Changes in conspiracy beliefs are rare, but possible

Maybe cognitive dominion over the populace should NOT be sought after.

If we make it that far, and if freedom ever returns, 100 years from now (or more) they will gloss over the atrocities of the 20th century and the main event will be how in the 21st century they actually convinced the whole world that powerful people always have the best interest of the common folk at heart and never doing anything for their own interests, the government loves you and wants to take good care of you, the media always tells the truth, and to think otherwise was a mental illness worthy of ridicule and scorn lest you repent to the gods of the internet. Then they will list off the horrendous atrocities that led to, starting with..<p>Well, we are in for one hell of a century

Related: The book &quot;How Minds Change&quot; by David McRaney.<p>With regard to the stability of beliefs, there&#x27;s a strong element of social reinforcement at work. An incident discussed in the above mentioned book is how a group of prominent 9&#x2F;11 truthers was invited to meet with various scientific experts who presented the case against the conpiracy, and as a result of the meeting, one (but only one) member of the group did change his mind about 9&#x2F;11. However, this rejection of the conspiracy by a prominent conspiracist did not cause a crisis of belief among the rest. Rather, they rejected and shunned the mind-changer from the community, despite the fact that he used to be a leader of the community.

Some reasons why changing beliefs is difficult to do:<p>People are more likely to believe something if it follows intuitive thinking, is familiar or easily retrievable from memory [1]. Additionally, while efforts to correct beliefs in misinformation can be successful, the continued influence effect means that misinformation and correct information compete for activation, meaning that even after correction, misinformation may still be recalled [1]. It is important to note that debunking misinformation does not work as effectively at the group level [1]. Therefore, understanding social identity theory and intergroup threat theory may also be useful for correcting beliefs at the group level through an improved understanding of the human desire to align with groups to reduce feelings of insecurity [2].<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nature.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;s44159-021-00006-y" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nature.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;s44159-021-00006-y</a><p>[2] Chapter 7 of this book <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.philippebourbeau.net&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2017&#x2F;03&#x2F;Bourbeau_Chapter-1_Security-Dialogue-Disciplines.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.philippebourbeau.net&#x2F;wp-content&#x2F;uploads&#x2F;2017&#x2F;03&#x2F;B...</a>

The other side of this is conspiracies which are now known to have been real, but few believe in.<p>- Gulf of Tonkin incident - Incident justifying Vietnam war did not happen.[1]<p>- The &quot;Business Coup&quot; plan to get rid of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.[2]<p>- The Lewis Powell memo, the plan that created the business-funded conservative movement.[3]<p>- The British propaganda campaign to get the US into WWII.[4]<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Business_Plot" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Business_Plot</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu&#x2F;powellmemo&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu&#x2F;powellmemo&#x2F;</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.history.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;wwii-us-entry-secret-british-campaign-mi6" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.history.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;wwii-us-entry-secret-british-ca...</a>

&quot;Conspiracy belief&quot; is a nonsense term.<p>&quot;Conspiracy theory&quot; is simply a pejorative label.<p>To ask, &#x27;are there conspiracies?&#x27; is akin to asking &#x27;do people lie or cheat for personal benefit?&#x27; The answer is &#x27;yes, of course!&#x27;<p>The real question, is &#x27;what is the truth?&#x27; And therein lies the problem with this research. Just because something is <i>said</i> to true or a lie (aka &#x27;conspiracy theory&#x27;), how can one know it to be so? Can media or Wikipedia or anyone be assured to have the truth? Is there a bastion of truth? If 99.999% of people believe something, does that make it true?<p>The answer is that there is source for truth, and that no one can determine the truth for anyone else. One can only personally verify something to be true. Truth cannot be outsourced to the BBC, NYT, psychologist organisations, science studies, etc. Whether others believe things to be true has nothing to do with the underlying reality - many people can be wrong.<p>So, this sort of analysis comes with all sorts of illogical nonsense baked in. It assumes that certain institutions and people are truthful, that conspiracies do not occur, that people cannot act on personally verified knowledge rather beliefs, that truth is a numbers game - where what most people believe is also true.

