People who believe unlikely things believe so MANY unlikely things.

Jump to Last Post 1-13 of 13 discussions (29 posts)
  1. profile image0
    Chasukposted 11 years ago

    They often mix UFOs, the New World Order, the claims of David Icke and Zecharia Sitchin, anti-Freemasonry, and virtually anything promoted by Alex Jones, all at the same time. Why?

    1. twosheds1 profile image61
      twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have a friend that is like this. A couple friends, actually. If you're receptive to one unreasonable belief, you're receptive to all sorts. Pattern recognition is hard-wired into us by evolution. Look at it this way: you're walking through the tall grass and can't see very far in front of you. You hear a rustle in grass behind you. Could it be a tiger? Probably not, but the consequences of assuming it's not could be catastrophic. You lose nothing by assuming it is a tiger and running away. Better safe than sorry.

      Luckily, we don't have to worry too much about predators in the grass anymore. The predators in the grass have been taken over - at least in some people - by conspiracies. This looks weird, or doesn't conform fully to my expectations, therefore there MUST be more to it. There were some anomalies to the crashed on 9/11, therefore it MUST have been a huge conspiracy by the Bush administration... etc.

      So I think this is natural to some degree, but people who take it to extremes (i.e., anyone who believes a word out of David Icke's mouth) might actually have schizoid personality disorder.

    2. mischeviousme profile image60
      mischeviousmeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I absolutely agree. If you can sell a sucker one insane idea, you can feed them more of the same garbage and they can't tell the difference. It's all a distortion of reality and the observations thereof.

  2. Alastar Packer profile image71
    Alastar Packerposted 11 years ago

    There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: Not going all the way, and not starting- the Buddha.

  3. cryptid profile image95
    cryptidposted 11 years ago

    I always think it's better to believe in all the possibilities of the universe rather than set limitations.  That doesn't mean going all kooky over every strange theory out there, but it does mean keeping an open mind.  Wouldn't it be shame to miss something awesome because our own set of limited beliefs blinded us?

  4. innersmiff profile image67
    innersmiffposted 11 years ago

    Once the veil has been lifted on one aspect of your life, you can not look at anything in the same way ever again. An experience like that literally rewires your brain to be both sceptical and open-minded about everything, so, for example, rarely will you ever find a 9/11 truther that does not believe in the sins of freemasonry or the New World Order. In actuality, the only way  a false flag that big could be sustainable would be for something as all encompassing as global control. And in order to believe that you have to believe that those in charge are governed by more than simply greed - why give so much stake to something you won't even be alive to see? This is where theories surrounding religion and the occult occur: the elite work for something they perceive to be higher than themselves.

    I happen to be a 9/11 truther (I don't understand why anybody wouldn't want to be, except if you had a vested interest in keeping the truth at bay), but don't touch on it a whole lot because in order to accept the possibility of that, you have to accept the possibility of every single thing you've been brought up to believe being false. That is too much for most people, so respond to the very idea with violence. The same goes for many things I am wary about, including freemasonry, UFOs, reptilians and the more esoteric aspects of the global agenda. I tend to stick to things that are totally provable and testable to history, and general principles if taken up would preemptively stop any suggestion of a global dictatorship or any other tyranny. The idea is liberty, which Americans understand more than others, but take for granted. And even still, you wouldn't believe the amount of vitriol I get when I even suggest NOT using violence. The very basic tenants of our existence on this planet are difficult enough to talk to people about without delving into the illuminati.

    I'm glad we can have this discussion, I just hope people don't go around calling others crazy simply for touching upon topics that most won't.

    1. profile image0
      Chris Hughposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That was a really interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing it.

      I'm wondering, what are your thoughts on Waco and Ruby Ridge?

      1. innersmiff profile image67
        innersmiffposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Anytime!

        I don't know much about that so I couldn't really comment on it. There have been many similar false-flag events used to demonise things like the militia movement and the 2nd amendment so I wouldn't be surprised if this was another one. An armed population is a threat to all tyrants.

    2. twosheds1 profile image61
      twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      "freemasonry, UFOs, reptilians and the more esoteric aspects of the global agenda" Possible does not equal likely. It is possible that George Bush and other world leaders are reptilians in disguise, but how likely is it? About as likely as John & George getting back with Paul & Ringo for a reunion tour.

