What to do about the conspiracy theory problem?

[Baloo]

My totally unscientific approach to any conspiracy theory is to try and work out how many people have to be in on it to make it happen. If it's more than 1 then the chances of the truth not being leaked or revealed are very minimal, practically non-existent.

The famous photo of Nessie that was around for years. That photo was undeniable proof to many that there was some sort of unknown massive creature living in Loch Ness. We can be thankful that on his deathbed, the "photographer" admitted it was a hoax.

The moon landing conspiracy is a classic case where when you try to understand just how many people would have had to of been in the know, and for no one to leak the fact it was all made up, it's an impossibility.

The bigger the conspiracy, 911, Moon Landing, Covid, 5G etc, you can better your bottom dollar it's just nutjobs seeing something that isn't there.

 

[shad]

Shad, I do not care. Maybe start a conspiracy theories I believe are true thread and people can discuss them until the cows come home?

This thread is to discuss why people believe conspiracy theories. If info about a given conspiracy can provide insight into the question in the thread title, fine, Yours doesn't, its just inference, speculation, a vibe, a long bow.

Anyway I gave it a crack, maybe staying on topic is too much to ask.

Sorry TS. I'm in brain fog atm and I thought there was a call out for conspiracy theories that were potentially true.

 

[AngryAnt]

I have an example of a conspiracy theory that i believe is true.

I reckon Princess Di was murdered.

My reasoning is as follows. Her bodyguard was an ex-SAS soldier. It just so happens that I worked for a bit as a high level corporate bodyguard with a company that was mainly made up of retired British SAS soldiers. Bodyguarding rests on one very simple idea. At any given moment do whatever is the safest for the principal-the person you are guarding. In the Princess Di case the story went that they drove the armourded merc at high speed through central Paris to get away from the paparazzi. It just doesn't come close to sounding correct. What's more dangerous for Di-getting her photo taken for the millionth (literally) time, or driving at that speed in an urban area. I think that they drove like that to avoid a serious threat, most probably an assination attempt. I have worked extensively with British SAS people and they have all been genuinely serious and professional operaters. The official story just doesn't add up.

The next part of my thinking is pure wacky theorising so please don't let it detract from the first arguement. I believe that the royal family wanted to have her killed because she was going to marry a Moslem which would have meant her becoming a Moslem too. The didn't want the mother of the heir to the throne to be a follower of Islam. Given what we know about the Royal family now I don't think this is too much of a stretch.

A climate change conspiracist also constructing an elaborate tale about a traffic accident where a drunk man was driving?

I'm shocked to be sitting here I tells ya

 

[eZyT]

We must restore the foundations of factual reputable, non biassed journalism & Government institutions?
How we do that when billionaire$ control the narrative is the challenge.

Its been done before.

I agree - democracy with a well legislated and funded state broadcaster and tight media ownership laws.

We had all those.

If this federal ICAC works, it should root out corrupt *smile* and assist democracy and therby restore trust and truth, as you say. Our institutions need to be worthy of trust. It shouldnt be that hard; just dont let lying self-interested clowns in trusted institution.

Standards.

Charlatans, *smile* and sharks should be selling real estate and running The AFL, not the country.

Ban lobbyist, political donations and political advertising

Pull every cent of public money out of private education and Fund public education.

Regulate the *smile* out of the property market so every adult, however they chose to live, has a secure, affordable, safe roof over their head and a warm soft bed.

Pay nurses, cops and doctors three times as much as financial planners and stockbrokers.

I agree Oldy that trust is a key,

But i think social equality is critical too.

'We're all in this together' is a glib, *smile*, controlling,lie.

It's every man (sic) for himself. Cue the anti-vaxxer.

To bring it back, before @tigersnake calls the pc fun sheeple police on me, the conspiracy theorist is mostly disempowered and dissillusioned.

The conspiracy theorist is looking for answers in all the wrong places

 

[eZyT]

you are quick to label.As I said in my previous email I will go back to the footy talk sections and leave you to pontificate and wallow in your own self importance.A club that only allows speech that one wants to hear.

Of course you are welcome to pull up a chair at any online tiger family dinner Goldy,

Were trying to discuss what leads people to beleive and spread *smile*.

