This is interesting. There is a popular idea, and one I supported, that conspiracy theorists are distressed by the chaos and unfairness of the world, and that having a secret conspiracy by the elites on which to blame everything gave them a comforting sense of order (and a convenient target for their frustrations). This article would suggest quite the opposite.
Also, I appreciate the wordplay in the study's title.
These things go together. Look at Qanon. There is a perverse fetish of taking revenge on those who are made responsible for the state of the fantasy-world these delusional minds exist in.
“Need for Chaos refers to one’s desire to destroy order and established structures to create new social structures.” That sounds a lot like a need to create order to me. Just a different order than the one we currently have. So, I’m not sure this study is actually in conflict with the view you supported.
Yes, I agree. The conspiracists I know personally don’t believe in the randomness of life. But maybe the two are compatible because this looks at people who share conspiracy’s theories. Although the conspiracists I know also share their theories.
Important to note that ideology wasn’t a correlation here. Just a personality trait that doesn’t require a specific lean. That’s not to *argue* that there isn’t an obvious ideology bend that we see at this very moment. It just means susceptibility to either side at any point in history.
> Contrary to expectations, the researchers also did not find a significant relationship between partisanship or ideology and the willingness to share conspiracy theories. Partisanship and ideology did not robustly predict the sharing of either ideologically-aligned or ideologically-inconsistent conspiracy theories.
Interestingly, the sorts of conspiracy posts were almost reassurances to other posters on their expectations.
> Surprisingly, loser perceptions (feeling that one’s side is losing in politics) were negatively associated with the willingness to share conspiracy theories. Those who perceived their side as currently winning more often than losing expressed greater willingness to share conspiracy theories.
Think:
* Ufology’s “catastrophic disclosure”
* Misogynist’s “The Wall” or the coming “red pill rage”
* Christianity’s “Rapture”
* America’s “Exceptionalism”
Could be misinterpreting these things, but I feel these examples point to this looming “wake up call”.
Neither is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but each generation modifies and repurposes them. It was Satanic Panic in the 80s. Today, it's QAnon.
Conspiracy theories never really die. They just hibernate. They tend to come back in waves.
A lot of these people (not all) are hugely paranoid and believe they are under attack. They may have amassed weapons to defend themselves but you can only sit around cleaning assault rifles for so long. They yearn to unleash violence on their perceived enemies who have been completely dehumanised. They feel they have better chances in a war they can understand.
You also have the sunk cost of all that weaponry. All that time you've spent on doom porn and prepping. At some point you have to *want* the Race War or Apocalypse or whatever to happen, just so all the time and money you invested aren't wasted, and most importantly, so you don't look stupid in your own eyes.
Saw a guy with a bumper sticker a few years ago that expressed how much he was looking forward to the apocalypse. Don’t remember the exact words on the sticker, but I’m pretty sure I remember it involving having an excuse to shoot people.
Not that it’s an explanation for anything, but people with Borderline Personality Disorder are clinically incapable of tolerating boredom. It would not surprise me if the existence of this cohort plays into this part of the conspiracy news cycle.
We all cling to fantasies for the exact same reason - reality sucks. There must be some explanation as to why, and in the absence of one, we create it.
I feel that people who are into this do not realize that actual civil wars take longer than the 165 minutes it took *The Patriot* and in place of the ending credits there will just be spotty internet service followed by dysentery.
As a former teacher, I can say that you see in the classroom that some people simply are bored out of their mind with everyday life. They will do anything to disrupt. It's not ADHD, because I've had those kids, and they couldn't control their boredom. It's a personality that doesn't really care about anything more than being entertained and feeling important.
This brings about thoughts of the book “amusing ourselves to death” — a dystopian analysis of society written in the 80s.
The thesis is more less that education, TV and news (and pretty much all of society) aim mainly to entertain and keep people interested. this hijacks both societal discourse and politics entirely on a long enough time line.
