The Rational and Irrational
Let’s face it the world as we know it today is in complete chaos. Not that there has ever been a time period with little to no order, but it is extremely evident that the recent social and political climates have caused quite the change, both figuratively and literally. And so, conspiracy theories remain on the rise! How else will the insanity be tackled? Honestly in today’s society the weekly “conspiracy” headlines don’t appear too off base from reality. Interestingly enough, two separate articles this week bore titles questioning the “intelligence” of those who identify as conspiracy theorists or dare to at least believe in them.
Mainstream Media says Conspiracy Theories are not for Rational Thinkers
The first article by Inverse Science: https://www.inverse.com/article/38403-conspiracy-theory-intelligence-rationality is entitled, “Even Highly Intelligent People Believe Conspiracy Theories, Say Scientists.” The subheading reads: “About 12 million of you believe in lizard people.” The article goes on to discuss how “tricky” the concept of conspiracies is as some have been proven true. In the past researchers were able to separate reasonable thinkers from conspiracy theorists due to their higher cognitive and analytical abilities. It appears that now those lines have been more blurred than before as a recent study has shown “people with high cognitive ability are just as likely to believe in conspiracies and paranormal phenomena as people with lower cognitive ability.” The article makes the ultimate argument that intelligence doesn’t equal rationality. So, could this mean conspiracy theories are always irrational? There is no straightforward or black and white answer to this question.
Time Magazine released an article this week with a similar title: “Why Smart People Still Believe Conspiracy Theories” http://time.com/5023383/conspiracy-theories-reasons-believe/. According to the author Jeffrey Kluger, millions of Americans believe in conspiracy theories… even those who should “know better.” A study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences has provided a new outlook on why, so many people believe conspiracies: because they “want” to believe. This study came to the same conclusions as the one discussed in the first article by Inverse Science, “the fact is that so many people in the studies score high on all of the rational and intellectual metrics and yet nonetheless subscribe to disproven theories.” This article ends on a similar note as the first, arguing that we as people cannot just think analytically, but must rise above to rational thought processes, specifically ones that don’t subscribe to the “silliness” of conspiracy theories.
It’s the End of the World…Again!
It appears that many internet conspiracy theorists can’t get enough of the planetary object known as: Nibiru. Another article by Inverse Science: https://www.inverse.com/article/38437-nibiru-wont-end-world-november-19 not only debunks this theory( which in all honesty is not difficult to dispute seeing as I am still typing this because the world has NOT ended). Nevertheless, the article does give a brief description of what this conspiracy is and how long it has been around: “The idea is that a large planetary object called Nibiru will strike Earth in the 21st century, killing all life as we know it. Though the hoax has been around since the ‘90s, it’s gotten so out of hand that recently, tabloids have started reporting that Nibiru might be responsible for the apocalypse, which is on November 19, for some reason.” Well clearly November 19 came and went without utter destruction from this so-called doomsday planet: Nibiru. There is a painstakingly amount of evidence that proves this planet or object of sorts does not exist, though it has been a widely talked about topic this week in the realm of conspiracy theories. This seems to be a yearly routine as every September, October, November, and December, the world is always “ending.”
Fueling the Conspiracies
Whenever news breaks of someone or something involved in unusual or unexplained circumstances, the conspiracies start rolling in. Conspiracy theories were once seemingly innocent and crazy ideas, suggesting that famous deaths were actually murders, and that several historical events have been government cover-ups. Now with the age of modern technology, mainly the Internet, conspiracy theories have become sort of powerful entities, even breaking into mainstream media and culture. Granted, it is obvious based on the majority of articles published that popular media still does not view conspiracy theories as a subject to be taken seriously. Could this possible be a government or illuminati driven motive to deter the public from paying attention to conspiracies because they are true? Hmmm…
Image Credit: © Touchstone Pictures still shot taken from M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs.
GoAskAlex 