Why do people lie about their belief in a Conspiracy Theory? Part 2: Ulterior Motives

Why do some people claim to believe in a conspiracy theory, when in fact they do not?

In Part One I of this two part series, I explained that some people do this out of a motivation of fear (mainly the fear of some sort of lose by no longer believing in a conspiracy theory, or the fear of some type of retaliation).

Of course it is not always fear that motivate a person to claim that they believe in a conspiracy theory when they really don't. It could be that they have an ulterior motive that tends to be selfish in it's reasons.

Attention Seeking

Conspiracy theorists get a lot of attention, either from fellow conspiracy theorists who may or may not share their beliefs, or from skeptics who debunk their beliefs (while at the same time mocking them for those beliefs), or from the media (and law enforcement agencies) when a conspiracy theorist breaks the law after being motivated to do so by a conspiracy theory.

This attention can be attractive to those whom seek out attention themselves, and will take any type of attention (positive or negative) they can get.

Basically you can think of them as a bratty child who is acting bad simply because no one will play attention to them, and they know that acting the way that they are people will pay attention to them, and they do so without fear of consequences because there might actually be very little in the way of consequences, and even when they do suffer the consequences of their actions, they know it will be either minor and/or temporary, and that there are probably ways around it too.

Financial Motivations

Some people claim to believe in conspiracy theories not because they actually do, but because they're greedy, and they know that selling products that some conspiracy theorists buy can make them a lot of money.

For example, some one might open up a store that sells alternative medicine. The owner of the store might tell their customers how they "believe" that big pharma is evil, and that the medicine big pharma makes is actually bad for you, and that what they are selling will cure just about anything. The owner might not believe a word they just said, but if it gets them a sale, then they might not care.

Another example would be someone who has their own radio show and/or internet site which is dedicated to conspiracy theories, and lets say that this radio show and/or internet site has several sponsors that sell products that are aimed at conspiracy theorists. This could cause the host of this radio show and/or internet site to constantly spout out conspiracy theories that don't believe in order to keep money rolling in from those sponsors, and maybe even sell products that they have created (such as videos) to their audience.

Political Motivations

Another reason why some people might proclaim belief in a conspiracy theory that they don't believe in, and even make up conspiracy theories that they know are bogus, is because of political motivations.

Politically motivated conspiracy theories are actually very common, and the most common use for them is to try to get a person elected to an office by making up some stuff about another person whom already holds that office (or vice verse). The reason for this is to try to fool the voting public into believing these conspiracy theories about said candidate, and get more people to vote for their own candidate. This can be done by either a supporter of one of the candidates, or by one of the candidates themselves via attack ads, or internet postings.

Persecution complex

Somewhat similar to politically motivated conspiracy theories, some people might claim that a certain piece of legislation would (or does) somehow take away their rights (whether real or not). Some people might use the claims that a certain piece of legislation would take away their rights in order to rally people around them and either intimidate a politician to vote no on said piece of legislation, or create legislation that is suppose to counteract the other piece of legislation, or to an extreme extent, get people to ignore the legislation and any laws that comes with it as way to make it appear that piece of legislation is a failure. This could also apply to legal rulings as well as legislation.

Another reason why someone might claim that there is a conspiracy in that they are being persecuted for is that they are in fact being either investigated by law enforcement officials, or they really are being prosecuted for a crime they may or may not have committed. Some people might start spouting off conspiracy theories about the government targeting them over some conspiracy theories that they claim to believe in (which they may or may not actually believe in).

In fact they may actually be claiming that they are being persecuted (and even go so far as to claim that they have proof of a conspiracy theory, when in reality they never do) as a way to rally support around them, and as an attempt to try to intimidate the government into backing off of them.

Research

Some people might claim that they believe in conspiracy theories, and go to gatherings of conspiracy theorists groups, not because they believe any of it at all, but because they are doing research into conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists.

