Are conspiracy theorists free thinkers who seek the truth?
« on: August 18, 2020, 06:12:47 PM »
Are conspiracy theorists free thinkers who seek the truth? 

Is labeling someone a “conspiracy theorist” a strategy for exclusion to avoid legitimate debate and facts?

I am doing ethnographic research for a college study that seeks to answer the question “What causes someone to be a conspiracy theorists?” 

There are many sources that indicate that conspiracy theorists are intelligent, independent minded individuals who possess strong critical thinking skills who are searching for truth, and then there are many more sources that claim conspiracy theorists to be irrational, paranoid, and socially disconnected people who are unhappy with their lives and have lower analytical skills.

I would appreciate thoughts from both RE’s and FE’s on this.  Keep in mind that these studies were all performed by impartial social scientists and psychologists that are not conspiracy theorists.

Re: Are conspiracy theorists free thinkers who seek the truth?
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2020, 04:48:26 AM »
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Are conspiracy theorists free thinkers who seek the truth?

They can be.  What's a conspiracy theorist?  There is no rigorous or universal definition, and even if there were - it certainly shouldn't include beliefs about being "free thinkers" or "seeking truth".  In my usage, a conspiracy theorist is anyone who theorizes conspiracies.  Any criteria beyond that is nonsense/liable/slander/prejudice/opinion.  As conspiracies are everywhere (look up the word conspiracy) constantly throughout all time, it would seem reasonable to seek them out. The police partially exist to serve this function - all detectives are conspiracy theorists.  Does the name epstein ring any bells?

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Is labeling someone a “conspiracy theorist” a strategy for exclusion to avoid legitimate debate and facts?

Yes, it was a tactic championed by the CIA from their inception.  It was not the first reference to the terminology, nor its first use for discrediting/slander, however it was the first wide scale procedural use of it with frequency.  Of course, it isn't always used with that conscious intent by individuals that bandy it about.

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I am doing ethnographic research for a college study that seeks to answer the question “What causes someone to be a conspiracy theorists?”

Easy, it'll be a short paper.  They seek to find the conspiracies that are obviously present and seeking to remain hidden.

I suspect you really mean something closer to : what causes someone to become a trope of a conspiracy theorist.  And if that is the case, you should already be well aware of the profound stigma most often associated with the term and its continuing efficacy for discrediting/slandering and suppressing.

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Keep in mind that these studies were all performed by impartial social scientists and psychologists that are not conspiracy theorists.

No human beings are impartial or unbiased despite best efforts, and all scientists are human beings.  Also, you almost certainly have conspiracy theorists in your midst.  Again, by my usage/definition, you are a conspiracy theorist if you know about the price fixing in the american internet (cable) industry.  You are a conspiracy theorist if you know that trump did not get into office without the russian's help.  You are a conspiracy theorist if you think that covid could have been made in a bioweapons lab.  You are a conspiracy theorist by default if you think most anything that deviates from "societally acceptable"/"mainstream" views that media mandates.

Welcome to reality. If you are paying attention, you are already a "conspiracy theorist".  Sadly many people live their whole lives without paying adequate attention.

Good luck! Let me know if you need any clarification or would like to disagree with my assertion that not only do you have conspiracy theorists on your team, you are likely one yourself if you have been studying and paying attention.