View Full Version : tPF Interesting article on Conspiracy Theory
Interesting. I don't see a DATE on this article. Have THEY messed with my monitor? Why would an article on the Internet not have a date? Hmmmm..... :smiley:
I investigated a conspiracy theory and weird things started happening to meIndia Rakusen
Have you ever woken up in the dark in an unfamiliar place and felt like something was wrong? That tinny adrenaline taste in your mouth, the taste of fear coursing through your body. In Warsaw, back in October, I experienced this every night.
I’d wake up in my hotel room to see someone standing at the end of my bed. I could hear breathing, make out the shape of a shoulder in the half-light, hear the shuffle of a foot on the rough hotel carpet. Then I’d switch on the light. Nobody there. Every time.
While nothing had snuck into my room, something had definitely got into my head.
Warsaw is a pretty cool city, mixing classic Soviet architecture with a plentiful supply of cheap pickles and vodka. But that’s not why I was there. Last July, a British conspiracy theorist called Max Spiers died under mysterious circumstances in the Polish capital.
The Post-Mortem was inconclusive and his mother is desperate for answers, so my colleagues and I decided to investigate.
more at... http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/fc35d3f3-76ae-4b73-8b62-893325e88f0c
Whoops. Somehow I didn't get this put into the Conspiracy room where it belongs. My apologies, and Mods, please move it there. Thx.
Subdermal
03-12-2017, 07:44 PM
:facepalm:
:facepalm:
What are you upset about now?
jimmyz
03-12-2017, 08:23 PM
Sounds like what I experienced when I stopped drinking once.
resister
03-12-2017, 08:26 PM
Sounds like what I experienced when I stopped drinking once.That is why I raise my pint now!
Sounds like what I experienced when I stopped drinking once.
Indeed.
Further into the article (I suspect that some people here DNRTFA) he gets into some more sober points about cognition, and so forth.
Personally, I've always tended to believe that conspiracies are likely because I think they are a common mode of natural human action. As opposed to the pop fiction vision of a bunch of hooded characters gathered in a darkened room to Plot The end Of Civilization, a conspiracy is much more likely to be a coinciding of mundane interests with unspoken (possibly even unrealized by each party) agreement on actions. I saw this for decades in businesses. And, yes, it also happens in academia and government. Human nature.
Crepitus
03-12-2017, 08:48 PM
What are you upset about now?
That's his default condition.
resister
03-12-2017, 08:50 PM
That's his default condition.
Must pay the toll to cross bridge ^
jimmyz
03-12-2017, 08:54 PM
Indeed.
Further into the article (I suspect that some people here DNRTFA) he gets into some more sober points about cognition, and so forth.
Personally, I've always tended to believe that conspiracies are likely because I think they are a common mode of natural human action. As opposed to the pop fiction vision of a bunch of hooded characters gathered in a darkened room to Plot The end Of Civilization, a conspiracy is much more likely to be a coinciding of mundane interests with unspoken (possibly even unrealized by each party) agreement on actions. I saw this for decades in businesses. And, yes, it also happens in academia and government. Human nature.
Really. I have experienced things auditory and visually that have no reason to have happened other than in natural human condition. I would think that these natural hallucinations are the root of supernatural myth.
Crepitus
03-12-2017, 09:03 PM
Must pay the toll to cross bridge ^
Are you having autocorrect problems too ?
resister
03-12-2017, 10:20 PM
Are you having autocorrect problems too ?No, you are the toll troll.
Really. I have experienced things auditory and visually that have no reason to have happened other than in natural human condition. I would think that these natural hallucinations are the root of supernatural myth.
If some scientific theories are correct, there are multiple Earths (indeed, multiple UNIVERSES) where the only difference might be the position of a single electron in some atom. These worlds are a quantum length away in dimensions we cannot sense. Through evolution, our senses, including vision and hearing, have been optimized for THIS world-line, where danger can threaten. But perhaps, occasionally, the genes allow for a slightly wider vision....?
Must pay the toll to cross bridge ^
Are you having autocorrect problems too ?
No, you are the toll troll.
Warning: off-topic posts by resistor. Please stick to the topic in this tPF thread.
resister
03-12-2017, 10:34 PM
Warning: off-topic posts by resistor. Please stick to the topic in this tPF thread.
Crepitus started it and I responded, just ignore his role and TB me and confirm your bias. Gotta love these threads, ban who you want and ignore the other guilty partys!!!
Dr. Who
03-12-2017, 10:46 PM
Crepitus started it and I responded, just ignore his role and TB me and confirm your bias. Gotta love these threads, ban who you want and ignore the other guilty partys!!!
The point of the forum is to discuss the topics at hand. It may feel good to defend others, but you should be careful that in doing so that you don't create a distraction to the thread.
resister
03-12-2017, 10:48 PM
The point of the forum is to discuss the topics at hand. It may feel good to defend others, but you should be careful that in doing so that you don't create a distraction to the thread.You know, Dr Who, I did my best to do that, but people get fed up after a while.
resister
03-12-2017, 10:52 PM
You know, Dr Who, I did my best to do that, but people get fed up after a while.
