/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.4631614]

>read any article debunking popular conspiracy theories
>author provides commonly heard discussion tactics from tinfoil hatters and explain why they are bullshit
>whackjobs flood the comments section and spew the exact same retarded intellectual trash and bullshit the author warned about even though they were just proven wrong in the very article they are supposed to discuss

why are these whackjobs so damn persistent in their self delusion?
you just can't talk to them without being called a "sheeple" or a government loving zombie, even though you're the most rational person in the room.

[Anonymous No.4631622]

Conspiracy theories are like a religion for 21st century people coupled with the need to feel important. Just accept the truth that most people are retarded.

[Anonymous No.4631629]

>>4631622
except most religious people don't put their own children in harm's way because they think vaccine causes autism.

[Anonymous No.4631666]

>>4631629
But they will chop off the tip of their child's penis just for shits and giggles.
They'll also pray instead of getting proper treatment for illness and other kinds of nonsense

[Axel the Possum No.4631669]

>>4631629

Sadly, a lot of them do. Certain religions don't allow the use of even the most basic forms of medicine because whether someone lives or dies is the will of whatever deity or deities they worship.

>>4631614

There are a wide variety of reasons. For some people, a conspiracy theory grants a sense of control; the world might be scary and painful but at least SOMEONE is in control of it, right? It's not all random misery and suffering, with people blindly flopping around in the dark; someone, someTHING, at least keeps it rolling according to some grand plan.

As has been noted, it has the same appeal as religion in that regard.

For others, it's not quite so clear. Sometimes, they really are convinced by the evidence (often incredibly shaky at best) but enter this sort of closed loop where no piece of evidence would be convincing on its own but, together, they sound somewhat sound to them. You can spend all the time in the world convincing them that a piece of evidence isn't solid, but then they talk about other evidence. Unless you have some crushing way to show that they are all wrong simultaneously, the person mentally reinforces the idea you've smashed already. After all, all the other evidence supports it...

This isn't exactly comprehensive but those are two very common examples.

[Anonymous No.4631684]

Some counspiracies have some true in them. For example the AGW hoax is perpetrated by the goverment in order to imposed control over the population. Scientist then if they wish to make money have to accept this or else having their tuition cut off.

[Anonymous No.4631695]

>>4631684
Indeed I remember a case when a renounced physicist called upon a closer inspection of this hoax was forcibly removed from the university he worked.

[Anonymous No.4631697]

>>4631684
oh shit, we have a live one here!

[Anonymous No.4631701]

>>4631697
Are you saying there isn't a liberal agenda of controlling the population through regulations and criminalization of things in the guise of safety and security?