 

[MD Jazz]

It’s a conspiracy theory to say there’s questions being asked about the safety and efficacy of the vaccines?

Of course not. All vaccines carry some risk. All medicines carry some risk. Medical procedures carry risk. I had a colonoscopy and was told there was a 500 to 1 chance the doctor would perforate my bowel. There was a risk (less than that) that would lead to my death. If I didn't have a colocosciopy how would I know if I had a cancer growing? I had to make a decision based on the risks of having/not having the procedure. I trusted my doctor. Same with covid, I had to decide my risks of having/not having the vaccine. I can understand why some people chose not to, but I can't understand the flippers (we had one at work) who went down internet rabbit holes to find obscure videos from "experts" to base their decisions on.

I know someone who had the vaccine and had a reaction. Myocarditis. He hasn't had further vaccines and has had to take medicine to treat it. He is better now, 8 nmonths later. The vaccine was no good for him. But for every case like that how many did it save?

To me it was simply about data. The number of vaccinated people. The number of unvaccinated. The over-representation of unvaccinated dying and on life support. It was pretty straight forward maths. But the anti-vaxxers end up saying hospitals were hiding the data. That thousands were dying from the vaccine. That governments and the health industry were lying. But there is never any significant scientific peer reviewed studies or data to back up their claims.

 

[royce67]

Of course not. All vaccines carry some risk. All medicines carry some risk. Medical procedures carry risk. I had a colonoscopy and was told there was a 500 to 1 chance the doctor would perforate my bowel. There was a risk (less than that) that would lead to my death. If I didn't have a colocosciopy how would I know if I had a cancer growing? I had to make a decision based on the risks of having/not having the procedure. I trusted my doctor. Same with covid, I had to decide my risks of having/not having the vaccine. I can understand why some people chose not to, but I can't understand the flippers (we had one at work) who went down internet rabbit holes to find obscure videos from "experts" to base their decisions on.

I know someone who had the vaccine and had a reaction. Myocarditis. He hasn't had further vaccines and has had to take medicine to treat it. He is better now, 8 nmonths later. The vaccine was no good for him. But for every case like that how many did it save?

To me it was simply about data. The number of vaccinated people. The number of unvaccinated. The over-representation of unvaccinated dying and on life support. It was pretty straight forward maths. But the anti-vaxxers end up saying hospitals were hiding the data. That thousands were dying from the vaccine. That governments and the health industry were lying. But there is never any significant scientific peer reviewed studies or data to back up their claims.

ACA - Killing people with false "balance" for decades in the pursuit of ratings. At least there was some sort of silver lining in this case...


Dr Karl decided to focus on science communication after a baby died from whooping cough at the hospital he was working in.

"After a 20-year period of zero deaths from whooping cough, we had a baby die from whooping cough. It was because we had A Current Affair pushing both sides of the vaccine argument. There is no argument. There is no other side."

"So even though being a doctor was the best job I'd ever had in my whole life, I knew I could do better for the Australian population by telling people to get vaccinated."

 

[Baloo]

Ban lobbyist, political donations and political advertising

Pull every cent of public money out of private education and Fund public education.

Regulate the *smile* out of the property market so every adult, however they chose to live, has a secure, affordable, safe roof over their head and a warm soft bed.

Welcome to Singapore

 

[MD Jazz]

Regulate the *smile* out of the property market so every adult, however they chose to live, has a secure, affordable, safe roof over their head and a warm soft bed.

Pay nurses, cops and doctors three times as much as financial planners and stockbrokers.

Yes yes yes yes.

And put massive amounts of funding towards mental health services.

 

[tommystigers]

I get why people have mistrust of government and their agencies - especially those that guard secrets.
MK Ultra as an example if it occurred during the Trump Presidency would have been a very interesting sideshow. Likewise with Biden.

I am not sure of the discussion at that time but surely this would have been pushed back by the US Government, when first mentioned, as a crackpot conspiracy. This operation involved multiple players. How do you investigate something that appears to be a syphilitic rambling but is actually truth. Discuss.

 

[gold1]

Of course you are welcome to pull up a chair at any online tiger family dinner Goldy,

Were trying to discuss what leads people to beleive and spread *smile*.

