Think: Why You Should Question Everything by Harrison Guy P

Author:Harrison, Guy P. [Harrison, Guy P.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781616148089
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2013-11-04T18:30:00+00:00

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

I was fascinated by the speed of the conspiracy theories that were generated after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Within days, if not hours, of the event, claims of lies and cover-ups were flying around the world. An Israeli assassination squad did it to stir up international problems. The US government did it in order to have an excuse to impose radical new gun-control laws leading up to the confiscation of all privately owned guns. Against all logic and without good evidence, conspiracy theorists said no children had been killed at the school. There were no grieving parents, no distraught teachers. The people seen on television and interviewed by journalists were “crisis actors” playing roles designed to dupe us. Sandy Hook—like the Kennedy assassination, the 9/11 attacks, and thousands of other terrible events—will forever have crude, disturbing, and unproven conspiracy theories attached to it. Why does this happen over and over? Why do people believe these kinds of claims?

Before analyzing the conspiracy-theory phenomenon, it is important to be clear that evil, destructive, and criminal conspiracies are very real. They happen all the time. Of course groups of people get together to plan and execute bad deeds. We are social creatures—for better and for worse. Both history books and today’s headlines offer countless examples of mischief by committee. Most popular conspiracy theories are not like supernatural/paranormal claims because they don’t seem to contradict what we know about how the natural world works. The problem is that many of us seem to have an irresistible urge or need to have complex and dramatic explanations when bad things happen, even if they lack proof and on the surface appear to be illogical and very unlikely. This should surprise no one. The following standard human characteristics make conspiracy theories of interest to most and irresistible to some:

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