I'm usually a lurker but this thread has been very entertaining; the 'Insider' probably takes the cake for being the most absolutely, ridiculous piece of "information" I have read in a long time (and I just read 150 first year undergrad papers). I'm not going to chime in on the whole 9/11 conspiracy topic, although I would be interested to know what Alex Jones credentials are (assuming he has any). What has really interested me is why people actually believe and continue to believe in things that seem so far-fetched?
I've poked around some academic databases and the work on conspiracy theories is fairly meager, but the few articles I did find were quite interesting. By no means am I claiming to be an expert but it is interesting to hear what experts (in peer-reviewed articles) have to say on the matter. One idea that was most striking was that consipracy theories tend to be unfalsifiable to those that believe them because of the individuals ability to account for any factor that could be refuted. Here's a few of the gems I came across which might give some insight into conspiracy theories and how those that believe in them think.
"Because conspiracy theorists almost always wish to see conspiracies exposed, they are typically quite dedicated in their search for evidence relevant to their favorite conspiracy theory and are usually able to overwhelm you with a deluge of evidence in favor of that theory." (Clarke, S. (2002). Conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorizing. Philosophy of Social Sciences, 32, 131-150).
"Conspiracy theorists baffle us only when they take one further step and turn the conspirators’ intentions of controlling all the variables in a situation, of deceiving all outsiders and of cooperating with one another as closely as possible, into the premises on which to base their own investigations into suspected conspiracies. The separation of conspiratorial groups from the rest of society, their boundless power and lack of scruples, as well as the no less boundless ignorance and gullibility of ordinary people outside the conspiracy, are all presupposed without further explanation. As a result, theories about real-world conspiracies are not falsifiable. They are feeding and reinforcing both a preexisting suspicion towards any ‘official’ truth and a solipsistic sense of self-assurance and superiority towards the noninitiated." (Heins, V. (2007). Critical theory and traps of conspiracy thinking. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 33, 787-801)
I think this one might be particularly relevant in the current context:
"Conspiracy theories are like black holes - they suck in everything that comes their way, regardless of content or origin Everything you’ve ever known or experienced, no matter how ‘meaningless,’ once it contacts the conspiratorial universe, is enveloped by and cloaked in sinister significance. Once inside, the vortex gains in size and strength, sucking in everything you touch." (Bale, J. M. (2007) Political paranoia v. political realism: on distinguishing between bogus conspiracy theories and genuine conspiratorial politics. Patterns of Prejudice, 41(1), 45-60)
And finally, why many people question (and rightly so) the legitemacy of conspiracy theorists claims:
"A progressive research program is one in which novel predictions and retrodictions are made that are generally successful. In a degenerating research program, successful novel predictions and retrodictions are not made. Instead, auxiliary hypotheses and initial conditions are successively modified in light of new evidence, to protect the original theory from apparent disconfirmation." (Clarke, 2002)
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