      Also, anomalies in a tested theory do not mean that the opposite is true.The fact that there were some anomalies in what happened on 9/11 doesn't mean that there was a vast conspiracy (beyond the 19 hijackers, that is). Gaps in the evolutionary fossil record does not mean that Biblical creation is literally true.

      1. innersmiff profile image67
        innersmiffposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Agreed on principle - this is why I don't labour on reptilians and the like as there is no way to test it other than to blindly believe eye-witness accounts. That's not really enough for your average Joe - most don't even accept glaring scientific evidence.

        9/11 scientifically could not have happened as the official story tells it, yet the very idea is 'preposterous'. If we applied the same skepticism to all theories about a particular event, we might be getting somewhere, but people go on the official story simply because of the fact that it is official. It is an emotional decision rather than a rational one.

        But really, the point is not to propose another theory about how 9/11 was carried out, but to demand the truth. Anybody interested should check out Architects and Engineers for 9/11 truth and their thorough scientific debunking of the official story.

        1. twosheds1 profile image61
          twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I don't really want to turn this into a discussion about 9/11, but again, anomalies do mean that the opposite is true. Despite a few engineers insisting that things couldn't have happened the way they did, there are mountains of evidence that indicate that things happened the way they were reported, including the corroborating testimony of thousands of witnesses.

          For any conspiracy to succeed, it has to have people colluding. For the 9/11/ conspiracy to succeed, there would have to be thousands of people colluding, and all repeating the same story, and not a single one of them admitting that they were part of a conspiracy. You have to ask yourself, is it more likely that things are as they seem to be, or that many thousands of people are all conspiring together on exactly the same story in order to further an agenda that we can't even put our finger on.

          Not one single firefighter or ironworker or anyone else has admitted that they were part of a conspiracy, or that they were told by higher ups to keep quiet, or anything of the sort. Why is that? If there were only a few people involved, it's possible that they were told to keep quiet under threats, but thousands? Of all the people who witnessed it and helped in the cleanup, where are the people who found a piece of a missile at the Pentagon, or demo charges at the WTC? And what purpose would a conspiracy serve?

          Here are some links you might want to check out:

          9/11 in general:
          http://snopes.com/rumors/rumors.asp

          Specifically about the Pentagon:
          http://snopes.com/rumors/pentagon.asp

          1. innersmiff profile image67
            innersmiffposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I'm arguing that since there ARE anomalies, there needs to be a more comprehensive independent investigation. Your argument seems to be that since most people agree that the official story is true (an opinion, most of the original 9/11 commissioners and the families of the 9/11 victims don't share, by the way) that it's not even worth following up. You're not holding the official story to the same standard.

            For example, why do you believe in such an unlikely scenario: that 19  hijackers with rudimentary flying skills, with instruction from an Arab in a cave, managed to infiltrate a country with the best security measures in the world and fly 3 out of 4 747s into prominent buildings with pinpoint accuracy? In order to believe in the official story you have to believe so many unlikely things.

            'What purpose would they have?' and 'Why has nobody come forward?' have NO relevance when it comes to the scientific method.

            http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree … bigcoverup

            You don't have to believe the opposite is true, but you can not deny that is still an open case!

            1. profile image0
              Chasukposted 11 years agoin reply to this

              Our hijackers attended flight school, and flying a huge object into an even larger object doesn't take that much skill.

              1. innersmiff profile image67
                innersmiffposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                The flight instructors rated the 'terrorists'' skills flying a little Cesena as mediocre at best. I don't pretend to know how to fly a plane, but it is highly implausible that these individuals were suddenly blessed by Allah with the skills to navigate an aircraft 5 times the size of what they were trained with, at an incredible speed to their targets. In particular, the official manoeuvre of the aircraft that hit the Pentagon is difficult even for experienced pilots (check out Pilotsfor9/11truth for details).

                1. twosheds1 profile image61
                  twosheds1posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Funny you should mention that, because the BBC is doing a series where they take some "true believers" and debunk their conspiracy theories. (It's more complicated than that, I just wanted to keep it short) The first episode features 9/11 Truthers, and one of them insisted that guys with only a few flying lessons couldn't have flown the planes into the WTC. A flight instructor proves them wrong, and takes one of them up into a plane and gets her to land it with only a half hour of flight time. The video is here:
                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVnQPGE3 … r_embedded
                  The show is called "9/11 Conspiracy Road Trip." It's about an hour long, but is well worth a watch.

