Unfounded “facts” give births to dangerous conspiracy theories and modern myths

by Norio Hayakawa – – October 5, 2020:

Everybody knows that conspiracies have always existed since time immemorial.

It is a salient part of the darker side of human history.

Everybody also knows that whenever two or more gather together to plot something that will cause detriment to others, there is conspiracy.

Here, I would like to talk about the culture of conspiracy.   

There is a difference between real conspiracies and conspiracy theories.   

Conspiracy theories have also existed throughout human history.  It has also been a part of the human culture, since “suspicion” is one of the many aspects of the human mind itself.   Some folks are less “suspicious” of others.   Some are more “suspicious” of others.

Now let’s turn our eyes on America.

Unfortunately, the growth of America’s conspiracy culture seems to be quite significant.

It is an alarming trend, fomented by many through the use of the social media.

Unsubstantiated “facts” often give births to dangerous conspiracy theories and modern myths.

But the sad fact is that such beliefs seem to be accepted by an increasingly gullible sector of the population, regardless of the level of education.

Moreover, it could easily be manipulated by some exploitative folks with certain agendas  (including some politicians)  and can even cause the nation to be divided, fomenting fear and paranoia.

We must never forget that the birth of Nazi Germany started by such propagation of fear and paranoia and pointing the blame to a certain group of people.

 

Here is a quote from Edward Epstein, WSJ – – December, 2015):

Conspiracy is a word derived from the Latin “to breathe together”.

It has been a salient part of the darker side of recorded history ever since some 60 conspirators in the Roman senate, including Brutus and Cassius, plotted together to assassinate Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.  

Nowadays the “C” word does not always sit well with journalists, who commonly employ it in conjunction with “theory” to describe paranoid distortions of reality.

Even so, a criminal conspiracy is not a rare phenomenon.  

Not only was a foreign conspiracy responsible for the monstrous 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center  (as well as the previous attempt to blow it up in 1993)  but, according to the Center on Law and Security at Fordham University, over 90% of routine federal indictments for terrorist attacks since 9/11 contain at least one conspiracy charge.

The government’s pursuit of conspiracies is by no means limited to terrorism.

Conspiracy charges are the rule rather than the exception in cases brought against businessmen accused of fixing prices, evading environmental regulations, using insider information or laundering money.

 

But there are also pseudo-conspiracies that exist only in a delusionary or misinformed mind.…..such as well-orchestrated global conspiracies, simply because no major secrets can be kept forever from the public.

Conspiracies are easily disproved by a wealth of evidence and some basic, sound reasoning, and yet sizable portions of the population continue to believe in absurd ideas such as the following:

 

“The moon landings are claimed to be hoaxes manufactured by large-scale government collusion.”

“Aliens in UFOs are claimed to have visited earth but their presence is concealed by malevolent agencies.”

 (I personally don’t think there is an intentional, governmental cover-up of the UFO phenomenon.  My belief is that the government is just as perplexed by this phenomenon as the pubic, as to the true nature of this phenomenon.  As I stated many times elsewhere, I personally believe in the reality of the UFO phenomenon.  However, I also believe that the UFO phenomenon does  not constitute conclusive evidence whatsoever that we have ever been – or are being – visited by physical extraterrestrial biological entities in physical extraterrestrial spacecraft of any kind.  For a good item on this, please go to the bottom of this article and read about the Roswell Incident – – the creation of a modern myth, how it all started)

 

“Modern medicine is claimed to be toxic and “alternative” medicine is claimed to be miraculous, but a global conspiracy involving greedy drug companies conceals these facts.”

“Trails of ice particles left by airplanes in the sky (“contrails“) are claimed to really be toxic chemicals (“chemtrails“) being sprayed on the whole earth by a secret group intent on destruction and domination.”

“The AIDS virus was allegedly constructed in a laboratory and is deliberately used by a secret society as a tool of destruction.”

“Fluoride is claimed to be added to drinking water by secret government programs in order to exert mind control.”

“Vaccination will kill people”.

“A New World Order of elites is claimed to be secretly controlling all governments for malevolent purposes.”