The reason for this could be because they could be a psychology student, or a psychologist, who is doing research into the mentality of conspiracy theorists, so they may pretend to believe in conspiracy theories in order to gain their trust, and help to better their research in understand conspiracy theorists, and the conspiracy theories that they believe in. Perhaps they are even a skeptic who is trying better understand conspiracy theorists.

The research could also be being done by law enforcement officials in order to seek out individuals who might be considering committing a crime (like an act of terrorism).

Controlling people

Probably on of the more darker aspects of conspiracy theories is some people might create conspiracy theories as a method of (or an excuse for) controlling people in order to get them to do what they want them to do.

The creation of conspiracy theories are primarily based off of some type of fear, and there are people out there whom have no problems using that fear in order to control another person.

While this way of controlling people is mainly used by cult leaders, it is also used by egotistical people who simply love to control others.

5 Things I've noticed about... Homophobics

Homophobics are individuals whom for some reason or another hate (or more likely fear) homosexuals. Now while there are many things that I've notice about homophobics, I've managed to narrow it down to five things.

So here are five things I've noticed about homophobics:

5. They're gay.

When I use the word "gay" I don't mean that they're happy people (because most of them aren't) or, as what some high school students mean when they use the word "gay", that they're stupid (although they are, but that meaning really should stop). No, what I mean when I say that homophobics are "gay" is that they really are gay...

Not only have there been several notorious homophobic individuals that have been caught in gay sex scandals (and several more are suspected of being closeted homosexuals too), several studies suggest that people with strong homophobic beliefs are actually themselves homosexuals.

4. They're arguments against homosexuality is based off of fraud studies and emotion.

If you ask a homophobic person why same sex marriage should remain illegal, and why same sex couples shouldn't be aloud to adopt children, and why homosexuality itself should be outlawed, they'll give you a number of different "reasons" why. The problem with the arguments that are often given is that they are often emotionally based rather than fact based, and that religious beliefs, going against nature claims, and slippery slop fallacious are often times used as covers for what is really a person's emotionally based prejudices.

Sometimes of course these people will not only give an emotionally based reasons for continuing to discriminate against homosexuals, they will actually give you "studies" that "show" why homosexuals should be discriminated against. The problem with this is that these studies are not produced by any credible medical or psychological organizations, and are in fact often produced by anti-gay hate groups. These studies are considered to be questionable at best, but often times are considered to be outright fraudulent and nothing more than propaganda.

3. They don't seem to understand the harm they are causing.

Because of homophobic politicians creating laws like DOMA and other state laws and amendments outlawing the legal recognition on both the state and federal levels of same sex marriage, this has caused both financial and legal troubles for many same sex couples.

Besides the political aspect of the harm they're causing, they're causing a lot of social harm as well. They've made some people believe that it's perfectly acceptable to mistreat homosexuals, and homophobia has caused families to break apart because someone (usually a parent) couldn't accept a family member who was gay (usually a child of said parent).

2. They're shrinking.

There's not as many people who believe that homosexuality is wrong and that same sex marriage should be illegal as there was ten years ago, or even five years ago. In fact some surveys suggest that a majority of Americans now believe that same sex marriage should be legal.

In fact most of the time when it comes to homophobic beliefs people tend to go one way, and that is they get over their fears and prejudices about homosexuals and accept that homosexuality is okay. In fact it's pretty rare for someone who isn't homophobic to develop homophobic beliefs, and usually the only people who this happens to are ex-gays (which are homosexuals who have been brainwashed into believing that they aren't homosexuals).

1. They're failing.

Over the years homophobics have been failing more and more to influence anyone other than fellow homophobics. Where once threats of boycotts by homophobic groups against companies for making gay friendly policies or advertising in a gay newspapers would actually get those companies to drop those policies and ads are now being ignored with no harm coming towards them. On the other hand, when there was a boycott against Chick-fil-a due to it's COO's (along with the WinShape Foundation and the company in general) support of anti-gay groups, the boycott was successful and lead to the company ceasing of support of anti-gay groups.

