Quote:
Originally Posted by onwebcam
Just to get you started.. My favorite in the list is the Conspiracy behind the Federal Reserve Act. Imagine that. A 100 year old conspiracy and people like yourself are STILL in denial.
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Were we ever debating the existence of conspiracies? Does anyone read?
The quotes around 'conspiracy theorists' was done intentionally to refer to those people, whom in the face of facts and evidence to the contrary, stick to irrational beliefs about particular subjects. The original post cited some examples where there does exist groups of people who hold irrational beliefs - that is not to say that ALL beliefs are irrational, only that there exists fringe groups whom are obviously nuts. You guys can debate the specifics til you're blue in the face, that's not the point.
The point is this: to really be a critical thinker you have to be your own best auditor. If you can't audit the things you believe, if the things you believe fail even the most basic tests of logic.. then you should be interested in how it is you could believe such things.. and why. If the goal is to 'question everything', then question how it is one could arrive at these beliefs.
For example: What void does it fill to believe things that are obviously not true? There is no question, for example, the men walked on the moon (please.. no one even start the 'debate' or post 'evidence'.. I've been on teh interwebs before.. I've read it all). So why would someone want to so fervently believe that it was not true? What kind of trauma would you have to suffer, or what kind of mental state would a person have to be in to hold these beliefs? What social role does it play for people to even engage in "debate" over things that are not debatable.. where the side they choose doesn't even exist. Is it narcissism? anti-social personality disorder? just plain insanity? Is it an attempt to leverage asymmetrical information to assert social dominance? I don't know.. but i'm fascinated by it.