The Guardian is out with an examination of conspiracy theories and the reasons why people go for these (HT The Daily Bell). From the piece, with my initial thoughts in italics:
From 9/11 to the Paris attacks, from Ebola to Isis, every major global event attracts a corresponding counter-narrative from the ‘truthers’ [this is good news], some so all-encompassing that they take over people’s lives [probably not healthy unless focused on real investigation and action]. Are our brains wired to believe, as a new book argues? [Wired to believe authority, perhaps] And could such thinking actually be beneficial? [For the healthy among us.] It is interesting that this comes from the Guardian – the news source that has gained some credibility with anti-state / anti-empire types due to reporting such as provided regarding Snowden, as one example (not that I am advancing a conspiracy theory or anything). The author does tread lightly and respectfully.
The author of the piece, David Shariatmadari (I won’t type the last name again), begins with some testimony from a recovering conspiracy theorist, one apparently previously obsessed with 911 conspiracy theories. How does David respond?
Elliott’s reaction to the trauma of 9/11 was far from unusual. The attacks were so unprecedented, so devastating, that many of us struggled to make sense of them. Early reports were confused or contradictory: as a result some treated the official version of events with scepticism. A proportion of those in turn plumped for an explanation that would require fakery and coordination on a massive scale.
This post was published at Lew Rockwell on January 1, 2016.
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