Bad ThinkersWhy do some people believe conspiracy theories? It’s not just who or what they know. It’s a matter of intellectual character.
Meet Oliver. Like many of his friends, Oliver thinks he is an expert on 9/11. He spends much of his spare time looking at conspiracist websites and his research has convinced him that the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC, of 11 September 2001 were an inside job. The aircraft impacts and resulting fires couldn’t have caused the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to collapse. The only viable explanation, he maintains, is that government agents planted explosives in advance. He realises, of course, that the government blames Al-Qaeda for 9/11 but his predictable response is pure Mandy Rice-Davies: they would say that, wouldn’t they?
Polling evidence suggests that Oliver’s views about 9/11 are by no means unusual. Indeed, peculiar theories about all manner of things are now widespread. There are conspiracy theories about the spread of AIDS, the 1969 Moon landings, UFOs, and the assassination of JFK. Sometimes, conspiracy theories turn out to be right – Watergate really was a conspiracy – but mostly they are bunkum. They are in fact vivid illustrations of a striking truth about human beings: however intelligent and knowledgeable we might be in other ways, many of us still believe the strangest things. You can find people who believe they were abducted by aliens, that the Holocaust never happened, and that cancer can be cured by positive thinking. A 2009 Harris Poll found that between one‑fifth and one‑quarter of Americans believe in reincarnation, astrology and the existence of witches. You name it, and there is probably someone out there who believes it.
You realise, of course, that Oliver’s theory about 9/11 has little going for it, and this might make you wonder why he believes it. The question ‘Why does Oliver believe that 9/11 was an inside job?’ is just a version of a more general question posed by the US skeptic Michael Shermer: why do people believe weird things? The weirder the belief, the stranger it seems that someone can have it. Asking why people believe weird things isn’t like asking why they believe it’s raining as they look out of the window and see the rain pouring down. It’s obvious why people believe it’s raining when they have compelling evidence, but it’s far from obvious why Oliver believes that 9/11 was an inside job when he has access to compelling evidence that it wasn’t an inside job.
More here:
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/bad-thinkers?utm_source=pocket-newtabThe author Cassam employs an old psychological trick on his readers, take the truth and then mix it with the ridiculous. Take the truth and then spin it off into space. This is why he mixes all conspiracy theories with the obvious conspiracy that occurred on 9/11, and the events of the JFK assassination. To the benefit of Jews like the one Cassam listed in his article, Michael Shermer. Perhaps this is also why JSTOR links to Cassam's articles often?
Be careful with these types. They are no different from the Q anon types who mix "flat-earth theory" with 9/11 research, or UFO's with 9/11 research. These people are attempting to take actual conspiracies that occurred and spin them off into space so that sane people throw the baby out with the bath water so-to-speak, and just give up investigating any conspiracy theory altogether. In that sense, it could be argued that people like the author of the above article, Cassam, are actually psychological terrorists.
This article is an exercise in exactly what it is titled as, "Bad Thinkers", which the author should count himself a member of.
Cassam also sounds like he's repeating exactly what was stated in the Netflix documentary about "Flat-Earth Theory" titled, "Behind The Curve".
Behind the Curve - Official Teaser TrailerCassam also sounds like he is employing the same tactic David De Rothschild attempted when he was confronted in San Francisco: (Notice how David Rothschild brings up "reptilians" when he is being questioned near the end of the video? These are diversion tactics to try and make the interviewers look ridiculous).
WeAreChange San Francisco has a little chat with David RothschildBAD THINKERS! DISHONEST PEOPLE AT BEST!