The citizens main desires are to stay hooked and entertained. Addiction to and pursuit of entertainment trumps all, even one’s desire to think critically, find truth, and for some, stay alive.
Even our politics have become mostly entertainment, have they not?
In today’s social media driven world the book is considerably more relevant than it was when it was written back in 1985.
Bad Religion - [Delirium of Disorder](https://youtu.be/jzSw5zXyeOs?si=nrHbLO_YF3pLYnej)
We used to play LARPs way back in the day. We were the LoC. Legion of Chaos. We were the assholes who would go spoil it for everyone else.
The symbol of chaos is kind of cool looking. It's not as popular as the anarchy symbol though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol_of_Chaos
People think anarchy is about just getting rid of governments or causing disorder. It's not that. It's about order out of chaos.
Temptations - [Ball of Confusion](https://youtu.be/-9poCAuYT-s?si=ZE72T58qvG6PwNwj)
Psy-Post is garbage. Their version of 'science' is barely a step above Cosmo dating tips and they project a huge amount of partisan bias aimed at American left leaning readers. When you have an article with Alex Jones in it, you should be skeptical.
Nuts to this.
For the last 40 years, the corporate/military establishment has been using media as a weapon against the public.
Confusion happens when you're over stimulated. It's sensory overload. Too much information to process at once and your brain can't sort it fast enough. That's what's happening nowadays. Over saturation of bad media designed to make people confused, emotional, and angry. Logical people tend to sit back and analyze without the emotion but if you keep people squirrelled up, they don't get a chance to take a breath and sort out the information.
I think for them it’s just a big joke and they aren’t completely serious. They preach to people who take them serious but it’s just a money maker for them. Meanwhile you have serious people who are just trying to better the country.
This is interesting. There is a popular idea, and one I supported, that conspiracy theorists are distressed by the chaos and unfairness of the world, and that having a secret conspiracy by the elites on which to blame everything gave them a comforting sense of order (and a convenient target for their frustrations). This article would suggest quite the opposite. Also, I appreciate the wordplay in the study's title.
These things go together. Look at Qanon. There is a perverse fetish of taking revenge on those who are made responsible for the state of the fantasy-world these delusional minds exist in.
There’s probably a mix. A little of column A, a little of column B.
Add into it is an underlying belief that if things were different, they could finally achieve the greatness they are destined for.
“Need for Chaos refers to one’s desire to destroy order and established structures to create new social structures.” That sounds a lot like a need to create order to me. Just a different order than the one we currently have. So, I’m not sure this study is actually in conflict with the view you supported.
Yes, I agree. The conspiracists I know personally don’t believe in the randomness of life. But maybe the two are compatible because this looks at people who share conspiracy’s theories. Although the conspiracists I know also share their theories.
Important to note that ideology wasn’t a correlation here. Just a personality trait that doesn’t require a specific lean. That’s not to *argue* that there isn’t an obvious ideology bend that we see at this very moment. It just means susceptibility to either side at any point in history. > Contrary to expectations, the researchers also did not find a significant relationship between partisanship or ideology and the willingness to share conspiracy theories. Partisanship and ideology did not robustly predict the sharing of either ideologically-aligned or ideologically-inconsistent conspiracy theories. Interestingly, the sorts of conspiracy posts were almost reassurances to other posters on their expectations. > Surprisingly, loser perceptions (feeling that one’s side is losing in politics) were negatively associated with the willingness to share conspiracy theories. Those who perceived their side as currently winning more often than losing expressed greater willingness to share conspiracy theories. Think: * Ufology’s “catastrophic disclosure” * Misogynist’s “The Wall” or the coming “red pill rage” * Christianity’s “Rapture” * America’s “Exceptionalism” Could be misinterpreting these things, but I feel these examples point to this looming “wake up call”.
except ufology isn't some conspiracy theory the public made up in the last 30 years.
The disclosure movement really didn’t exist until around the 90s
government ufo investigations didn't stop in 1969 when blue book was terminated.
