Hey guys. I've been reading some of the threads in this forum, and they're of particular interest to me because for a couple years I was firmly in the conspiracy theory camp.
I've never been a big fan of Bush, or the Republican Party, or politicians in general, so when I was first exposed to the conspiracy theory it had an immediate appeal to me. It confirmed my belief that these were horrible people who are up to no good.
It wasn't the first conspiracy theory I had swallowed, either. In retrospect, it is obvious that every time I've fallen for one it was primarily for emotional reasons rather than rational ones. A conspiracy theory doesn't stick unless it has some kind of emotional appeal.
The second thing that drew me to the theory was the whole "action flick" aspect of the story. The story really does read like a movie, with missiles and explosives and a super-secret government plot to fool the public, which would have to be defeated by an impassioned popular movement to expose the truth. That's exciting stuff, if you believe it.
And the third thing that I liked about it was the feeling of being "in the know". When you start to believe in the conspiracy, you see the world divided into the following three groups:
1) The evil conspirators. People with no conscience, of pure evil, who will do anything for personal gain. They thirst for money and power, and if it means murdering thousands of people, that's just fine. They are also extremely good at keeping secrets. They are very competent at staging fake displays to fool the public, yet they are also such bumbling fools that evidence of the conspiracy is so obvious and plentiful that it is irrefutable.
2) The dupes. These are the mindless drones who go about their daily lives believing whatever the media and the government tell them, i.e. pretty much everybody on the planet, including all the structural engineers and firemen with their so-called "evidence" (though some of them might be in the first category).
3) The freedom-fighting conspiracy theorists. These are the people who, from the comfort of their computer chairs, have seen through the veil of secrecy and lies. They have seen the videos and read the websites. They have filled their heads with so many half-truths about the events of that day that they feel the conspiracy theory is rock-solid. If anyone disproves one of their half-truths, there are thousands more to fall back on.
Eventually, however, I decided I couldn't only read conspiracy theorists anymore. I had to at least look at the claims of the opposition in detail, to see if I could refute their arguments and to see if maybe possibly I might be mistaken. Before that I was afraid of doing that, fearing that I might be sucked into being a government dupe again.
Well, that's exactly what happened. When I looked carefully at the conspiracy debunking sites, they made a lot of sense. I couldn't refute their arguments after all. And it seemed so much more plausible, once I actually saw that the "holes" in the official story weren't what I thought they were. Looking back, it seems absolutely crazy that I could have bought it hook, line and sinker like I did. I try to be skeptical and to not let my emotions get in the way of analyzing the facts wherever possible, but apparently I failed at that. Luckily I got better and with a dose of rationality I've been cured of the conspiracy delusion.
It is possible to change people's minds. Don't give up hope, guys.