(This one, even though it’s difficult to prove, seems to be believed by many Evangelical Christians – – including myself.  According to the believers, this will take place in the future.  As a born-again Christian and a Bible-believing person, I do believe in Bible prophecy concerning the End times and that there will be a one world government or a New World Order ruled by an Anti-Christ for 7 years, just before Jesus Christ returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom – – this is strictly my own personal religious belief and nothing more.   My personal religious belief is that eons ago, one third of all cosmic, sentient, paraphysical angelic entities were thrown out of their special domain by the Creator for participating in a cosmic shaking revolt led by Lucifer who became Satan, and his followers “fallen angels” – – as suggested in Revelation 12:4 – – many biblical scholars seem to support this interpretation.   Thus, my belief is that Lucifer was the first conspirator ever.)

“The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and other terrorist attacks are claimed to be carried out secretly by the people’s own government in an effort to foment war.

“Free energy devices are claimed to successfully create energy out of nothing, but their widespread use is suppressed by powerful conspiracies involving energy companies.”

“Genetically modified crops are claimed to be dangerous and a vast conspiracy is claimed to be suppressing evidence showing this fact.”                                

 

Despite the fact that conspiracies such as these run completely contrary to a giant body of evidence, and indeed go against logical reasoning itself, such conspiracies continue to be believed by many people.

Here is latest one:

The QAnon Conspiracy theory, which the FBI has called a domestic terrorism threat, is based on unfounded claims that there is a “deep-state” apparatus run by political elites, business leaders and Hollywood celebrities who are also pedophiles and actually working against Donald Trump.  Trump, they say, is waging a secret war against the deep-state, globalist, elite Satan-worshipping pedophiles in government, business and the media.

QAnon believers have speculated that this fight will lead to a day of reckoning where prominent people such as former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be arrested and executed.

That’s the basic story, but there are so many offshoots, detours and internal debates that the total list of QAnon claims is enormous – and often contradictory.  Adherents draw in news events, historical facts and numerology to develop their own far-fetched conclusions.

It has accused many liberal Hollywood actors, Democratic politicians, and high-ranking officials of being members of the cabal.  It also claimed that Trump feigned conspiracy with Russians to enlist Robert Mueller to join him in exposing the ring and preventing a coup d’état by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros.

The list goes on and on.

Take a look at this interesting “chart” that someone posted on the Internet:

(CLICK ABOVE FOR ENLARGEMENT)

 

And from Dr. Christopher S. Baird, SCIENCE QUESTIONS WITH SURPRISING ANSWERS – – August, 2013:

 

(QUOTE):

People are all different, so the reasons for them believing in conspiracies cover a broad range of factors.

In general, though, people tend to believe in conspiracies because of helplessness.

Ted Goertzel, professor of sociology at Rutgers University, found that belief in conspiracy theories is strongly linked to insecurity about employment, alienation, lack of interpersonal trust, and minority status – all forms of helplessness.

Despite the fact that conspiracies such as these run completely contrary to a giant body of evidence, and indeed go against logical reasoning itself, such conspiracies continue to be believed by many people.

Why?

The main reason people believe in conspiracies despite their absurdity is helplessness.

Unemployment, under-employment, lack of education, substance addiction, chronic illness, dysfunctional families, and failing relationships all contribute to a person feeling helpless.

In order to cope emotionally with such situations, many people blame their helplessness on conspiracies; giant secret societies with amazing power that control everyone for sinister purposes.

The belief in conspiracies gives those in hopeless and destitute conditions something to hope for.

“If the conspiracy can just be exposed”, they think, “I will no longer be destitute”.

The belief itself becomes empowering to many in helpless situations.

They see the rest of the world as mindless sheep controlled by the elite, and themselves as the enlightened few.

The belief in conspiracies also enables such people to emotionally cope with the chaos that surrounds their life by believing there is an overall ordered society of elites that controls the world.

Even though they see this society as secretive and evil, the belief itself in an ordered, controlling society is enough to offer comfort to one who feels surrounded by chaos and helpless to their situation.

Although a person may be safely employed in a rewarding career, a lack of education can be enough to render him subconsciously helpless and therefore susceptible to conspiracy theories.

When a person does not understand the basic physical laws that govern the universe, daily events seem random and nonsensical.

Being confronted day in and day out with a jumble of incomprehensible events is harrowing.

To deal with this mental commotion, many people see conspiracies as the driving forces behind the seemingly random string of events.

In reality, the laws of science run the world.

But it is much easier to believe a secret society runs the world than to try to understand the laws of science if you have a poor education.

Helplessness can take many other forms.

Even wealthy, educated people get cancer.

