911 Truth as the Idolization of Insanity

[Scott Sommers]

So recently I read all these Truther's Facebooks. On a lot of them, they have quotes or statements that if you heard someone speaking like that, you think they were...well...delusional. Like what? How's this?
"WERE LIVING IN A REAL DEAL RESIDENT EVIL BOARD, ALL EMPTY ZOMBIES ACTING JUST LIKE ONE ANOTHER, VERY FEW WHO CAN SEE WHAT ARE GOING ON AND CAN FIGHT IT , TO BAD THERES NO RESET BUTTON ON LIFE"

This is what I mean Truthers acting like they're looney. Why would anyone want to put something like this on their Facebook? Wouldn't they think it would make them look nuts?

And HyJinX, thanks bro, for the image.

 

[DavidJames]

So recently I read all these Truther's Facebooks. On a lot of them, they have quotes or statements that if you heard someone speaking like that, you think they were...well...delusional. Like what? How's this?
"WERE LIVING IN A REAL DEAL RESIDENT EVIL BOARD, ALL EMPTY ZOMBIES ACTING JUST LIKE ONE ANOTHER, VERY FEW WHO CAN SEE WHAT ARE GOING ON AND CAN FIGHT IT , TO BAD THERES NO RESET BUTTON ON LIFE"

This is what I mean Truthers acting like they're looney. Why would anyone want to put something like this on their Facebook?

Lack of maturity.

 

[dropzone]

This is what I mean Truthers acting like they're looney. Why would anyone want to put something like this on their Facebook? Wouldn't they think it would make them look nuts?

Must not be looking for a job.

 

[TheDaver]

Lack of maturity.

More like lack of brains. It’s one thing to be a crank and a @#$% on sites where you’re protected by pseudonymity. But to do it openly on Facebook? Wow, just wow. These days, potential employers check these things out, you know. Why do I have the feeling that some of these guys are also complaining about how They keep them from getting a job?

 

[Scott Sommers]

This point about jobs is interesting. In fact, the Truthers who do post their resumes and advertise for jobs have very weak employment records. I had always assumed it was the poor job history that drove them into fringe beliefs. It could be the other way around. After all, who would hire someone like this?

 

[dropzone]

Not me. Which is why my web presence under my real name, or one quickly discovered by an HR drone, is not controversial. Of course, it helps that my real name, as a proper noun and a verb, gives up pages of soap opera updates.

ETA: And my similarly-named cousins are more interesting. Am I the one who races yachts? Races classic sports cars in Blighty? Or the one who wrote a program for the Tandy Model 100?

 

[Meed]

Much of the population is cynical and dissatisfied with the government, with the media and with large corporations. This is pretty clear to me from following public opinion polls. The media and government are just not particularly trusted. There are good reasons for this... The US gov has committed some pretty atrocious acts both at home and abroad. And the media has very often either turned a blind eye or put on a positive spin to the point of cheerleading.

Unfortunately the world is a complicated place. While people may be dissatisfied and untrusting, many don't really understand what's going on--they have some vague ideas about elites, that they tend to look out for their own interests, etc. But really understanding world affairs is too difficult. Enter 9/11 truth, enter the "birthers", enter the "evil nwo world government plot".

It's easy to see why these things attract people. Normal people will tell you their astrology profiles are surprisingly accurate. Throw together a bunch of "facts" (nevermind whether they're actually true) and you can convince some percentage of people of any kind of nonsense.

The stranger part is of the phenomena is the persistence in the face of contrary evidence. That's where confirmation bias comes in. All of us have confirmation biases and they're stronger than we probably give them credit for. With a particularly bad theory, though, I think some people are driven beyond a simple typical confirmation bias into the realm of... I don't know what. Cult mentality? Faith? In some cases (but probably not most) there will be diagnosable delusion/paranoia. In others (again, not most) I expect it's just a con for money, fame or followers.

In short, idolization of insanity has nothing to do with it, in my view.

 

[tfk]

I like TAM's encapsulation: "Angry Young Men". ("Boys", actually.)

Flailing about at authority, the world, their own impotence.

Typical teenage angst. Prolonged beyond all reasonable time limits.


Tom

 

[Meed]

Now we just need a theory of religion.