Decoding Our Obsession with Conspiracy Theories

[NPT]

That's the title of an article by a man who has investigated many conspiracy theories and found most are false and a handful are real. The conspiracy theorists here should read it - though, of course, they believe what they believe is real so they're not a conspiracy theorist. So maybe everyone should read it and get some idea how conspiracy theories are formed and spread and maybe, just maybe, recognize that some of what they believe may not actually be true:

"Trust No One"

Decoding Our Obsession with Conspiracy Theories

www.justthefacts.media

Interesting. I am a skeptic by nature when it comes to a lot of things. The government lies/distorts a lot of things then we have a press where everyone seems to have an agenda. They may or may not lie to us but don't tell us the whole truth which, in my opinion, is the same as a lie. Even with that there is still a lot of conspiracies that I just don't believe without even researching them because they don't make sense to me.

 

[NPT]

There isn’t a chick on the planet I would hook up with if Don jr was in her history

So you would rather have Hunter in her history huh? 🤣

 

[Baller23Boogie]

Anyone want to try and explain this?

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Aliens

 

[HurryingHoosiers]

Interesting. I am a skeptic by nature when it comes to a lot of things. The government lies/distorts a lot of things then we have a press where everyone seems to have an agenda. They may or may not lie to us but don't tell us the whole truth which, in my opinion, is the same as a lie. Even with that there is still a lot of conspiracies that I just don't believe without even researching them because they don't make sense to me.

I agree government and media should be better about telling the truth without spinning or purposely omitting key details

However it is a bit of stretch saying that everything equals everything. Being truthful but purposely leaving out key details is bad... Flat out lying is worse....which is why Fox News has had to pay out multiple settlements when called out on their lies.

 

[mcmurtry66]

I agree government and media should be better about telling the truth without spinning or purposely omitting key details

However it is a bit of stretch saying that everything equals everything. Being truthful but purposely leaving out key details is bad... Flat out lying is worse....which is why Fox News has had to pay out multiple settlements when called out on their lies.

Correct. Why nothing compares to the president Dems and media lies and cover up. Most of us knew they were lying. We told morons like you. Old mushy peas was a proxy doing what he was told by radical lefty loons. That wasn’t Biden’s history. He was a centrist. This was a weekend at Bernie’s presidency

joe biden mental health news: Biden’s apparent mental decline hidden by White House from the start? Bombshell report reveals cover-up tactics - The Economic Times

A bombshell report has revealed that White House aides hid President Joe Biden's apparent mental decline from day 1 of the presidency. Aides kept meetings short and controlled access, top advisers acted as go-betweens and public interactions became more scripted. Private discussions with the...

m.economictimes.com

 

[dbmhoosier]

Aliens

 

[BradStevens]

Anyone want to try and explain this?

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Aliens. Duh.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

Being truthful but purposely leaving out key details is bad... Flat out lying is worse....

Hmm. Maybe. I guess, for me, it would depend on the specifics in any instance. It seems entirely possible that a lie by omission can be just as egregious as a fabrication.

If I was out to dinner with my mother and I run into friends, introduce them to her, and then the friend tells my wife that she saw me at dinner with another woman....I'd say that's just as bad as if she had made the entire thing up.

 

[HurryingHoosiers]

Hmm. Maybe. I guess, for me, it would depend on the specifics in any instance. It seems entirely possible that a lie by omission can be just as egregious as a fabrication.

If I was out to dinner with my mother and I run into friends, introduce them to her, and then the friend tells my wife that she saw me at dinner with another woman....I'd say that's just as bad as if she had made the entire thing up.

Sure, there might be instances where the omission makes it pretty bad or close but flat out lying without any truth is still a step above.

so that's as bad as if you were eating alone and she said you were at dinner with another woman?

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Anyone want to try and explain this?

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The source is The Reese Report on InfoWars, so my guess is that this is made up nonsense. Also, since nearly every Twitter Twit Tweet you link is bogus the odds are that this is too.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

so that's as bad as if you were eating alone and she said you were at dinner with another woman?

Yes, I think so. I don't think the mechanism of a lie matters as much as the maliciousness of the intent behind it. And the friend's intent with either lie is equally deceptive and malicious: her intent is to suggest to my wife that I'm secretly seeing some other woman. To that end, why does it matter if I was dining alone or with my mother?

Why would you say that it would be worse if I was actually alone?

 

[HurryingHoosiers]

Yes, I think so. I don't think the mechanism of a lie matters as much as the maliciousness of the intent behind it. And the friend's intent with either lie is equally deceptive and malicious: her intent is to suggest to my wife that I'm secretly seeing some other woman. To that end, why does it matter if I was dining alone or with my mother?