The miserable, ongoing, and terminal nature of serious diseases can make even the richest and smartest of people feel helpless.

When modern medicine fails to help them (or just takes too long to help them), many people turn to conspiracies to cope.  It’s more comforting to believe that a miracle cure is available but is kept just out of reach by a conspiring pharmaceutical industry, than to accept the reality that some diseases simply do not have cures.

It’s more comforting to believe that your cancer was caused by chemtrails, water fluoridation, genetically modified crops, aliens, western medicine, tooth amalgam, household cleaning supplies, or power lines than to accept that cancer is a natural part of life that just happens.

Goertzel states, “…during periods of insecurity and discontent people often feel a need for a tangible enemy on which to externalize their angry feelings.

Conspiracy theories may help in this process by providing a tangible enemy to blame for problems which otherwise seem too abstract and impersonal.

Conspiracy theories also provide ready answers for unanswered questions and help to resolve contradictions between known ‘facts’ and an individual’s belief system.”

Note that some conspiracies are real.

But the real conspiracies are quickly dismantled by the justice system and are well documented by mainstream scientists, journalists, and historians.

Also, real conspiracies tend to involve only a handful of people and are rarely successful.

Most real conspiracies fall apart before they even get started, while the rest are eventually exposed and dismantled.

Giant, powerful, successful conspiracies do not happen for the following reasons:

It only takes one whistle-blower to bring down an entire conspiracy.

The more people there are in a conspiracy, the more potential whistle-blowers there are, and the shorter the conspiracy lasts.

The most successful conspiracies (such as Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme) involve only a handful of people, and they still eventually fail.

Sustaining a global conspiracy among medical doctors would require convincing every single one of the millions of doctors from all religions, nations, and cultures to participate in a coordinated cover-up.

People are inherently independent minded.

Sustaining a global conspiracy would require making millions of people from all walks of life have the exact same goals and motives, and be willing to do what ever they are told to perpetuate the conspiracy.

In the business world, people quit their job, move, start their own business, and campaign for reform whenever faced with too little independence.

These types of actions would doom a conspiracy.

History teaches us that the level of authoritarianism needed to sustain a global conspiracy leads to violent revolution by the masses.

A large conspiracy would be doomed by internal warfare before it ever got off the ground.

People are inherently decent.

The vast majority of people on the earth are ethical, law-abiding citizens that pursue careers and causes in order to benefit society.

A giant conspiracy would require a large number of people to lie, cheat, and purposely harm their family, friends, neighbors, and country.

We are all human.

Doctors get sick too.

Doctors therefore have a strong personal incentive not to suppress medical treatments that succeed.

Government employees live under the same sky and drink the same water.

They have a strong personal incentive not to poison the water or fill the sky with chemicals.

Large organizations are inherently too inefficient, cumbersome, and complex to carry out a large, coordinated plan of evil secrecy.

Even the most successful large-scale secretive agency in the world – the CIA – has security leaks (such as the Snowden affair).

The difference between the CIA and a conspiracy is that the CIA’s mission is supported by the will of the people and is seen as generally beneficial, so it survives its security leaks.  A large-scale conspiracy would not.

Note that this website, Science Questions with Surprising Answers, does not attempt to disprove conspiracies.

I believe such an exercise is pointless and futile.

Presenting conspiracy theorists with logic and evidence won’t change their minds as such people are not thinking logically to begin with.

Because helplessness is the root of belief in conspiracies, the best way to dispel their paranoia is to help them get out of their destitute situation.

Improving the general educational level, career prospects, community involvement, and family relationships of conspiracy theorists will do more to dispel their myths than arguing directly against their myths.

Something as simple as participating in a town hall meeting can help a neighbor realize that the world is not as evil and colluding as he imagines.

(UNQUOTE)

 

By the way, for those of you who are into UFOs, here is a good example of how UFO conspiracy theories start, i.e., through the propagation of unsubstantiated “facts”, as exemplified in the ROSWELL CONSPIRACY….click the following and read about:

THE ROSWELL INCIDENT OF 1947 – – CREATION OF A MODERN MYTH

However, what I describe as paraphysical phenomenon does seem to exist and has nothing to do with conspiracies:

PARAPHYSICAL PHENOMENON SEEMS TO EXIST IN DULCE, NEW MEXICO

……..

Norio Hayakawa’s CIVILIAN INTELLIGENCE NEWS SERVICE

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