Monday 20 April 2015

Theories about Conspiracy theories

Four nationally representative survey samples collected in 2006, 2010, and 2011 indicate that over half of the American population consistently endorse some kind of conspiratorial narrative about a current political event or phenomenon and that these attitudes are predicted by supernatural, paranormal, and Manichean sentiments. These findings suggest that conspiracism is not only an important element in American political culture, but also is expressive of some latent and powerful organizing principles behind American mass opinion.
So say J. Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood in the AJPS, in an article I missed when it came out last October.

Read this table and weep.
TABLE 1 Percentage of Americans Agreeing with Various Conspiracy Theories, 2011
Conspiratorial NarrativeHeard Before?Strongly AgreeAgreeNeitherDisagreeStrongly Disagree
The U.S. invasion of Iraq was not part of a campaign to fight terrorism, but was driven by oil companies and Jews in the U.S. and Israel (Iraq War)44 6 13 33 22 27
Certain U.S. government officials planned the attacks of September 11, 2001, because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East (Truther)67 7 12 22 1841
President Barack Obama was not really born in the United States and does not have an authentic Hawaiian birth certificate (Birther)94 11 13 241438
The current financial crisis was secretly orchestrated by a small group of Wall Street bankers to extend the power of the Federal Reserve and further their control of the world’s economy (Financial Crisis)478 17382017
Vapor trails left by aircraft are actually chemical agents deliberately sprayed in a clandestine program directed by government officials (Chem Trails)17 45 282142
Billionaire George Soros is behind a hidden plot to destabilize the American government, take control of the media, and put the world under his control (Soros)31 9104416 21
The U.S. government is mandating the switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs because such lights make people more obedient and easier to control (CFLB)174 7 2424 41
Note: N = 1,935 cases.
Source: Modules of the 2011 Cooperative Congressional Election Surveys.

Table 3 is even worse: 27% believe we're in End Times; 33% believe in ESP.

All that's left is figuring out how to do away with Manichean dualism and superstition; education seems to be the strongest preventative measure, along with having political knowledge.

Or maybe that's just what they want us to believe.

Really, all the voting boxes are rigged and that the Illuminati are not only making sure your vote won't count but also keeping track of how you vote? Haven't you noticed that the chemtrail planes are concentrated in areas where your preferred party's support is undercounted because of the Illuminati? Think about it. Voting's dangerous. Chemtrails.


 


4 comments:

  1. Can't get me enough chemtrails. What concerns me is the number of neither responses to some of those questions. A 1/4 of the people surveyed are undecided on chemtrails and fluro lights? Conspiracy theories seem to be filling the hole left by the decline of religion. Previously it wasn't your fault because the magic sky pixie was testing your faith, now it's not your fault because shadowy organizations are doing bad things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These results obviously need to be interpreted in light of Lizardman's Constant: http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/12/noisy-poll-results-and-reptilian-muslim-climatologists-from-mars/

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's one of the best blog posts I've ever read. Thanks for the link.

    ReplyDelete