Kinda like, me and crepitus's post were off topic(and we were both quoted) but only I was warned and mentioned.
Am I blind in a special way here?
Dr. Who
03-12-2017, 11:20 PM
Kinda like, me and crepitus's post were off topic(and we were both quoted) but only I was warned and mentioned.
Am I blind in a special way here?
I am no longer a mod, so my words are just advisory. There was no large pink flag to accompany them. I chose to address you because you initiated the off-topic dialogue and for no other reason. The forum is not improved by invectives, character assassinations or the trading of insults. If you don't agree with an opinion, speak to that which you disagree, rather than making personal comments, because invariably such comments will result in reciprocity and drag the conversation into a slanging match which is a distraction to the thread.
resister
03-12-2017, 11:24 PM
I am no longer a mod, so my words are just advisory. There was no large pink flag to accompany them. I chose to address you because you initiated the off-topic dialogue and for no other reason. The forum is not improved by invectives, character assassinations or the trading of insults. If you don't agree with an opinion, speak to that which you disagree, rather than making personal comments, because invariably such comments will result in reciprocity and drag the conversation into a slanging match which is a distraction to the thread.
Evidently, you missed where I responded, not started.
Hal Jordan
03-12-2017, 11:27 PM
Sounds like what I experienced when I stopped drinking once.
Stopped drinking? Why?
Hal Jordan
03-12-2017, 11:41 PM
It doesn't matter who started it. To everyone, discuss the topic, not other members. Also, per rule 9, refrain from discussing moderation action. If you have an issue, or questions, PM us or report with questions.
Dr. Who
03-12-2017, 11:41 PM
Evidently, you missed where I responded, not started.
http://thepoliticalforums.com/threads/80183-Interesting-article-on-Conspiracy-Theory?p=1957623&viewfull=1#post1957623
resister
03-12-2017, 11:51 PM
http://thepoliticalforums.com/threads/80183-Interesting-article-on-Conspiracy-Theory?p=1957623&viewfull=1#post1957623
That's his default condition. (hint, not said by me)
Dr. Who
03-12-2017, 11:55 PM
That's his default condition. (hint, not said by me)
It was not referring to you.
Warning: off-topic posts by resistor. Please stick to the topic in this tPF thread.
Crepitus started it and I responded, just ignore his role and TB me and confirm your bias. Gotta love these threads, ban who you want and ignore the other guilty partys!!!
Mmmm.... I don't think so. Here is the progression of the comments, with my interpretations interspersed:
:facepalm:
Not a terribly helpful post - but having been a patient parent once - I await either (a) further reason to TB him or (b) something actually substantive and contributory.
What are you upset about now?
This is my impression of him, his default condition.
That's his default condition.
Yes, it is snarky and technically OT, but it is (a) in response to my question, and (b) technically correct (in my opinion) information.
So if it is his comment here that prompts you to say "BUT MA, HE STARTED IT!" I would have to say that you are wrong.
Must pay the toll to cross bridge ^
This is your set-up for the "money phrase" (payload) to follow Crepitus' inevitable response.
Are you having autocorrect problems too ?
Actually pretty clever. He avoids calling you an idiot (for which - yes - I would TB him) by blaming the damned machine. So, technically, not a personal insult, and only a very minor garden variety of TJ, so I pass on this.
No, you are the toll troll.
The payload. Also name calling.
**
So you used the classic Troll tactic of envelope/payload. And Crepitus neatly avoided your trap. That is why the warning was just for you.
General response to everyone - my modified Rule 9: Unlike the Mods, I will allow ONE public questioning of my tPF warning. I do so because that allows me to publicly explain my reasoning for issuing the tPF warning. The above post is a good example. However, any subsequent attempts to threadjack by posting about the warning or my response to the complaint will result in TB. So if you want continue complaining about my tPF warning, please do so by private mail. Don't be a barbarian, and we can have a nice discussion.
The point of the forum is to discuss the topics at hand. It may feel good to defend others, but you should be careful that in doing so that you don't create a distraction to the thread.
Bears repeating.
So, does anyone have any thoughts about the points presented at the end of the article?
According to the psychologist Rob Brotherton, conspiracies appeal to us for three main reasons.
The first is that, if “something big happens we assume there must be a big explanation for it”. For example, the idea that JFK could have been shot by a lone gunman doesn’t ring true for a lot of people. (This is called'“proportionality bias'.)
We’re also prone to 'intentionality bias'. This is where our brains assume that things can’t be coincidental.
And then there’s 'confirmation bias' - once we have a hunch about something we start noticing things that confirm it. “We all do this,” Rob says. “There’s lots of information out there so it’s easy to find stuff to back you up, and equally ignore things that contradict you.”
The longer I spent around conspiracy theorists, the more I started to feel distrustful and on edge.
Wiktor Solar, a researcher at Warsaw University who spends his days looking into conspiracies, told me, “Belief in conspiracy theories can lead to feelings of powerlessness. It’s not that conspiracies are making people feel more frightened, but we do know that frightened people are more prone to believing in conspiracies.”
I've stared down the void and, believe me, I can see how easy it would be to fall.
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