The psychology of the CT believers

ENTP
Extravert(44%) iNtuitive(50%) Thinking(1%) Perceiving(44)%

You have moderate preference of Extraversion over Introversion (44%)
You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (50%)
You have marginal or no preference of Thinking over Feeling (1%)
You have moderate preference of Perceiving over Judging (44%)


I think it nailed me.

Marcus, since you have admitted to being here for your own promoting instead of for the purpose of the forum, I am putting you on my ignore list. Go find your 'test subjects' elsewhere. I am too busy for that,
I didn know I was discussing anything with you but thanks for sharing!
 
Marcus, since you have admitted to being here for your own promoting instead of for the purpose of the forum, I am putting you on my ignore list. Go find your 'test subjects' elsewhere. I am too busy for that,

Funny that, Mick says he may well write a book about CT's and debunking... perhaps you should put him on ignore as well... Just a thought.
 
since you have admitted to being here for your own promoting instead of for the purpose of the forum, I am putting you on my ignore list. Go find your 'test subjects' elsewhere. I am too busy for that.
I don't agree. The concepts being interchanged have a general utility. I am enjoying this.

Not the debunking analysis, Marcus, but the abiogenesis problem. There's truth in your idea but I don't think any scientist would disagree with you anyway.

There is a parallel with the underlying nature of gravity probably being the basis of all physical forces - hence our difficulty with it.

I'm fishing about a bit, but it seems to me that physical emergence is a topological progression, behind which is some fundamental mathematics. But by the time I get to my horizon (to inspect my big toe) I'm in a world of semantics. :)
 
As a life long student of physics ive always looked at the construction of the universe in awe, and marveled upon discovering that it all could be described mathematically. Ive thought to myself, then if it can be described this way, then that's all it is. Is this far from the truth? Is there anyway to know? the search for these answers led me across many fields of study and into many theories and ive discovered that they are all flawed. And are all conspiracies, just some are better funded than others :)
This is corny, but let Isaac explain:

 
This is corny, but let Isaac explain:


a very interesting watch jazzy! I was watching a doc with my wife on pythagorus and it was interesting his take on the earths geometry, as opposed to the consensus of his time. I do agree that although there are key issues with major theories, not all of the info within them should be discarded. Theories should evolve with information, it is only when new info is stifled when science fails.
 
Is there such a thing as being addicted to protesting? I have noticed one individual who goes to just about every protest he can (Anti-Chemtrail, Against Monsanto/GMO, for Bradley Manning, May Day Marches, Anti-war, Anti-war in Syria, Anti-Nuclear power, marriage equality, anti-drone, Vigils for people he didn't know, and many others just this past year). I am not against protesting and do not disagree on some issues... I understand that a person could be passionate about many issues, but after a point it seems that there is something odd about going to every protest they can find (and when he signs up for the protests he signs up using multiple identities, syd stevens = socal skywatch) .


Capture.JPG



Is this to recruit others into his 'causes' or is there some sort of addiction going on?
 
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Ha. I'm an INTJ and so is my son. My wife is irrational.

According to wiki INTJ make up only 1-4% of the population.
I did this test some time ago. I'm INTJ also. The flattery I liked reading was something on the lines of "seeing the bigger picture" Is it odd that there's 3 INTJ's here?
 
I did this test some time ago. I'm INTJ also. The flattery I liked reading was something on the lines of "seeing the bigger picture" Is it odd that there's 3 INTJ's here?
Just clicked some circles. I am also INTJ. 1-4% seems slim, but other sorts of tests have placed me in much smaller groups...:D
 
Is there such a thing as being addicted to protesting? I have noticed one individual who goes to just about every protest he can (Anti-Chemtrail, Against Monsanto/GMO, for Bradley Manning, May Day Marches, Anti-war, Anti-war in Syria, Anti-Nuclear power, marriage equality, anti-drone, Vigils for people he didn't know, and many others just this past year). I am not against protesting and do not disagree on some issues... I understand that a person could be passionate about many issues, but after a point it seems that there is something odd about going to every protest they can find (and when he signs up for the protests he signs up using multiple identities, syd stevens = socal skywatch) .


Capture.JPG



Is this to recruit others into his 'causes' or is there some sort of addiction going on?

