How to make sense of Conspiracy Theories - pt 4 of 9

Who is and isn't a conspiracy theorist?

How to make sense of conspiracy theories. Written and edited by Rob Ager. the original article can be read at http://www.collativelearning.com/

Part four explores the topic of who is and isn't a conspiracy theorist.

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• sense
• of
• conspiracy
• theories
• rob
• ager
• analysis
• make

[TKMSeznam12]

Believing in Conspiracy Theories unknowingly shouldn't be categorized the same way as believing outlandish, obviously incorrect theories (9/11, Govt. cover up of Aliens, etc). The world is generally run on misinformation, this is one facet of power plays. But people who actively believe and propagate Conspiracy theories that have no data supporting them, evidence, or are simply foolish are, if anything, simply feeding the people who want those theories to succeed.

[robag88]

@TKMSeznam12 Anyone can claim outright that a theory is "obviously" correct or incorrect, but that doesn't make it so. Only rational, independent research and debate can resolve such issues. I agree they shouldn't be categorized the same. Gov and military propagated conspiracy theories should be considered far more dangerous than those propagated by average citizens. The former lead to mass death and destruction on a global scale, inc. just about every war of the last century.

[itputsthelotion1]

Thanks for acknowledging the fact that Wikipedia is an unreliable source of information.

[TheMercilessEye]

@Restayvien Mmm..actually, no, we're talking about the same thing. The visual cues that advertising uses are always far more effective than those brief flashing images that the mind detects but aren't noticed, which you mentioned. Watch new car commercials carefully and you'll see what I mean...

[Restayvien]

@TheMercilessEye

I think you're talking about different things. When he says subliminal advertising, he might mean the very brief flashing images that your mind detects but you dont notice. I think that's illegal these days, whether it's effective or not.

[casper123]

Very interesting Rob, keep up the videos!

[SolarFireflies]

Good man. You've said everything I've been thinking myself.

[TheMercilessEye]

@ccheng21 If you think there is nothing subliminal in ADVERTISING, then you're a bigger imbecile than you appear to be in these comments. I WORK in advertising, bucko, and I'm here to tell you, advertising is FULL of subliminal messages. "Science has thoroughly disproven" it, eh? On WHAT PLANET, moron? Yeah...there are no subliminal messages in advertising...on NEPTUNE... LOLOL

[robag88]

@ccheng21 No answer. That's exactly what I expected.

[llaevigrof]

@JuanDeSoCal not sure where your coming from there. But you again can believe/discount whatever you want ... you can discount everything I say.  Discount away. You are not saying anything to communicate to me? Have a good day!

[llaevigrof]

@JuanDeSoCal hey you can believe whatever you want ...it was what I read in several books and what I understand to be a factual books...they were gulag work prisoners.. many. ... I guess you can just about refute anything can't you.

[JuanDeSoCal]

@llaevigrof

The fact that you believe in the literal truth of Genesis makes me discount just about every thing you say.

[JuanDeSoCal]

@llaevigrof

That is the most ridiculous statistic ever. That would be about one in three of the whole population. Basically, during the cold war Western propagandists came up with inflated statistics. And now it's like a meme that never dies or has to bear scrutiny.

[robag88]

@ccheng21 How are they entertaining if you disagree with most of the content? I've seen videos on here claiming patterns that I believe are incidental, but I'm not drawn back to those users for months after, nor do I need to convince them of my disagreement. Rather than debate the merits of the vids you mentioned (I think it would be a waste of time with you) tell me, are there videos of mine that you agree with? Roughly, what percentage of the patterns I present do you agree with?

[ccheng21]

@robag88 I find them worthy of some level of entertainment value, there is one constant theme that I find always repeating itself in your videos: you see patterns where there necessarily are no patterns.

Your video on subliminal messages in advertisement, something that science has thoroughly disproven, subliminal messages are impossible and simply don't work.

even your video on the "spacial" anomalies in The Shining, also looking for more than there really is.

[robag88]

@robag88 Your arguments about science mismatch what is already outlined in pt 1 of this vid on what constitutes a conspiracy theory. Pretty much all science is theory (there isn't even consensus on the "scientific method"), but a person's opinion of science can only be a "conspiracy theory" if they attribute intended group secrecy.

[robag88]

@ccheng21 And you've been posting counter arguments on my videos for a long time. That's your prerogative, and I'm happy to respond, but I wonder why you would subscribe and follow my videos if you disagree with them all. ...

[ccheng21]

@peninsularat robag88 has used this technique before, "Everyone is a conspiracy theorist" . Nope, not so.

Facts are always facts, they themselves are neutral have no political, economic or social agenda and those facts always point to the truth.

Would he agree, that Evolutionary Biologists are merely conspiracy theorists who support evolutionary biology?

Are Mechanics, just conspiracy theorists who use engineering rather than magic?

of course not.

[robag88]

@tube17968 My belief is based on photos, videos, text - which can be faked or presented out of context. Though I believe it would be extremely difficult to create such a huge myth, I have no direct experience of it, so I trust consensus opinion. They're not equal theories, but they're both theories. And like I've said, the controversies are more about holocaust scale, Israel's treatment of Palestinians today and the other 50 million or so mostly ignored WW2 deaths. That's realistic.

[tube17968]

@robag88 I think the issue is that, in the beginning of this video, you have made it seem as if "the holocaust happened" and "the holocaust never happened" are two equal conspiracy theories with an equal amount of validity and evidence to support them. That isn't realistic.

[llaevigrof]

Personally I believe our whole history since well before 'Genesis' has been a conspiracy of 'hidden history' by a few. I think we are in a sense, the baby cultivated in the fields of the matrix..."bound" in so many levels. People are finally digging up truths slowly, yet each of us has our 'truth' colored by our own experiences and beliefs. It makes life both interesting and confusing. signed Conspiracy Theorist :)

[llaevigrof]

It is interesting, I have heard my whole life about the 6 million Jews murdered by Hitler, as I recall, yet why do you rarely here about the 66 million of Russians murdered in the Bolshevik revolution in gulag slave camps? Or only God knows how many native American Indians were murdered as the white man 'usurped' America? That is another conspiracy theory..who is controlling 'history'?

[robag88]

@robag88 One thing I noticed, going by official historical records, is that over 50 million people died globally in WW2. The frequent misrepresentation of it as a primarily Jewish tragedy, when in fact millions of non-jews on all sides died in concentration camps too, has caused a backlash of anti-semitism, as has Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Other aspects that make ppl question WW2 include the massive support given to Hitler by Wall St and the Business Plot of 1933.

[robag88]

@peninsularat You shouldn't trust what I'm saying. If you did then this video would have taught you nothing. Regarding your grandfather, assuming he's honest with you about what he saw (which I've no reason to doubt) he only witnessed a tiny fraction of WW2. Most of the debates I've witnessed regarding the holocaust are disputes over scale and who exactly was being killed, but the mainstream media makes out that anyone asks questions about it is a holocaust denier.

[robag88]

@peninsularat Sorry but our realities are mostly constructed of assumptions. We assume we're third planet from the sun because of diagrams drawn in books. We assume the universe started with a big bang because guys in white coats say so. Others in history would have called us crazy for thinking such things and they were as certain of their reality as you of yours. Our perceived reality is mostly best guesses based on assumptions that we can trust the claims of particular sources.