They're also failing in politics too. Same sex marriage is now legal in 12 states and the District of Columbia, and is legal in 15 counties (along with civil union and registered partnerships in eight states and 17 countries). In fact many religious groups (including Christian religious groups) now support gay rights and same sex marriage as well.

Eventually homophobics will have no say what so ever in politics. People won't vote them in, and they'll be treated just like any other bigots.

Conspiracy theories only create more conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories are all over the internet it seems these days, and there are a lot of things I have noticed about many of these conspiracy theories, but there is one thing that seems to be an absolute constant about conspiracy theories:

Conspiracy theories create more conspiracy theories.

Take the 9/11 conspiracy theories for example. What was probably the original conspiracy theory concerning that act of terror was the accusation that the Bush administration allowed it to happen, then it eventually progressed into the belief that the government made it happen, then into the belief that the towers were brought down by explosives, then into the belief that the towers were hit by drones, until finally you get to the really bizarre ones that claim that no planes hit the the World Trade Center towers at all.

Originally it would take years for a conspiracy theory to get to it's most bizarre levels (as the 9/11 conspiracy theories did) but now it takes no time at all.

The Sandy Hook conspiracy theories for example took very little time to go from your basic false flag attack conspiracy theory, to the truly bizarre theory that it didn't happen and that all the grieving parents of the children that were killed were just actors, and that all the children that were killed either were not killed, or never even existed.

That progression took less than a week.

And the conspiracy theories concerning the recent bombing of the Boston Marathon went from being an alleged false flag attack, to being an outright staged hoax in less than a day...

Sometimes it will go even further than just going from being mundane to being really bizarre (and perhaps harmful), sometimes it will lead to the creation of a conspiracy theory will actually end up being what's called a "counter conspiracy theory".

What a counter conspiracy theory is, is an attempt to counter a conspiracy theory with a conspiracy theory that is the exact opposite of that conspiracy theory (and in some cases themselves becoming pretty darn bizarre).

Going back to the 9/11 conspiracy theories, while there are a lot of conspiracy theories concerning who did it, there are some conspiracy theories concerning the creation of the 9/11 conspiracy theories.

The main ones being that they were created simply as a way to try to either get or keep the United States out of the middle east. There are some claims that Al-Qaeda created those 9/11 conspiracy theories, and even payed people in the United States to spread these conspiracy theories.

Then there are of course the counter counter conspiracy theories, which basically are conspiracy theories that claim that the counter conspiracy theories were created as nothing more than propaganda to make people fearful of believing in certain conspiracy theories, and as a way to make conspiracy theorists look like traders, and that if you believe in these conspiracy theories, you are a trader.

This is basically what happens when a conspiracy theory is created. It creates more and more conspiracy theories, and conspiracy theories that are meant to counter those conspiracy theories, and other conspiracy theories that are meant to counter those conspiracy theories.

In the end it all becomes so confusing that it is best just to ignore them all and go about your life.

Stereotypes Conspiracy Theorists have against Skeptics

There are a lot of stereotypes that conspiracy theorists believe about skeptics, and for the most part they're just not true. Most of the time these beliefs are either the result of manipulation, or just misunderstandings.

Here are some of the most common claims that conspiracy theorists have against skeptic, and why these claims are not true:

All skeptics work for the government.

One of the most common claims by conspiracy theorists about skeptics is that skeptics work for, or at least are being paid by the government, or to a lesser extent, private companies, to run debunking websites (they're usually referred to by conspiracy theorists as "dis-information agents"). Usually these accusations are followed up with a joke by a skeptic, usually something like, "I'm still waiting for my check."

The reality is that most skeptics don't work for the government, and most likely never would. Those that do work for the government are not being paid by the government to run these skeptic websites, and they are doing what they do on their own free will.

Skeptics believe whatever the government or media says.

No they don't. In fact skeptics are highly critical of both the government and the media.

