Has anyone been there? And are able to report back?
I’d always assumed conspiracy theorists were just a fringe element that may have done a few too many drugs. But having moved to Taidong, I’ve suddenly found that now I am on the fringe.
Conspiracy theorism here, is mainstream.
For a while I thought that must be a localized anomaly, but I’m not so sure. It does seem to be a growing worldwide phenomenon.
So what’s behind it? Obviously, conspiracies do exist in the world and always have. The WMD charade with the second Iraq war would seem to have been a clear case - and there are lots of others - the illegal resort on the beach here, and on it goes. But conspiracy theorists take it to a different level somehow. And there is a religious, internet-fueled fervour to it .
Generally, people do things, good or bad, coz they are getting something out of it. Usually pleasureable for them. I’m not judging that at all. I’m just curious.
Ughhhhh we had this conspiracy theorist working at my school once. My adult students would come to me wide-eyed after every class he taught: “Mr. CT told us that 911 was planned by the US government!” “Did you know that Neil Armstrong actually didn’t land on the moon?!”
It was troubling that they took everything he said as fact. Even more frustrating that every one of his conspiracies had to do with America and the American government. (He was Australian. Personal experience dictates that there is a higher concentration of conspiracy theorists in Australia than elsewhere in the English-speaking world, and that they are a bit overly concerned with America in general, though I hate to generalize…)
First I tried to reason with them— “Look, do you really think Mr. CT knows that much about the inner workings of the US government?” “There are many different theories regarding 911, that have been put forth by a great many intelligent people- why do you think Mr. CT has them all beat?” “Why on earth would they fake a moon landing?” “Don’t you think there would be other ways to start the war in Iraq? Other than a general paranoia regarding that part of the world, don’t you know that the reasons for going into Iraq weren’t directly related to 911? Do you even think anyone would blink an eye if they didn’t have a reason? They just do what they want anyways…” and “sure, it might be true, but why on earth would you settle on that explanation over any other?”
Finally, I just called the guy an idiot and told my students they were old enough to do the research and make up their own mind. I also introduced the phrase “He’s stating opinion as fact” into their English phrase lexicon.
Conspiracy theorists drive me nutts. First, there’s no way for the layman to know the things they say they know. Second, all of it is generally negative. Third, even if it was true, they don’t do anything about it, so what’s the use, and fourth, it’s so clear that it’s just the conspiracy theorist’s way of justifying an unjustifiable superiority complex. “Ohhhhhh, I’m so smaaaaaaaahrt, look at what I knoooooow that nobody else knoooooooows…”
That’s an interesting thought and in line with my desire to just understand the situation. Though i’m not 100% sure what a bipolar person is. Do they also enjoy farting in enclosed spaces?
One contributing aspect is likely the fact that people tend to watch/read the media that affirms their views. My deeply Republican family tunes in to Fox News and therefore does not even get to hear an opposing viewpoint. Of course Fox News knows its support base and so it chooses to focus on stories about Obama’s “missing” birth certificate and the “death panels” that will determine who lives and dies under Obamacare. To them, it’s not conspiracy – it’s what the news says.
So anyone who watches only one news channel is particularly at risk. That’s unfortunately probably a large number of people.
[quote=“Hokwongwei”]One contributing aspect is likely the fact that people tend to watch/read the media that affirms their views. My deeply Republican family tunes in to Fox News and therefore does not even get to hear an opposing viewpoint. Of course Fox News knows its support base and so it chooses to focus on stories about Obama’s “missing” birth certificate and the “death panels” that will determine who lives and dies under Obamacare. To them, it’s not conspiracy – it’s what the news says.
So anyone who watches only one news channel is particularly at risk. That’s unfortunately probably a large number of people.[/quote]
That’s a very interesting theory, that i haven’t heard before. It’s kind of counter intuitive, but then makes sense. It explains the zealotism - and some inate desire to be a zealot. I know some CT’s who are actual zealots, but also others who kind of know it’s bullshit, but they just enjoy the ride.
The CT movement seems to be very much a youtube driven thing. I’m interested to know who is actually making all these videos. Do they really believe what they are doing or is it just a kind of new branch of the entertainment industry?
I don’t know… I think my uncles would dishevel this smiley-faced innocent and drive her out of the dining room within half an hour And Favreau with her. She might have luck with some especially trusting halfwit. I hate to think what a real conspiracy theorist would do to her. It’s almost as entertaining as a Taylor Lorenz article, but more good-natured. Have fun.
I hereby recant/apologize for everything i said in this thread. Those conspiracy theorists that used to bug me, i now recognize that they knew something intuitively. Covid converted me. I always knew that big corporations, media, some politicians/party orgs were corrupt - i didn’t realize that THE Science was equally corrupt.
Conspiracy Theorist is a pejorative term that was used to demonize anyone questioning the origin of Covid, or anyone questioning anything. But it’s only meaningless name-calling.
In fact, there are a lot of real-life conspiracies. It’s normal. It’s an integral part of culture’s nature that it will take dishonest actions to protect its image. Apart from THE Science community’s response to Covid, THE Church’s cover-up of systemic child-sexual abuse is another good example of a large-scale conspiracy.
Sure. Sometimes there are conspiracies. The problem can be in the theory part There are good theories grounded in evidence worthy of further investigation, bad ones that are not, and some in the middle.
And Favreau with her. She might have luck with some especially trusting halfwit. I hate to think what a real conspiracy theorist would do to her. It’s almost as entertaining as a Taylor Lorenz article, but more good-natured. Have fun.