Or replying "yes" that he's going. ;)
 
Is there such a thing as being addicted to protesting? I have noticed one individual who goes to just about every protest he can (Anti-Chemtrail, Against Monsanto/GMO, for Bradley Manning, May Day Marches, Anti-war, Anti-war in Syria, Anti-Nuclear power, marriage equality, anti-drone, Vigils for people he didn't know, and many others just this past year). I am not against protesting and do not disagree on some issues... I understand that a person could be passionate about many issues, but after a point it seems that there is something odd about going to every protest they can find (and when he signs up for the protests he signs up using multiple identities, syd stevens = socal skywatch) .


Capture.JPG



Is this to recruit others into his 'causes' or is there some sort of addiction going on?


I came across the phrase 'professional agitator', which pretty much sums up his activities and the activities of a few others that seem to attend or organize every protest in the San Diego area.


What is the meaning of Professional-agitator?

Answer:
A professional agitator is a person who is well versed in and may have actually received training in organized protest. There are groups of professional agitators who will attend any protest which suits their agenda to aid and swell the numbers of regular protesters.

This is not the same thing as counter-protester, however a professional agitator may act as a counter-protester regularly and the skill set is approximately the same.
Content from External Source
 
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An interesting article in Psychology Today.

How Can You Tell Who's "Just Trying To Win"?


Below is a excerpt from the article:


  1. They don’t admit to making real mistakes.
  2. They don’t preface what they say with signals that they know their opinions are subjective. They never say “I think…”; “I feel…”; or “I could be wrong, but I believe…”
  3. They voice their opinions as pronouncements from on high without substantive support for them.
  4. They consistently change the subject back to why they’re right and you’re wrong.
  5. They show no real curiosity about your opinions. They don’t ask real questions—maybe just rhetorical ones.
  6. If challenged to restate your opinion and rationale, they can’t do it convincingly. They might do it mockingly, but will quickly return to why you’re just wrong.
  7. They pull rank as authorities on everything. They don’t see themselves as advocates but as judges presiding over your case.
  8. They rely mainly on rhetorical devices to make their arguments, those all-purpose ways of claiming the last word.
  9. They can’t identify common ground with you. They assume that since you don’t agree on the means, you must have different, less creditable ends. For example: “You don’t believe in smallergovernment? You must not care about freedom!”
  10. They spend at least as much time attacking your character as they do your arguments.
  11. They’re quick to assume you’re a fool or, ironically, a bully—just because you disagree with them.
  12. Their arguments boil down to, “I know you are but what am I?”
  13. They show few signs of being able to doubt themselves, even for 10 seconds at a time.
Content from External Source
 
It has been my observation that many of the people that are most active in the conspiracy culture (at least in San Diego) are Anarchists and they are involved in spreading anti-government fear-mongering... I suppose in the hopes that they can start a revolution.... the San Diego Anarchists had a meet up yesterday and make it clear with their signs. A couple of the handful of attendees were: Syd Stevens, who is known in conspiracy circles as 'Socal Skywatch' and is; active in promoting chemtrail nonsense and organizing local chemtrail protests, also is a Youtube contributor and makes conspiracy videos under the name of SydVideo . Another attendee was Nick Bernabe who is the organizer of March Against Monsanto and also runs a conspiracy website called TheAntiMedia.

When I see people that identify themselves as Anarchists, who spread anti-government fear mongering BS, I am not surprised... but it is interesting that they also seem to have an income that is derived from promoting conspiracy theories.


Event.JPG SydStevens.JPG

Nick.JPG
 
It has been my observation that many of the people that are most active in the conspiracy culture (at least in San Diego) are Anarchists and they are involved in spreading anti-government fear-mongering... I suppose in the hopes that they can start a revolution....


Right Libertarians in particular. The sad part is that most of them aren't aware that they are being used as pawns in an actual conspiracy. It's no secret that most of the organizations which disseminate the information that the libertarian conspiracy theorists parrot are astroturf outfits funded by billionaires and big business. The John Birch Society was heavily backed by the National Association of Manufacturers which is an advocacy group made up of some of the largest corporations in the world. Then there is the Kochtopus which funds all manner of denier and conspiratorial nonsense. I think even Alex Jones has some ties with JBS and he also routinely demurs when any criticism of the Kochs is made.