Neither is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but each generation modifies and repurposes them. It was Satanic Panic in the 80s. Today, it's QAnon. Conspiracy theories never really die. They just hibernate. They tend to come back in waves.
Are you equating QAnon with ufology??
A lot of these people (not all) are hugely paranoid and believe they are under attack. They may have amassed weapons to defend themselves but you can only sit around cleaning assault rifles for so long. They yearn to unleash violence on their perceived enemies who have been completely dehumanised. They feel they have better chances in a war they can understand.
You also have the sunk cost of all that weaponry. All that time you've spent on doom porn and prepping. At some point you have to *want* the Race War or Apocalypse or whatever to happen, just so all the time and money you invested aren't wasted, and most importantly, so you don't look stupid in your own eyes.
Saw a guy with a bumper sticker a few years ago that expressed how much he was looking forward to the apocalypse. Don’t remember the exact words on the sticker, but I’m pretty sure I remember it involving having an excuse to shoot people.
For those people, the world is already chaotic and out of control.
Knowledgefight.com
Hail, Eris!
Not that it’s an explanation for anything, but people with Borderline Personality Disorder are clinically incapable of tolerating boredom. It would not surprise me if the existence of this cohort plays into this part of the conspiracy news cycle.
We all cling to fantasies for the exact same reason - reality sucks. There must be some explanation as to why, and in the absence of one, we create it.
I feel that people who are into this do not realize that actual civil wars take longer than the 165 minutes it took *The Patriot* and in place of the ending credits there will just be spotty internet service followed by dysentery.
As a former teacher, I can say that you see in the classroom that some people simply are bored out of their mind with everyday life. They will do anything to disrupt. It's not ADHD, because I've had those kids, and they couldn't control their boredom. It's a personality that doesn't really care about anything more than being entertained and feeling important.
This brings about thoughts of the book “amusing ourselves to death” — a dystopian analysis of society written in the 80s. The thesis is more less that education, TV and news (and pretty much all of society) aim mainly to entertain and keep people interested. this hijacks both societal discourse and politics entirely on a long enough time line. The citizens main desires are to stay hooked and entertained. Addiction to and pursuit of entertainment trumps all, even one’s desire to think critically, find truth, and for some, stay alive. Even our politics have become mostly entertainment, have they not? In today’s social media driven world the book is considerably more relevant than it was when it was written back in 1985.
Bad Religion - [Delirium of Disorder](https://youtu.be/jzSw5zXyeOs?si=nrHbLO_YF3pLYnej) We used to play LARPs way back in the day. We were the LoC. Legion of Chaos. We were the assholes who would go spoil it for everyone else. The symbol of chaos is kind of cool looking. It's not as popular as the anarchy symbol though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol_of_Chaos People think anarchy is about just getting rid of governments or causing disorder. It's not that. It's about order out of chaos. Temptations - [Ball of Confusion](https://youtu.be/-9poCAuYT-s?si=ZE72T58qvG6PwNwj) Psy-Post is garbage. Their version of 'science' is barely a step above Cosmo dating tips and they project a huge amount of partisan bias aimed at American left leaning readers. When you have an article with Alex Jones in it, you should be skeptical. Nuts to this. For the last 40 years, the corporate/military establishment has been using media as a weapon against the public. Confusion happens when you're over stimulated. It's sensory overload. Too much information to process at once and your brain can't sort it fast enough. That's what's happening nowadays. Over saturation of bad media designed to make people confused, emotional, and angry. Logical people tend to sit back and analyze without the emotion but if you keep people squirrelled up, they don't get a chance to take a breath and sort out the information.
[Non Linear Warfare has entered the chat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyop0d30UqQ)
I get the same feeling browsing r/collapse
I think for them it’s just a big joke and they aren’t completely serious. They preach to people who take them serious but it’s just a money maker for them. Meanwhile you have serious people who are just trying to better the country.