                  1. innersmiff profile image67
                    innersmiffposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                    I saw it when it was released. As per usual from the BBC, it was a complete white wash, missing everything but the most irrelevant of details. Its debunking of the controlled demolition theory mainly consisted of a tower of lego - hardly scientific rigour.

                    Also, considering how easy it was for that girl to fly and land the plane, the fact that the supposed hijackers could not even do that with any competency should ring alarm bells. 'Proved them wrong' - I don't see anything like that at all.

                    The documentary, rather than approaching the subject objectively, simply set out to make a fool out of these young people, often without the science and facts at hand to counter those trying to debunk them. The host responded to them with patronisation and acted like he was insulted by the very suggestion. It missed out several key subjects, including WTC 7. It's yet another 9/11 documentary that, in the end, simply comforts believers of the official story and angers truthers because it adds essentially nothing to the debate.

                2. profile image0
                  Chasukposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I spent ten years in the USAF. I've experienced ultra-realistic, ultra-expensive flight simulators. I'm can tell you that a simulated runway is far smaller than twin 110-story buildings.

  5. profile image0
    paxwillposted 11 years ago

    Often a belief in one unlikely thing logically requires you to believe in other unlikely things in order to bolster that first belief.  Then it kind of snowballs. You can find many people who subscribe to a host of fringe theories who are yet surprisingly logical in their own fashion.

  6. knolyourself profile image61
    knolyourselfposted 11 years ago

    Unlikely things are more fun.

  7. cheaptrick profile image75
    cheaptrickposted 11 years ago

    The critical thing about any conspiracy theory is to search for the grain of truth[if you can trace one to verify it]that it was built around.Keep the confirmed grains and collect them.When you look at how these multi colored grains of truth come together you will see the big,real,behind the scenes,etc picture.

  8. Mighty Mom profile image78
    Mighty Momposted 11 years ago

    OMG, Chasuk.
    Thank you for bringing this up.

    You're so right. There's a vocal cadre of conspiracy theorists out there who lump what seem (to me) to be unrelated, often (in my opinion) conflicting ideas together and present the conglomeration as incontorvertible fact.
    Backed up by the most wacky internet sites you'll ever see.


    I am urged on a regular basis to question and reject EVERYTHING.
    Sorry.
    I am not going to question everything, because much of what I believe is based on personal experience which cannot be proven false because I LIVED IT.
    I am not going to question everything because if I'm right and they're wrong, life will go on. If they do happen to be right (Mayans and Quetzlcoatls and Russians doing drills in CO and UT, and FEMA camps, oh my!) then I'll be happier dead anyway.

    For the record, I am a 9/11 truther also. So I guess it is possible to believe one "unlikely" thing and not drink the whole gallon of New World Order  koolaid.

    BTW -- serious question. How in the heck did Alex Jones get anyone -- even one person -- to believe him? Scary! roll

  9. girlgonestrong profile image60
    girlgonestrongposted 11 years ago

    I think that you hit the nail on the head....they listen to Alex Jones.  On the other hand, anyone who DOESN'T think that the world is headed toward a one-world-government, and thinks that this is NOT being guided by power brokers who act behind the scenes simply have their head in the sand.

    1. Druid Dude profile image60
      Druid Dudeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe truth exists comfortably next to untruth. Even people who claim to 'believe nothing' can have an "outlandish" perception. Many atheists don't believe in science either. One might suspect that they also don't believe in themselves.smile

  10. knolyourself profile image61
    knolyourselfposted 11 years ago

    It is already one world government and has been for
    fifty years.

    1. Druid Dude profile image60
      Druid Dudeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Forget the Cold War? Terrorists are with us. Not One World Order yet. They are in a race against time...and time is getting short. The evidence is all around us.

  11. knolyourself profile image61
    knolyourselfposted 11 years ago

    When I was growing up it was a communist under every bed.

  12. rdcast profile image61
    rdcastposted 11 years ago

    "People who believe unlikely things believe so MANY unlikely things."
    This is indeed a prominent Biblical principle.

  13. jennzie profile image71
    jennzieposted 11 years ago

    Just because something is unlikely doesn't mean it is impossible.

    Just saying.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)