Beauty!
The Normal Life of Crazy Conspiracy Theories
Author Cass Sunstein looks at why conspiracy theories persist.
By Michael Morella
US News & World Report, April 21, 2014
From the CIA being accused of arranging for President John F. Kennedy’s assassination to claims the U.S. government is concealing evidence of alien life, “crazy thoughts are often held by people who are not crazy at all,” writes Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein in “Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas.” In the book, Sunstein, administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009 to 2012, collects and updates several previously published essays on the public’s fascination with conspiracy theories as well as hot-button topics like climate change, same-sex marriage and animal rights. He recently spoke with U.S. News about what makes people inclined to believe far-fetched theories and ways that Congress might find compromise on contentious issues.
How do people come to believe conspiracy theories?
Under conditions of fear or anger, as for example following a bad event, people want to find a cause, and they also want to resolve their own uncertainty. So if you’ve seen an assassination or a terrible economic downturn or a missing plane, there may be an inclination to posit an agent who’s behind it. Another thing is, if you have social networks where people are communicating with each other, especially with like-minded others, then you can see conspiracy theories going viral. Some of us have a disposition to believe in conspiracy theories. That’s just a tendency some people have. Finding a conspiracy behind something sometimes has some of the attraction of solving a puzzle.
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http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/04/21/cass-sunstein-explains-why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories
So when someone points out the Emperor is naked, or that secret "agent" doesn't have to tell you who profits from the illegal, immoral, unnecessary and disastrous war of choice, that's a head case for the shrinks.
Catch-22 Perfection.
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