I rather like this response to Naomi Klein's new book.
It's getting increasingly difficult for me to figure out where I stand politically. Mushy thinking on one side, and apparent greed and selfishness on the other. I appreciate the author of this article taking her to task for making bad arguments while not representing some specific view that dissents from her own. I am just tired of people putting ideology before the facts. If you hate Bush (which is pretty common), it doesn't mean that you can therefore attribute any wrongdoing to him that you happen to fancy. It's the type of thinking that creates conspiracy theory.
For me conspiracy theory is the ultimate in mushy thinking. I am partial to the explanation that it arises from people's inability to deal with the fundamentally unordered and chaotic world we live in. Almost all conspiracy theory presents an idea of some person or group who exerts a tremendous level of power over the world, an unseen, and sometimes almost absolute power. Something in their brains makes it easier to deal with concept of this secret power, even if it's essentially evil, than to think of the world as motivated by random forces that we can't predict.
I have been thinking about things to write for my blog, and I would like to start a series where I dissect various popular conspiracy theories and show how hollow the thinking is. I do this mostly as a way of examining the thought processes involved, and hopefully to start some debate here on the site.
It will be a bit slow because I need to research the various theories to make sure I represent them accurately. I won't be able to be perfect, but that's why the illuminati put comments in when they created blogging, so you guys can correct me and show me how 9/11 was an inside job and we never went to the moon and so forth.
It's getting increasingly difficult for me to figure out where I stand politically. Mushy thinking on one side, and apparent greed and selfishness on the other. I appreciate the author of this article taking her to task for making bad arguments while not representing some specific view that dissents from her own. I am just tired of people putting ideology before the facts. If you hate Bush (which is pretty common), it doesn't mean that you can therefore attribute any wrongdoing to him that you happen to fancy. It's the type of thinking that creates conspiracy theory.
For me conspiracy theory is the ultimate in mushy thinking. I am partial to the explanation that it arises from people's inability to deal with the fundamentally unordered and chaotic world we live in. Almost all conspiracy theory presents an idea of some person or group who exerts a tremendous level of power over the world, an unseen, and sometimes almost absolute power. Something in their brains makes it easier to deal with concept of this secret power, even if it's essentially evil, than to think of the world as motivated by random forces that we can't predict.
I have been thinking about things to write for my blog, and I would like to start a series where I dissect various popular conspiracy theories and show how hollow the thinking is. I do this mostly as a way of examining the thought processes involved, and hopefully to start some debate here on the site.
It will be a bit slow because I need to research the various theories to make sure I represent them accurately. I won't be able to be perfect, but that's why the illuminati put comments in when they created blogging, so you guys can correct me and show me how 9/11 was an inside job and we never went to the moon and so forth.
posted by small is beautiful at 10:07 AM
2 Comments:
Conspiracy is awesome! Everyone should believe the bush administration and its corporate affilates used 911 as a means to a profit! Dont you??? I mean it makes sense.
The thing is, I have been obsessed with conspiracy theory for years and years. I think I'm the perfect person to debunk most of these things because I have studied so many conspiracy theories so closely. I think it reveals a particularly interesting psychological trait in humans, this inability to allow randomness into their lives, and to have to assume that some all pervading power exists.
As far as the "truthers" are concerned there are two main aspects that make them a bit different for me.
First of all, a lot of extremely brave people gave their lives to save others from the rubble of the WTC, and I think it does a severe disservice to their memory to turn this into just another excuse to get out and yell at people. The truthers want to make this about themselves, as if they were uniquely the victims and seeking justice, but you'd be surprised how few of them were there that day, and not one that I've spoken to lost a loved one in the attack or subsequent rescue. That doesn't make them wrong (other stuff does, of course) any more than having a loved one killed would make them right, but it is pretty crass if you ask me.
Second, I live in NYC, and the truthers are all over the place like they were proselytizing Christians or something. They are the biggest protest group in the city, and it drives me nuts. I went to a "democracy now" fundraiser that my friend who works there invited me to, and outside there were a bunch of people picketing because Amy Goodwin doesn't address the "truth" about 9/11. You have to be pretty far gone to consider that organization a puppet of the government/corporation conglomerate octopus thing. But that's the mindset, "everyone who doesn't agree with us is a tool of the conspiracy"
There are likely more people out there that believe in the illuminatti or something equally silly, but the truthers are shoving their stupidity right in my face on a daily basis, and that makes it personal for me.
I wish I had more time to devote to this. I would actually like to write the definitive book on why all conspiracy theories are false, but that will have to wait.
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