I understand that this in not a political forum, that the purpose of this forum is to address specific claims, but I think that it would greatly serve the greater cause to which the forum seems dedicated(rationality) if some effort was made(or allowed to be made) to critique, rebut, refute, and debunk the pernicious nonsense that is Libertarianism.

A great resource for getting up to speed on libertarianism and the criticisms of it -
Critiques Of Libertarianism
 
This seems rather relevant to this thread. A perfect example of the blend of delusion and narcissism, and the belief that they are the rare (one in a million!) Chosen Ones who can see the truth!

skywatch.gif
 
From my own dealings with people I know personally who are heavily invested in Conspiracy Theory, I often find that the beginnings of their belief in CTs often coincides with some sort of personal loss or tragedy that affects their level of trust in the world they know, or thought they knew.

One fellow, who was bombarding me with Chemtrail stuff, said he had been heavily researching stuff like this since oh, a decade and a half or so, which is about when he was in his mid to late teens.

Not only is this an age where we often become disillusioned with many aspects of the world we once had a lot of faith in and start questioning a little more, but in this fellow's case, once I got to know him a little better, it also coincided with when his parents got divorced. He hasn't made that connection yet.

When you have a disruption of something in your life that's supposed to be solid, something that you put your trust in - your parents, your marriage, you home, your career, god, the government, whatever that might be - losing something secure and important to you can hit you pretty hard. When your trust in something bigger than you is damaged, it seems to more easily lead to questioning other parts of life. This is where CTs can get their hooks into you.

Sort of, "Oh, so you thought your family was stable? Well guess what? Look up.. those planes aren't what you think either. Neither was 9/11. You might have thought something was suspicious, and ignored it, and look what happened. Don't let that happen again.. find out what's rotten ahead of time this time. Fool you once, shame on them, fool you twice, conspiracy theory."

It's a natural reaction to rationalize and try to make sense out of things that hurt us, even when often these things happen 'just because'. If we were better at predicting a trauma before it happened, we could prepare ourselves better, right? The same with CTs. They're almost an effort to find some form of sense, or organization, behind events or ideas that scare us or threaten us. It's hard to protect ourselves from random chance events, but if we can define them, link them to other similar events, and put them under a blanket term, we can at least say, "Ah, I knew it all along" rather than feel like we were being played for fools.
 
I have to agree with you JDubya. When I look at the comments on these CT videos, I have the overwhelming feeling that the 'followers' are almost HOPING these things are true. It will end their misery/sadness/helplessness.

I knew someone who lost their family because of alcohol addiction. He has been sober now for almost two years, but his fascination for CT's is like another addiction. I truly believe that he thinks if something bad were to happen, what he had done by losing his family would be eradicated from history...everyone would be on an even playing field..all fighting for our lives...fighting to make sense of things...fighting to survive, just as he is doing now.
 
Well that's another angle. People who drink often do so to 'self-medicate' due so some underlying psychological or psychiatric problem. Some of these involve feelings of paranoia.

But more commonly, anyone with issues involving depression and/or anxiety live with what's called a feeling of 'impending doom', as if something terrible is about to happen, but never does. That general feeling of unease is always around, even if there's nothing tangible to cause or explain it.

A CT could be something of a relief for someone with that feeling. It's a way to put together a general explanation for a general feeling, backed by bits of 'information' that link together to form the theory. Instead of a general, inexplicable feeling of dread, isn't it better to have an explanation for why things feel so 'wrong'?

Like the NWO. Or Chemtrails. I mean listen to what many believers' final 'proof' often is: I look up and just *know* those trails look wrong. Or they just *know* there are powers beyond their control pulling their strings. A CT is a way of back-fitting evidence to confirm your feelings without questioning our feelings in the first place.
 
anyone with issues involving depression and/or anxiety live with what's called a feeling of 'impending doom', as if something terrible is about to happen, but never does. That general feeling of unease is always around, even if there's nothing tangible to cause or explain it.

