What modivates 9/11 CT'ers

[DRBUZZ0]

Wondering, because sometimes it's hard to tell, but what motivates the majority of them?

 

[PhantomWolf]

I think that many of the everyday ones think that they are opposing an evil that's trying to take over the world. They see themselves as modern day Robin Hoods.

The trouble is that they are closer to Don Quixote.

 

[Thunder]

Its cool to be against "the Man".

But with less then a hundred truthers showing up at GZ on 9-11-07...I think we have less and less to worry about. Unless Michael Moore makes a truther film, or some incredibly damning evidence comes out, the 9-11 Denial Movemant is on its last leg.

 

[PhantomWolf]

I had to vote for Planet X, I don't think that the majority are mad, stupid, or evil. There certainly are some that are in need of professional help, but most of them are just ignorant of the truth, mad as heck at Bush and looking for a way to make their world seem to make more sense in a way they can control it and influence it. In the end that just makes them sad.

 

[qarnos]

I think most of them genuinely believe the conspiracy theories. I don't think it's fair to label them all as "crazy", although some of them (Fetzer, Wood) almost certainly are.

Then there are those like Avery, Balsamo and (to a lesser extent, since he may actually be nuts) Alex Jones, who are there for the buck or to start a film career.

 

[JimBenArm]

I voted stupid. Because if the ones here are a representative sample, that's the winner by a large margin.

 

[DRBUZZ0]

I think most of them genuinely believe the conspiracy theories. I don't think it's fair to label them all as "crazy", although some of them (Fetzer, Wood) almost certainly are.

Then there are those like Avery, Balsamo and (to a lesser extent, since he may actually be nuts) Alex Jones, who are there for the buck or to start a film career.

Well if by crazy you mean the legal definition of insane, then most probably would not be crazy, because that implies a complete inability to comprehend reality even directly. Whereas, at least most of them missinterperate evidence or selectively decide what science is worthwhile and what isn't. I don't think most genuinely hallucinate or cannot distinguish their actions from fantasies.

So okay, not technically "insane." But really really really really extremely badly mentally not-so-good.... perhaps "nutty" would be a better word. And generally very stupid too.... so perhaps "nutty and stupid"

But remember: Even Ted Kezinski was found to be legally sane

 

[PixyMisa]

Years ago and in another place, I spent some time conversing with a chap who was (I discovered later) under treatment at the time for paranoid schizophrenia. His behaviour was not that much different to some of the CTists - joining up unconnected events to create patterns where there are none, and denying any evidence that didn't fit.

He was, in fact, more polite, coherent, and open to new ideas than many of the hard-core truthers.

 

[The Doc]

The "celebrity" conspiracists appear to be severely motivated by money and personal gain, the vast majority are void of intelligence and are inherently stupid, a small percentage are just plain crazy, and the rest are simply misguided.

 

[DavidJames]

This poll needs to allow multiple selections.

 

[Dave Rogers]

I think something you're missing is a sense of social exclusion. I think there are a lot of conspiracy theorists who feel generally dissatisfied with the society they find themselves in, but don't really understand why. They look too hard for things that are wrong with the world, and end up constructing a world view in which those things about the world that they don't like have been specifically put there to oppress them. I wouldn't characterise that as crazy, stupid, evil or dishonest, just misguided with a little more paranoia than the situation really merits. In some cases alcohol or drug abuse may also be a factor, which won't exactly help with the paranoia.

Dave

 

[chatiez]

more serious post, my tiny postcount allows .

I don't think all troofers are any of above. Especially younger people, who identify as troofers, from what I've seen they aren't all so obsessed with conspiracy. I think History channels document made good job linking growth of troofer movement with Iraq war. So for some people reason is refuse of accepting injustice, and trooferism is just a channel to work with it. Because it's easy to find and it has shockvalue.

I don't agree Chomskys overall black and white summary whats wrong in the world, but I think he made solid comment about trooferism. It wouldn't been too large jump from his position to jump into troofer bandwagon but he accomplished intellectual honesty by looking evidence and accepting them. He pointed out problem that trooferism is exhausting more reality based activism. It's counterproductive.

After trooferism Alex Jones finds new Y2K soon, so does other kookies who are figures in movement. They're just everything above in the poll.