Skeptics know that the government lies to the public all the time to try to make itself not look as bad, and that the media tends to report things way to early, or sensationalizes stuff, so bad information gets to the public, rather then correct information.

Skeptics don't believe in conspiracies.

Skeptics actually do believe in conspiracies. The difference is between skeptics and conspiracy theorists is that the conspiracies that skeptics believe in either have been proven to be true, or has enough evidence (real evidence, not made up evidence) to prove the conspiracy to be true, or at least likely to be true.

All skeptics are alike.

One of the biggest misconceptions about skeptics in general is that we are all alike, and that we have similar beliefs and education, and that we all see things exactly the same, but in reality this is not true at all.

We all debunk things differently, and we sometimes come to different conclusions on things, and there are fights within the skeptics community.

All skeptics are Atheists.

While a large amount of skeptics are Atheists, not all of them are. In fact I'm not an Atheist. I'm actually a Christian, and I do believe in God.

Some Atheists may use their beliefs as an excuse for being a skeptic, but there's no religious test for being a skeptic, and anyone can be a skeptic regardless of there religious beliefs (or lack there of).

All skeptics have the same political beliefs.

No two skeptics are alike, and no two skeptics have the same political beliefs. There are skeptics that are conservatives  There are skeptics that are liberals. There are skeptics that are libertarians. There are skeptics that are socialists. There are skeptics that are moderates.

There is just as much of a wide range of political diversity among skeptics as there are among none skeptics.

All skeptics have the same educational levels and work in the science or educational field.

It is widely believed that most, if not all skeptics have a college degree.

While many probably do, not all of us do, and not all of us are scientists or teachers. Some of us are blue collared workers who only have some college education. Some of us might not even have that.

Skeptics believe that conspiracy theorists should be locked up.

The only time skeptics tend to believe that conspiracy theorist should be locked up is when it's suspected that the person might become a danger to themselves or to others, or when they are engaging in criminal activity (such as harassment or stalking).

Other times we consider conspiracy theorists to just be annoying, but that's about it.

Skeptics refuse to examine evidence other then official evidence.

Actually skeptics do examine evidence other then what's official, we just dismiss the alternative evidence when it's been proven to either be not true, or not possible.

Get out and vote!

Today is the day that the majority of Americans choose whether we keep Barack Obama as President, or if Mitt Romney is to becomes our next President (along of course with other elections to choose to keep or replace governors, senators (state and national), representatives (state and national), delegates, judges, sheriffs, mayors, local councils, and new laws).

At least, this is what we tend to believe...

The reality is that it is not the majority of the American people who choose who will be President of the United States. In fact it is the majority of people who actually can legally vote who's choice really counts (which are United States citizens who are over the age of 18, and are not currently incarcerated, and have not been convicted of any felonies, or have been convicted of felonies but have yet to get their voting rights restored... and of course citizens who are residents of United States territories that are not actually states (with of course the exception of Washington D.C.) ) and not the people who are just to lazy to get up and go vote.

It is important that everyone who can legally go out and vote to actually go out and vote. It is the only way to know at least what the true opinion of what most Americans believe who should be in charge of this country, and thus how the country should be run.

Now there are some people that say, and believe, that their vote doesn't really count, but the reality is that your vote doesn't count if you don't actually go out and vote. No one is going to consider your vote to count if you don't actually vote in the first place.

Others might say that your vote really isn't going to make a difference. Again, this is only true if you actually don't go out and vote. Whether you believe it or not, your vote does make a difference.

Now of course there are others will try to make the "excuse" that there is no one is running that they actually like. Well there are more then two political parties, and in the presidential race there are more then two candidates. You can always check out what one of the other candidates want do and vote for one of them.

While we may have a choice whether we want to go out and vote or not, others will be basically be making your choices for you, unless you go out and make that choice yourself.

The reality is that your opinion about how the country is being run, and should be run, only means something if you want it to mean something, and the only way you can make that opinion mean something is if you actually go out and vote!