A CT could be something of a relief for someone with that feeling. It's a way to put together a general explanation for a general feeling
um, no. the majority of people know why they are depressed or anxious.

say youre depressed because youre ugly or your husband died on 9/11. yes there is that 'impending doom' that you will be alone and ..I don't know...never find true love again. but very often that DOES happen. so....

personally, (laymens speculation here) I imagine its more a DISTRACTION from what is causing your depression or anxiety. You can remove the depression/anxiety from your personal self because 'its happening to everyone'. ie the NWO is going to ruin everyone. everyone will be miserable. everyone will die. etc.

the bottom line is trying to psychoanalyze CTs (or anyones) as a group is silly. for example I really believe for most young people its just a stage.. the whole "fighting the Man who is evil" thing.
 
I think it varies too much from person to person and CT to CT. They do share some common elements which they teach each other. The biggest one I've seen is that they show people to disparage critical thinking skills and go for "gut instinct" they knock the scientific method as flawed and see the way primitive man thought as king. I don't want to be insulting but this attracts people who are distrustful of education and are more into "street smarts" (which includes sometimes people in education)

In my experience confirmation bias is huge, they have already made up their mind and no amount of evidence will sway them. I've shown someone dozens of pieces of hard evidence proving Alex Jones is a liar but it makes no difference, Jones simply can't be lying because he's working for the greater good. They do a quick google search for metabunk and lap up all the stuff about Mick being a government shill with zero evidence.
 
the bottom line is trying to psychoanalyze CTs (or anyones) as a group is silly. for example I really believe for most young people its just a stage.. the whole "fighting the Man who is evil" thing.

Maybe, and hopefully. It certainly seems to CAUSE a lot of unhappiness, if not outright depression. This was posted by someone who is apparently attending university - a photo of a few distant contrails:

upload_2014-11-18_11-15-6.png

That group is full of people saying that their beliefs have destroyed their relationships with their families, because they won't "wake up". One guy said it was what caused his divorce.
 
um, no. the majority of people know why they are depressed or anxious.

say youre depressed because youre ugly or your husband died on 9/11. yes there is that 'impending doom' that you will be alone and ..I don't know...never find true love again. but very often that DOES happen. so....

personally, (laymens speculation here) I imagine its more a DISTRACTION from what is causing your depression or anxiety. You can remove the depression/anxiety from your personal self because 'its happening to everyone'. ie the NWO is going to ruin everyone. everyone will be miserable. everyone will die. etc.

the bottom line is trying to psychoanalyze CTs (or anyones) as a group is silly. for example I really believe for most young people its just a stage.. the whole "fighting the Man who is evil" thing.

Hi. I studied these things in university, so it's not the layman's definition of 'depression/anxiety' I was talking about, but rather the clinical thing; not just being sad, disillusioned, unhappy, grumpy, moody, or any of that normal stuff. It's unfortunate that the clinical term 'Depressed' is the same name we all use everyday, 'depressed'.

Saying people KNOW why they are depressed is confusing the two things. People often know the reasons they're feeling sad, anxious, or upset, for sure. But if someone is Depressed with a capital 'D', I'm talking about something else, and I'm bringing up a particular symptom that goes along with it.

Being 'depressed' because of things like 'youre ugly' isn't the same as the more medical conditions of a Depressive Disorder. It's the difference between saying 'sad' and 'sick'. Same things with Anxiety disorders. They're often without a 'cause' like 'youre ugly', but rather come on out of the blue. Or, if there is a cause, it's likely a stressor that sets the wheels in motion of the underlying condition. Maybe you don't buy into that, which is fine, but that's what I'm talking about.

The 'feeling of impending doom' symptom isn't as specific as you're thinking. It's not 'oh, I'm going to be alone' or 'never find true love'.. those are thoughts, cognitions. This 'impending doom' feeling is a part of the symptoms you can get when depressed/anxious, and it's very general. It's similar to saying a symptom of Schizophrenia is paranoia. You wouldn't say, "Oh, most people know why they're Schizophrenic, it's because they're ugly and people are talking behind their back, and that's why they feel all paranoid."

'Impending doom" is part of your body going into a chronic fight/flight state, where it seems you're always ready for something terrible to happen.. although you can't really say what the heck it could be. It's just a deep, unsettling sense that won't go away. The 'doom' isn't something so specific as the reasons you listed, which sounds more like the normal reaction and thoughts people would have.