So what I wanted to say, there are younger troofers who are motivated by savage disgust towards injustice and that can be productive force. Troofermovement is just dead wrong channel. Every day skepticism and critical thinking are able for anyone to learn, disgust towards injustice coming from the spine, not so much. So there are some right hearts trapped inside web of lies, they could do so much if they just learn to choose better channels to express themselves.

 

[winnietheblue]

I think Dave has a good point about them viewing the world as intentionally trying to oppress them.

Many of the ones I have come into contact with started out with a justified distrust of authority figures and the government, but that distrust quickly grew out of hand. They feel they have been kept in the dark about what is going on in the world, and this time they don't want to be the last ones to know. They have a tendency to believe anything that is portrayed as something the government is trying to keeping secret, because they expect the government to lie to them. Essentially, anything that makes the government out to be evil must be the truth, because, in their view, the government is evil.

I also think that many of them have a natural tendency to be led. They have figured out that following blindly is a bad thing, but instead of learning to think and make decisions on their own, their solution is to choose to believe the opposite of what the authority tells them to believe. That way, they aren't being "led" anymore.

 

[peteweaver]

Wondering, because sometimes it's hard to tell, but what motivates the majority of them?

In a lot of cases its PASSION.

And because of this, logic and reasoning goes out the window.

In other cases people out to make a quick buck, take advantage of that.

 

[CrikeyBobs]

For many, I think it is a social thing. There is a sense of belonging that perhaps is absent or inadequate in other parts of their lives (this is not meant to be pejorative).

I think there is also the thrill of being in on something potentially huge early on. A bit like all those penny stocks we wish we had bought 10 years ago that are now trading at $100.

So, not crazy, stupid or evil (well maybe a very few).

 

[kookbreaker]

I suppose its closest to 'stupid', but:

Most CTs are motivated by a desire to be superior in something. Since becoming a rock star requires some kind of talent, and getting superior skills in something requires work and talent, they try to find an easier way to feel better than the world around them.

One easy way is CTs. Just read a few websites, memorize a few 'facts' and now you know more than everyone else. Everyone else is sheeple, you and your select buddies are the superknowledgeable fighters against the Matrix. All of this for a minimal investment of effort and some scorn from normal people, but who cares? They are sheeple!

Going with CTs seems to be a bargain, but its the knowledge and skill equivelant of homeopathy: drinking water and calling it medicine.

 

[SpaceMonkeyZero]

The same thing that makes people join a cult. To Belong. To feel like they're better than everyone else because they know "The Truth™". And of course a cult needs cult leaders. These are the paranoids schizophrenics, the narcissists, the megalomaniacs, etc who may or may not believe the tripe, but they sure can force feed it to others.

 

[GT/CS]

I think something you're missing is a sense of social exclusion. I think there are a lot of conspiracy theorists who feel generally dissatisfied with the society they find themselves in, but don't really understand why. They look too hard for things that are wrong with the world, and end up constructing a world view in which those things about the world that they don't like have been specifically put there to oppress them. I wouldn't characterise that as crazy, stupid, evil or dishonest, just misguided with a little more paranoia than the situation really merits. In some cases alcohol or drug abuse may also be a factor, which won't exactly help with the paranoia.

Dave

Perfectly stated.

 

[GreNME]

I don't like the choices.

The trouble is that they are closer to Don Quixote.

Indeed. I think it's a rhetorically-induced condition for most, though. Similar to believing an illusionist can do what s/he does.

For many, I think it is a social thing. There is a sense of belonging that perhaps is absent or inadequate in other parts of their lives (this is not meant to be pejorative).

I think there is also the thrill of being in on something potentially huge early on. A bit like all those penny stocks we wish we had bought 10 years ago that are now trading at $100.

So, not crazy, stupid or evil (well maybe a very few).

Well said.

 

[leftysergeant]

I think 50% are bloody ignorant, about 10% are burned-out drug users,5% are incredibly stupid 5% are barking moonbats. The rest are an odd mix of anarchists and white nationalists who figure they have found the catalyst to start a revolution.

This is, at least the primary motivation for their involvement in Da Twoof. We cannot, obviously, rule out the possibility that that last 50% are in the anarchist or white nationalist movements because of their inate stupidity or mental disorders.

I feel I can safely count the majority of the white nationalists as evil.

(I have to admit that an unsuccessful drive-by shooting in Fayetteville, NC back in 1968 influences my opinion of white nationalists and what I would like to see happen to them.)