Why would you say that it would be worse if I was actually alone?

Because in that scenario, there being a woman at all is completely fabricated.

Not having to subject yourself to any sort of truth leaves room for stuff like pedo basements at DC pizza places. Much more freedom to just make shit up when it doesn't matter if it is true or not.

If someone is telling the truth while leaving stuff out, then technically you don't know the intent behind the omission. Said person may have only seen your mother from behind and didn't realize who it was (in your scenario). So no, not the same.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

The source is The Reese Report on InfoWars, so my guess is that this is made up nonsense. Also, since nearly every Twitter Twit Tweet you link is bogus the odds are that this is too.

I certainly can't speak to the academic chops of this study's authors. For all I know, they're a couple of cranks. And, further, I don't know how legit MDPI is so far as peer-reviewing -- as compared to the traditional methods and journals. So I think at least one grain of salt is warranted here.

But it actually was published there by two academics.

Filippo Biondi - Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Corrado Malanga - Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

Because in that scenario, there being a woman at all is completely fabricated.

This is circular reasoning.

The fabrication of a woman is worse because the woman is fabricated.

 

[HurryingHoosiers]

This is circular reasoning.

The fabrication of a woman is worse because the woman is fabricated.

the point going over your head doesn't make it circular reasoning

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

the point going over your head doesn't make it circular reasoning

Your argument is circular reasoning -- a garden variety example of it, really. The sentence I wrote is a fair summation of your argument.

So far as the deceit and the intent behind it are concerned, whether or not I was actually with a woman who isn't my wife doesn't matter. The malicious intent in either case is to suggest something to my wife that she knows isn't true: that I'm seeing somebody else.

Had I not introduced them and the friend didn't know or even have reason to suspect that the woman was actually my mother, then I would agree with you. Because in that case she didn't lie -- she just jumped to a conclusion without the key piece of information.

 

[mcmurtry66]

Sure, there might be instances where the omission makes it pretty bad or close but flat out lying without any truth is still a step above.

so that's as bad as if you were eating alone and she said you were at dinner with another woman?

Like lying about who is in charge of the country?

 

[NPT]

Use Google and become less ignorant.

And Google is biased so don't take the first results it shows you.

Like lying about who is in charge of the country?

And lying about his mental state...

 

[mushroomgod_1]

Obsession stems from the fact that we have a government that lies to us…….. a lot.

No need to make it more complex than that.

Yes....the bigger mystery is how most of us obtained middle age still believing that the government did NOT lie to us a lot.

 

[mcmurtry66]

Yes....the bigger mystery is how most of us obtained middle age still believing that the government did NOT lie to us a lot.

Saw a Bigfoot when I was driving home from college somewhere between Chattanooga and Nashville under a waterfall and knew then. Think for yourself. Believe your own eyes

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

And Google is biased so don't take the first results it shows you.


And lying about his mental state...

I don't care if a person uses Google, DuckDuckGo, or Bing to become less ignorant. They all work.

 

[NPT]

I don't care if a person uses Google, DuckDuckGo, or Bing to become less ignorant. They all work.

Oh I agree... just stating that about all places have a bias so read more than one.

 

[iuwclurker]

Hmm. Maybe. I guess, for me, it would depend on the specifics in any instance. It seems entirely possible that a lie by omission can be just as egregious as a fabrication.

If I was out to dinner with my mother and I run into friends, introduce them to her, and then the friend tells my wife that she saw me at dinner with another woman....I'd say that's just as bad as if she had made the entire thing up.

Not at all. That could be a problem a problem for you if you and your wife have lousy communication. That’s on you, not your friend.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

Not at all. That could be a problem a problem for you if you and your wife have lousy communication. That’s on you, not your friend.

This has nothing to do with the point of the hypothetical -- which is about comparing the severity of two different kinds of lying.

What comes after either lie, so far as my wife and I are concerned, is incidental.

 

[Stuffshot]

Anyone want to try and explain this?

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Ask Trump. He's more powerful than any of the Egyptian gods. He can do anything.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/21/trump-i-could-declassify-documents-by-thinking-about-it-00058212

 

[T.M.P.]

But my question is did he marry Ivanka before he got the inheritance. I it was before perhaps they married for love even though he messed it up with Marla.

He couldn't afford her price tag before getting the inheritance.

 

[T.M.P.]

You must be kidding. You can’t be that ignorant

lol .......

 

[iuwclurker]

This has nothing to do with the point of the hypothetical -- which is about comparing the severity of two different kinds of lying.

What comes after either lie, so far as my wife and I are concerned, is incidental.

The lie by omission of saying what woman you’re with is perfectly harmless if your wife simply asks you who you were with, and you tell her, as long as she believes you…which is on you.