Was going to out this in the random-thoughts thread but I couldn't resist putting it here due to the thread title, but the 2018 flat earth conference is, appropriately, being held at the Fantasyland Hotel. No, I didn't make that up.
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I just have to wonder what makes somebody believe such stuff. For one, there is no reason to be upset that the Earth is a sphere and not a flat disk. What advantage is there to believe this? Second, there is so much evidence to the contrary and only some random one-off type party tricks that could suggest otherwise. Are they holding out for a free round the world trip or something?
I just have to wonder what makes somebody believe such stuff. For one, there is no reason to be upset that the Earth is a sphere and not a flat disk. What advantage is there to believe this? Second, there is so much evidence to the contrary and only some random one-off type party tricks that could suggest otherwise. Are they holding out for a free round the world trip or something?
I just have to wonder what makes somebody believe such stuff. For one, there is no reason to be upset that the Earth is a sphere and not a flat disk. What advantage is there to believe this? Second, there is so much evidence to the contrary and only some random one-off type party tricks that could suggest otherwise. Are they holding out for a free round the world trip or something?
Conspiracy theories provide people the comforting notion that there is some order to what is really a chaotic, unpredictable, and often unexplainable existence.
Whatever the conspiracy, from flat earth, to Q-anon, to ancient aliens, the underlying message is that someone or something is in control. The inexplicable or uncomfortable parts of life have some kind of purpose or reason, they fit in some way into a larger whole.
One of the things that's particularly attractive about conspiracy theories is that they let the adherent feel like they are part of a small group with 'secret knowledge.' The adherent is closer to being part of the controlling group, they're a step closer to the inside, to those in charge, than the average 'sheeple.'
By believing in and accepting a conspiracy theory, the believer starts to feel like they might be able to exert some kind of meaningful control over their own lives in whatever small way. "I may be a puppet, but at least I can see the strings!"
Whatever particular conspiracy a person gravitates to is dependent on a lot of social factors: who they are, where they grew up, how their parents raised them, the random dumb luck of stumbling onto a particular youtube video at a time when you're particularly vulnerable to what a specific conspiracy theory is peddling. But the underlying desire is the same - and universal: a discomfort with the lack of control an individual has over their own life and a seeking to exert some level of agency upon the world.
(Worth mentioning - change 'conspiracy theories' to 'religions' and it's the same thing)
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In between the casual YouTube viewer and the person with serious mental illness there is the full spectrum of conspiracy theorists. Individuals also have every permutation of cultural influences, personal influences, and baseline personality. There does seem to be a sweet spot of people who are high functioning, but whose belief in conspiracy theories is pathological and delusional. When they fall down the conspiracy rabbit hole you get a level of fanaticism that leads to things like harassing parents who just lost a child in a horrific mass shooting.
Surveys on belief in conspiracy theories reveal this type of person. While many people believe at least one conspiracy (42% of people without a high school education believe in at least one conspiracy theory, compared to 23% of people with a post-graduate degree), there is a minority of people who believe every conspiracy, even when they are mutually exclusive. For them, rejecting the mainstream explanation is the important thing, not the details of the conspiracy itself.
Researchers have correlated certain psychological features with belief in many conspiracies, which gives some insight into the conspiracy phenomenon. People are more likely to believe in a conspiracy after they have suffered a loss. This suggests that conspiracy thinking is in part a defense mechanism, a way to perceive possible threats, or to relieve cognitive dissonance. We lost our job not because of some failure on our part or just bad luck, but because we are victims of a conspiracy.
Another study finds that conspiracy theorists want to feel special – that they are part of a privileged elite group that have the ability to see through the veil and know the truth.
The point is not that there are no conspiracies, but that conspiracy thinking is a pathological and often delusional process that leads to a false belief in bizarre and often grand conspiracies that are not supported by logic or evidence. The “grand conspiracy” is one that is so large it could not feasibly exist. It requires a level of coordination, sophistication, and control that is simply not possible. Such grand conspiracies would collapse under their own weight in a short amount of time.
A man who sued a young girl and her grandparents after he was injured when he jogged into the back wheel of her bike has lost his case in B.C. Supreme Court.
What kind of troglodyte sues a 10 year old girl after running into the back of her bike? Fortunately sanity prevailed here. To bad it cost dollars. Should have been laughed out of the room when he said he ran into the back of a 10 year old girl on a bike. How hard to avoid is that? Oh look, a snail on the road. OMFG it turned to quickly and I slipped on it!
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Not sure where to post this, or what the hell to think.
Of course we don’t know the whole story yet, but perhaps these cops should start hanging out with Laura Ingraham.
Young kid shackled in plain view in Boca mall.
Don’t know how old he is. A witness says he looks around 9 or so.
Picture: Boy shackled at ankles at Boca mallhttps://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-palm-beach-county/boca-raton/boy-shackled-at-ankles-by-police-at-boca-mall-police-say-child-became-physical-with-officer
Shackling a boy is extreme. The officers couldn’t handle the physicality of a 80lb boy so they cuff him and leave him on display for the public to see. That must violate some rights.
What kind of troglodyte sues a 10 year old girl after running into the back of her bike? Fortunately sanity prevailed here. To bad it cost dollars. Should have been laughed out of the room when he said he ran into the back of a 10 year old girl on a bike. How hard to avoid is that? Oh look, a snail on the road. OMFG it turned to quickly and I slipped on it!
I believe he was ordered to pay all court costs so only cost himself money.
And the best was he said he made sure they had insurnace before suing “so it is not like I’m taking money from the girls pocket”
I get that putting the kid of some kind of display is pretty bad, but apart from shackling or cuffing the kid, what are less severe options?
In my previous career, as a teacher/principal, I didn’t have to shackle a kid once and some of the kids got physical while being bigger than the boy in the picture. There are less intervention methods that could have been employed by the officers and the most useful method would likely have been privacy, talking and patience to calm the situation.
To me, the way the officers handled this situation is representative of other problems with current policing. Police appear, IMO, to be using higher level interventions when less forceful methods would suffice. It might be out of fear, power, lack of training, etc but I think the trend is worrisome.
Meh, if the office manhandled the little kid, the same people would be even further up in arms and rightfully so.
The kid stole and attacked an officer, and it appears that no physical damage was done. Never ideal, but hardly worthy of this thread.
And there's a certain irony of the same people who were mad that they weren't allowed to videotape the child, also mad that the officers didn't respect his privacy more.