Glad to hear that you let me in the Tiger Family given that I was here 11 years earlier than you.......................

 

[eZyT]

Glad to hear that you let me in the Tiger Family given that I was here 11 years earlier than you.......................

Sweet

You seem pretty hard to please.

No worries

 

[gold1]

Sweet

You seem pretty hard to please.

No worries

?

 

[The Big Richo]

The AFL Still hate us right.
Do not let TBR on this thread.

There's your answer on conspiracy theories, I think, as Paul Keating said, always back self interest.

To me conspiracy theories grow because they give people something they need. Maybe it is a way to explain their own inadequacies or lack of success, maybe it is a way to find comfort in the meaninglessness of their existence (hello religion), maybe it is their way of convincing themselves they are right about something instead of being humiliated by facing their stupidity.

Perfectly sensible people on here that mock Trump supporters nonsense or climate change deniers will in the next thread tell you the umpires or the AFL have it in for Richmond.

When you look at it dispassionately it is almost always explained by not knowing the rules or how they are applied, not understanding they watch a high percentage of the game from the opposite angle to the umpires, dismissing the element of mistake or sheer parochialism.

The conspiracy theory is the easy out.

 

[BT Tiger]

?

I think you'll find this is Ezy's second user name and he's been around a lot longer than you'd think.

 

[RoarEmotion]

When you look at it dispassionately it is almost always explained by not knowing the rules or how they are applied, not understanding they watch a high percentage of the game from the opposite angle to the umpires, dismissing the element of mistake or sheer parochialism.

The conspiracy theory is the easy out.

Im Sure these make the majority of instances.

The other one having read the Balme book is that he gave them a spray and people hold grudges. This could easily cause one or two a game where those who were there are involved.

My previous boss blasted a visiting exec well connected to a senior person and his team publicly after their two week safety audit saying it was a waste of time (not something smiled upon) and a few years later everyone on that management team (myself included) has been made redundant and all the management team that followed is still around and thriving - especially the one I trained up. People are people. I guess for another thread. Both can be true.

 

[Sintiger]

There's your answer on conspiracy theories, I think, as Paul Keating said, always back self interest.

To me conspiracy theories grow because they give people something they need. Maybe it is a way to explain their own inadequacies or lack of success, maybe it is a way to find comfort in the meaninglessness of their existence (hello religion), maybe it is their way of convincing themselves they are right about something instead of being humiliated by facing their stupidity.

Perfectly sensible people on here that mock Trump supporters nonsense or climate change deniers will in the next thread tell you the umpires or the AFL have it in for Richmond.

When you look at it dispassionately it is almost always explained by not knowing the rules or how they are applied, not understanding they watch a high percentage of the game from the opposite angle to the umpires, dismissing the element of mistake or sheer parochialism.

The conspiracy theory is the easy out.

That’s footy, it’s not life and death
Footy supporters are not meant to be logical, it’s one of the reasons I like to go to games. I love the banter, the garbage that is yelled out, the tribal element of all the biased illogical supporters.
Don’t take that bias seriously. Footy supporters are often not rational beings when talking about their teams.

 

[Legends of 2017]

Saw this article and thought it might be appropriate for this thread. A few experts with their take on conspiracy theories

Queensland shooting sparking ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories, experts warn — Guardian Australia

Conspiracists attempting to present an alternative reality of the Wieambilla attack that left two police officers and a neighbour dead

apple.news

 

[AngryAnt]

Saw this article and thought it might be appropriate for this thread. A few experts with their take on conspiracy theories

Queensland shooting sparking ‘false flag’ conspiracy theories, experts warn — Guardian Australia

Conspiracists attempting to present an alternative reality of the Wieambilla attack that left two police officers and a neighbour dead

apple.news

As one of the experts said in the article - anything at all can be woven into a grander conspiracy narrative. Any evidence that supports the theory is evidence that supports the theory, any evidence against the theory is planted or manufactured by big pharma/government/"the Jews" or whoever, so is therefore evidence for the theory.

Of course all experts are in on the conspiracy so.....

 

[jokershoppe]

The nut brothers were disenchanted leftist, fact.