I used to hear conspiracy stories all day long.<p>Working with mental health clients for 20 years.<p>If we all continue to not accept that conspiracy theories are valid we also choose to not accept that those people are valid.<p>Why is it that over the past few years those with different opinions are now called conspiracy theorists.<p>It is a very rare experience that I sit down with someone, in fact anyone, and we agree on all subject matter on the table. Just because someone has different views does not make them a conspiracy theorist.<p>There is always grain of truth in conspiracy theories.<p>In psychiatric wards over the world there are people who struggle with intrusive paranoid thoughts. Do we dismiss what they think, see and imagine as not being real? It is real to them.<p>To really understand these poeple you need to step inside their world and you will see that their is a grain of truth in what paranoid people are talking about.<p>If people feel helpless, that they are not being heard or they have no control over their lives, is it so hard to believe that they will cling on to something&#x2F;anything that represents how they feel.<p>The lizard people on the moon who control our way of life on earth is a classic example. There are of course no lizard people living on the moon but I am sure many people feel that there are hidden forces controlling their lives that they have no influence upon.<p>I think it has a lot to do with the lack of transparency in the world of politics, government and tech. Without knowing the truth the mind will inevitably wander and make up stories.<p>Isnt this what conspiracy theories are. Stories built on snippets of truth.

Are all of these conspiracies?<p>* SARS-CoV-2 being a bioweapon<p>IIUC isn&#x27;t the lab leak hypothesis still one valid possibility?<p>* condensation from planes supposedly being harmful ‘chemtrails’<p>Couldn&#x27;t this be confused with (a) planes pollute and (b) contrails are bad for the environment too? Note: I was unaware of &#x27;chemtrails&#x27; and assumed it was referring &#x27;contrails&#x27;<p>In any case, I don&#x27;t think I believe in any &quot;conspiracies&quot; of the top of my head but I do believe in graft and I often see things and wonder why.<p>One example would be going to lunch at a FAANG company and seeing vending machines for cables. The vending machines are about the size of 6 large refrigerators next to each other. They have a large touch screen display. I&#x27;m guessing they cost $30k each or more, not including cost to develop them, network them, ongoing maintenance, etc. So, my conspiracy hat says &quot;someone who stood to gain the contract to make them pushed to get them put in or knew someone and offered a kickback because the seem like they cost more than 50 years of the stuff they&#x27;re dispensing. (happy to be proven wrong)<p>Another example is kitchen gloves that all food preparers wear now. I see them touch all kinds of things and get the gloves dirtier than my hands would ever be because with my hands I know when they&#x27;re dirty by how they feel, more than I do than with gloves on. So, is it possible it&#x27;s a conspiracy by glove manufactures? Of course my hands are not everyone else&#x27;s hands.<p>There&#x27;s the real &quot;conspiracy&quot; on how car companies pushed for freeways and roads. Is that a &quot;conspiracy&quot;? Most people push for laws that help them personally.

If anyone wants the list of &quot;conspiracy theories&quot; - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nature.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;s41598-024-51653-z&#x2F;tables&#x2F;2" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nature.com&#x2F;articles&#x2F;s41598-024-51653-z&#x2F;tables&#x2F;2</a>

I used to lean towards the belief that Epstein was murdered, but as I read the reports and evidence describing the circumstances of his incarceration, I came to realize that it really was just a suicide, enabled by incompetence.

“It also implies that explanations of belief in conspiracy theories need to accommodate the observation that beliefs in such theories vary much more between people than within people.”<p>To me it implies that what they are operational using as “conspiracy theory” is nothing more than individual differences in personality. Those who want to study&#x2F;address&#x2F;remove “conspiracy theories” really just have a problem with individual differences and want to control others.

I think what destroys conspiracy theories, is teaching them the tools to attack &quot;propaganda&quot; of the oppossing side- and watch them retract it. If your mental tools work and are sharp, they do not stop, just because you turn towards your own side. You can not subconciously run with scissors.

Maybe educate people about conspiracy theories in school. Too late for current believers, but maybe it&#x27;ll get rid of the problem in a couple decades.

Most conspiracy theories come from the internet. Internet is a place full of crooks.<p>Every power tried to meddle. Russia, Germany, America. Each power has their own cyber army that tries to control media, or influence it.<p>Conspiracy theories. You do not even know if it is just another disinformation campaign from your government. Maybe it is just another disinformation campaign to add new layers of control disguised as user protection.<p>Why not make better tools for moderation? Naaah they will always decide to create more oversight boards.

I used to believe conspiracy theories, now I am far beyond that.<p>Everyone who wants, should get their booster shot every six months. They should also get RNA vaccine for flu, common cold, herpes and every other illness they desire. I would encourage them to do so! It is their life, and my life will go on.<p>And arguing about virus origin? Who does that today? It is like arguing about Santa Claus! (it&#x27;s village must be on the North magnetic pole in Greenland, so it does not sink into ocean...)

Most conspiracy theories have an element of truth to them