and religions all bring centred around our destruction and the salvation of only those in the know. I remember reading that atheists display the same brain patterns in believing atheism that religious people display in believing in a god.

I reckon it is just because our intelligence hasn't kept pace with the growth in our brain capacity and we are still stuck with our primal instincts and innate tribalism.
Click to expand...
So you think God is a conspiracy theory?
 

IMO many conspiracy theories exist, they are just not as exciting as the ones often mentioned.
I would say the implementation of austerity measures and the subsequent claim that austerity was over, can be regarded as a conspiracy as it was largely parroted by the press and the government.
For me, it suits a right wing agenda, for these big conspiracy theories to exist at it distracts from other matters and propagates the notion that big government can’t be trusted.
It’s not necessarily about questioning things or being enlightened as such, it’s about how you interpret what’s in front of you and decide whether you can make a difference to perceived injustices or conspiracies.
 
Most of these theories are about control of information and our...and I use the term loosely...freedom(s?)

Victoria just extended the state of emergency for another 6months, this regulates when and where you can go, if you need to wear a mask etc.
But.
Last week they...State Parliament, in concert with the Federal Govt...brought in a state of disaster.
This allows them...as well as accessing funds and other stuff, to suspend acts of parliament and appropriate property

With friends like these???
 
davids said:
The main problem is that with CGI and the advances in voice synthesis you can make a video of anybody saying anything that will fool 99% of those who watch.
Common sense has to come into play
All the world's governments crashing their economies using a phantom virus
(even those who have decades of conflict)
in unison is a bit of a stretch
Click to expand...

It all started when Gerry Adams started gobbing off to the BBC in the 80's

Terrifying that.
 

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