And yup, analyzing CTers as a group is likely futile, which is why I was going over a situations with people I know, personally, and noting that for them, the onset of CT belief seemed to coincide with personal tragedy, taking a hit to their faith in something they trusted deeply in, and perhaps some of the symptoms of conditions like depression and anxiety. And you're right, teens might be particularly susceptible to CTs as a 'phase'. It's a very sensitive time of life, and many psychologists joke that the teenage years is almost like going in and out of a psychopathic state.

I knew another man who was actually schizophrenic, btw, and his paranoia involved all sorts of things. Crazy creatures he saw chasing him up his stairs, that car parked across the road with tinted windows, the NWO, etc. Except when he was on his meds, and then suddenly the paranoia went away, and he didn't see threats everywhere.
 
You wouldn't say, "Oh, most people know why they're Schizophrenic, it's because they're ugly and people are talking behind their back, and that's why they feel all paranoid."
that's a ridiculous comparison.
I stand by my statement.
 
From my own dealings with people I know personally who are heavily invested in Conspiracy Theory, I often find that the beginnings of their belief in CTs often coincides with some sort of personal loss or tragedy that affects their level of trust in the world they know, or thought they knew.

One fellow, who was bombarding me with Chemtrail stuff, said he had been heavily researching stuff like this since oh, a decade and a half or so, which is about when he was in his mid to late teens.

Not only is this an age where we often become disillusioned with many aspects of the world we once had a lot of faith in and start questioning a little more, but in this fellow's case, once I got to know him a little better, it also coincided with when his parents got divorced. He hasn't made that connection yet.

When you have a disruption of something in your life that's supposed to be solid, something that you put your trust in - your parents, your marriage, you home, your career, god, the government, whatever that might be - losing something secure and important to you can hit you pretty hard. When your trust in something bigger than you is damaged, it seems to more easily lead to questioning other parts of life. This is where CTs can get their hooks into you.

Sort of, "Oh, so you thought your family was stable? Well guess what? Look up.. those planes aren't what you think either. Neither was 9/11. You might have thought something was suspicious, and ignored it, and look what happened. Don't let that happen again.. find out what's rotten ahead of time this time. Fool you once, shame on them, fool you twice, conspiracy theory."

It's a natural reaction to rationalize and try to make sense out of things that hurt us, even when often these things happen 'just because'. If we were better at predicting a trauma before it happened, we could prepare ourselves better, right? The same with CTs. They're almost an effort to find some form of sense, or organization, behind events or ideas that scare us or threaten us. It's hard to protect ourselves from random chance events, but if we can define them, link them to other similar events, and put them under a blanket term, we can at least say, "Ah, I knew it all along" rather than feel like we were being played for fools.

About the same time I started getting into these conspiracy theories I had just dropped school, hit major depression, parents divorced, moved houses, lost a girlfriend.

Not sure if these people actively go out looking for people who fit similar criteria, but wouldn't be surprised after the stuff that's happened in the past week or so.

I think my decision will be to remove myself from all groups and people associated with this mess and move on, hopefully they will sort themselves out.
 
they show people to disparuse age critical thinking skills and go for "gut instinct"

Actually, I see them claiming that they ARE using good thinking skills, but they clearly don't know how those skills work. They certainly do ALSO say that people should use some sort of other discerning method(mostly unspecified) that seems to border on a religious-type of belief.

they knock the scientific method as flawed

I think they don't really address the scientific method at all or understand what it is. What they think is that science is some sort of inbred system which is politically motivated and entrenched in old and lame "the world is flat" sort of ideas.
 
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Well that's another angle. People who drink often do so to 'self-medicate' due so some underlying psychological or psychiatric problem. Some of these involve feelings of paranoia.

But more commonly, anyone with issues involving depression and/or anxiety live with what's called a feeling of 'impending doom', as if something terrible is about to happen, but never does. That general feeling of unease is always around, even if there's nothing tangible to cause or explain it.

A CT could be something of a relief for someone with that feeling. It's a way to put together a general explanation for a general feeling, backed by bits of 'information' that link together to form the theory. Instead of a general, inexplicable feeling of dread, isn't it better to have an explanation for why things feel so 'wrong'?

