Ot. History of conspiracy theories in america

[scaredyclassic]

Been noticing a lot of books on the histor and psychology of conspiracy theories.

Im not sure if thats a topic im deeply interested in or totally uninterested in.

Its definitely relevant.

Theres so little we know to be true. Question authority, dont question authority…as we meditate, we come to see the empty nature of our thoughts.

The mind is a giant garbage can.

[XBoxBoy]

I read this book:

“Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500 Year History.” by Kurt Andersen

and found it very enlightening. Note that it was published in 2017 so doesn’t cover any of the more recent beliefs. As I recall it mentions Trump a little, but way more ink is spilled covering the history of crazy in America. (Of which we have a very long involved history.) Bottom line, I highly recommend it.

[scaredyclassic]

Its oddly comforting to know we have always been batshit crazy

[svelte]

[quote=XBoxBoy] Bottom line, I highly recommend it.[/quote]

Ok. I ordered it on your recommendation. hardcover for under ten bucks, can’t go wrong I guess.

[Coronita]

You know the scary part is there are people that actually believe there is a conspiracy in education to teach people the earth is round.

I shit you not. There is such a thing called the Flat Earth Society who literally believe the earth is flat. And the scary/pathetic thing is there appears to be over 200k believers.

https://m.facebook.com/FlatEarthToday/

[Coronita]

And there are people that believe NASA’s moon landing is a hollywood hoax.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories

steve curry use to be one of them…

Does Stephen Curry really think moon landing was a fake?

[svelte]

That book must have a Democratic slant because now Amazon is presenting me with a laundry-list of Democratic-leaning books to buy!

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=svelte]That book must have a Democratic slant because now Amazon is presenting me with a laundry-list of Democratic-leaning books to buy![/quote]

When I read it in 2017, (maybe 2018) I didn’t notice much democratic slant. But like any author, he’s got opinions, and as I recall they lean a bit left. I remember the book not so much about current politics but instead about what people have thought throughout the history of this country. Many of the people who first came from Europe thought there would be gold in abundance, (but instead most of them starved to death – Jamestown) many believed in witches. (can you say Salem?) And throughout our history, Americans have had way more of a tendency to believe stuff that most people find completely crazy. ie, John Smith and the Golden Tablets from God. (Mormonism) When talking about current beliefs I was particularly surprised by a lot of the statistics he quotes about how Americans compare to other developed nations. We seem particularly prone to fantastical beliefs.

More than I see this book as leftist, I would say it is likely to offend the far right. All those QAnon’ers are likely to recognize themselves a bit too much.

Hope you enjoy.
XBoxBoy

[svelte]

Thanks XBox.

Reminds me of the Cardiff Giant.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Giant

[barnaby33]

Unless it’s a conspiracy!

[ocrenter]

FYI, already had a handful of cases where an office visit where a patient started to explore a conspiracy theory with me and the visit ended with the said patient heading to the pharmacy for an anti-depressant.

https://psychcentral.com/blog/conspiracy-theory-disorder-understanding-why-people-believe/

[svelte]

[quote=ocrenter]FYI, already had a handful of cases where an office visit where a patient started to explore a conspiracy theory with me and the visit ended with the said patient heading to the pharmacy for an anti-depressant.

https://psychcentral.com/blog/conspiracy-theory-disorder-understanding-why-people-believe/%5B/quote%5D

Wow! One of those face-to-palm moments! Article makes so much sense why folks with those traits are more likely to believe in conspiracies.

Very enlightening, thanks OC.

Moments like this make me feel very dumb.

[ocrenter]

[quote=svelte][quote=ocrenter]FYI, already had a handful of cases where an office visit where a patient started to explore a conspiracy theory with me and the visit ended with the said patient heading to the pharmacy for an anti-depressant.

https://psychcentral.com/blog/conspiracy-theory-disorder-understanding-why-people-believe/%5B/quote%5D

Wow! One of those face-to-palm moments! Article makes so much sense why folks with those traits are more likely to believe in conspiracies.

Very enlightening, thanks OC.

Moments like this make me feel very dumb.[/quote]

Thanks.

I especially enjoyed this quote:

“Narcissism is positively associated with paranoid thinking, as narcissists are perceiving the actions of others intentionally targeted against themselves. [… Also,] conspiracies are appealing to people who lack confidence and excess self-promotional characteristics, such as self-esteem.”

Fits the current occupant of the WH to a T. Got his start with Birtherism, ending with massive multi-state million plus election fraud. Would not expect anything less.

Btw, the first patient took me a few visits. He first came in talking about Andrew Yang being a Chinese plant. Second visit was on to 5G. By the 3rd visit he was talking about Bill Gates, that’s when I put him on meds. The rest after him came much easier, single visit and directly on to medication.

[sdrealtor]

🙂

[Coronita]

Well shoot, if there’s a conspiracy, I’m going to move to another country, like this guy…Hawaii…

[img_assist|nid=27276|title=hawaii|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=500|height=400]

[Author]

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