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NorthernGent -> RE: Debunking Conspiracy Theories In "Voodoo Histories" (1/31/2010 2:16:55 AM)
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ORIGINAL: Musicmystery
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ORIGINAL: NihilusZero
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ORIGINAL: NorthernGent
The idea that there is something bigger going on........henceforth affording people a reason for being.
And, even more powerful, the idea that they have uncovered the mastermind plot.
There's also, I think, that people would rather believe cool ideas than simply the truth. It's a lot more fun.
Have you guys seen this TED talk, Why People Believe Strange Things? Especially the end, the Stairway to Heaven backwards messages--we think we see and hear for ourselves, but truth is, we see and hear readily what we're told to look for.
Heads up for marketing and politics.
It's been understood that things aren't necessarily what they seem for centuries. John Locke contended that we're easily impressed with the packaging. David Hume used the simple example (among others) of placing your hand in a fire (the actual effect of placing your hand in a fire and the imagined effect of placing your hand in a fire) to contend that our impression of an event doesn't necessarily match reality and it follows thus we can easily be led astray into thinking our ideas correspond to something in the world (something experienced) when in fact they are mere fictions/products of the imagination. In addition Hume contended that we go beyond experience by thinking causally - but the thinking underpinning this is custom and habit rather than reason (with important implications for the nature of our actions).
A fair illustration of being led astray are the real experiences of the French and Russian revolutions (and other revolutions around the world) where people come to believe they are virtuous human beings with the answers on what it means to be a human being and the system needed to fit such an answer. Of course all they really know is their personal experiences and perceptions of the world - so logically others will reject their position and do - which is where coercion comes in and the circle is squared (they are the tyrants they deposed - no better/no worse - another group of human beings with the capacity for delusion/self promotion/power mania).
But this is a very uncomfortable position for many to adopt because it suggests the huamn being is a constantly changing bundle of perceptions rather than an enduring self - which has important implications for identity and meaning - and belief systems.
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