Like the NWO. Or Chemtrails. I mean listen to what many believers' final 'proof' often is: I look up and just *know* those trails look wrong. Or they just *know* there are powers beyond their control pulling their strings. A CT is a way of back-fitting evidence to confirm your feelings without questioning our feelings in the first place.

What another coincidence. You just perfectly described everything I was feeling during my time of depression and anxiety. Bravo, sir.

ps. I can't help but write these replies and think of how a believer like I once is probably thinking that I am just anti-chemtrail advocate working for secret levels of the government or to be on your side with a made up account with my kind of name.
Seems conspicuous.


A bit of a background on myself, I created this account when I was about 16/17 just before the summer I dropped out of high school while I was smoking weed on the computer looking up and listening to the opinions of those who believe in conspiracy. I added virtually everyone I could find on Facebook with the name chemtrail and it became popular on Facebook where I would suddenly receive hundreds of friend requests a month (sometimes I would get 30 friend requests a day). So it became a mission and indeed I WAS SUCKED IN.

Just recently I've been trying to come across with logic and reason with these people in Geo engineering awareness and control groups, as well as people who post pictures of the contrails thinking they are Chemtrails by posting links or merely raising the suggestion with common sense attached that they could be persistent contrails.. Since I've 'woken up' I've had to remove myself from multiple groups from outright being called a troll or whatever or being discriminated against because of my age, so I just couldn't handle it (you could probably see the frustration I was experiencing).

Anyway, last night I was messaged by a friend who told me that multiple people were warning her to look out for me and I do not even talk to her and she is 1/4000 'friends' I have on there??? These people are indeed paranoid I'd have to say. And I posted I think 3 links on a photo of a CONTRAIL(chemtrail, wink) and later today I tried logging onto Facebook and found out I've been locked out and they are requesting I post my ID to prove my identity. I've looked up to try and find similar people who've come across this and it coincides with my suspicion that I have been reported by many people from the group to cause this to happen. The story is the same, these people didn't do anything wrong except for other people abusing the report button simply because they disagree with the nature of whatever you're posting even though it's not meant as disrespect.

That's when I came here and read your post.
 
What another coincidence. You just perfectly described everything I was feeling during my time of depression and anxiety. Bravo, sir.

ps. I can't help but write these replies and think of how a believer like I once is probably thinking that I am just anti-chemtrail advocate working for secret levels of the government or to be on your side with a made up account with my kind of name.
Seems conspicuous.


A bit of a background on myself, I created this account when I was about 16/17 just before the summer I dropped out of high school while I was smoking weed on the computer looking up and listening to the opinions of those who believe in conspiracy. I added virtually everyone I could find on Facebook with the name chemtrail and it became popular on Facebook where I would suddenly receive hundreds of friend requests a month (sometimes I would get 30 friend requests a day). So it became a mission and indeed I WAS SUCKED IN.

Just recently I've been trying to come across with logic and reason with these people in Geo engineering awareness and control groups, as well as people who post pictures of the contrails thinking they are Chemtrails by posting links or merely raising the suggestion with common sense attached that they could be persistent contrails.. Since I've 'woken up' I've had to remove myself from multiple groups from outright being called a troll or whatever or being discriminated against because of my age, so I just couldn't handle it (you could probably see the frustration I was experiencing).

Anyway, last night I was messaged by a friend who told me that multiple people were warning her to look out for me and I do not even talk to her and she is 1/4000 'friends' I have on there??? These people are indeed paranoid I'd have to say. And I posted I think 3 links on a photo of a CONTRAIL(chemtrail, wink) and later today I tried logging onto Facebook and found out I've been locked out and they are requesting I post my ID to prove my identity. I've looked up to try and find similar people who've come across this and it coincides with my suspicion that I have been reported by many people from the group to cause this to happen. The story is the same, these people didn't do anything wrong except for other people abusing the report button simply because they disagree with the nature of whatever you're posting even though it's not meant as disrespect.

That's when I came here and read your post.

Well that is a bit of timing and coincidence.

What I find interesting about CT believers is that many have adopted the perspective that if a person can read through all their 'proof' and still not come around to agreeing with their beliefs, it must be because the 'truth' was too hard to handle. They say that we ignore these 'truths' because it conflicts with our world view, and creates 'cognitive dissonance' - a misappropriated psychological term that basically means your mind goes into turmoil trying to reconcile a new view of your world with your old one, when the new one is frightening. Sort-of. You then ignore the new truth, edit it, selectively disregard portions of it, discredit it, do whatever you can to keep your old, happy version of the world stable.

Yet, when you confront some believers with facts that contradict their proof of chemtrails, I find the same thing happens.. you get blocked, banned, called a troll, a shill, ridiculed, edited, etc.. which sounds like the same sort of 'dissonance' that a skeptic is supposed to suffer from when confronted by CT 'reality'. I've seen FB pages have users gang up on a skeptical poster, trying to get enough 'abuse' flags sent to get their FB shut down as a way of silencing them.

As such, I dunno man.. let sleeping dogs lie sometimes. Or try to recognize when a confrontational approach might work, or when you might want to be more conversational about things.
 
If it helps with the psychoanalysis any, I came to realize after I left the CT sphere that the primary reason that I was hooked on CT's so much was that it gave me a sense of power and of being important..I was that "one in a million" person that knew what was going on and I was special because of it..so I guess it would be a narcissist type of personality. I think this was because I was kind of a quiet and goofy kid growing up and I had problems making and keeping friends because of this. I never really could fit in with any "clique" or "group" :/ Also my life was anything but normal with the way I was raised, and the way my Dad always told me the country was going to hell because the Democrats were in charge (1990's) and how the world was going to run out of oil in short time and we would all be screwed. And after 9/11 it was how the muslims were going to take over the world and chop our heads off because we were Americans and things like that. Then later, when Obama was elected, it was because we had this "communist" president that was going to destroy America, or at least so said radio personalities like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannidy and Rush Limbaugh. So I believe that is why I went so crazy with the CT's.. So that's my analysis of myself...hope it helps.
 
A psychological study paper that investigates the correlation (if any) between marijuana use and conspiracy theorists would be an interesting read..
 
A psychological study paper that investigates the correlation (if any) between marijuana use and conspiracy theorists would be an interesting read..

Not a psychological study paper, just personal observation over many years.

I've been a part-time / semi-pro musician since my mid teens, joined my first band in 1978, and played my first gig in 1979 and not stopped since. Now music and marijuana go together like bacon and eggs so over the years I've spent a lot of time with a lot of dope smokers, and I can't say I've spotted any real correlation. I've met and worked with hardcore CT's who were hardcore stoners, yet at the same time some of the biggest tokers I've met have been some of the most hard bitten of cynics and critical thinkers. All of which have helped pass long trips to 'Oopp North' in the back of transits with some most interesting discussion at various times.

But as I said, this is just my personal observation, not a real study. And I would love to see such a study and read it's findings, not only on the old Mary Jane, but on other hallucinogenics as well, would make for fascinating reading.
 
Actually, I see them claiming that they ARE using good thinking skills, but they clearly don't know how those skills work. They certainly do ALSO say that people should use some sort of other discerning method(mostly unspecified) that seems to border on a religious-type of belief.



I think they don't really address the scientific method at all or understand what it is. What they think is that science is some sort of inbred system which is politically motivated and entrenched in old and lame "the world is flat" sort of ideas.

I thought that went about saying, I didn't mean literally. In their minds critical thinking skills ARE gut instinct even if they don't say it out right. Most of them have little knowledge of the scientific method but knock it indirectly.
 
I knew another man who was actually schizophrenic, btw, and his paranoia involved all sorts of things. Crazy creatures he saw chasing him up his stairs, that car parked across the road with tinted windows, the NWO, etc. Except when he was on his meds, and then suddenly the paranoia went away, and he didn't see threats everywhere.

My father is schizophrenic. Most of the time it is managed perfectly well with medication - he might come across as slightly eccentric, but no more than a lot of older men are :). But when something triggers an episode - which can be stress, or a change in circumstances, or sometimes just no apparent reason at all - the paranoia begins, just like you say. He has always been into music and radio, and with him the delusions often involve radio: secret transmissions, bugs of the electronic kind, that sort of thing. Fortunately these episodes are very rare.

The mind is a fascinating thing.
 
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