Yes. I once read an article that said that, given how hard it is to get a group of people to, say, decide on a restaurant or organize a picnic, how could ANYONE believe in a conspiracy? But then someone else pointed out that the article proved too much. It proved that group endeavor was nearly impossible, and that nothing was ever accomplished by groups.
It occurs to me that the very things your previous post describes as some people's motivations to believe conspiracy theories, might also serve others as motivations to JOIN a conspiracy.
The biggest thing in my mind was the idea of different wings of government all working silent and secretly together collaborating on a vile act, on secrets supposedly so earth-shaking that they'd sunder the foundation of the earth practically, and the whole enterprise is always pulled off so flawlessly, and no leaks. Yeah.
The whole adage, "three may keep a secret if two of them are dead" applies.
These conspiracy fans just need something to believe in. They want to believe in government as a cruel god. All-knowing (any disaster that ever happens was known about in advance and allowed to happen!), totally in control, capable of doing whatever it wants. It's a paradoxical form of self-reassurance, to believe one is clued in to what others so struthiously deny.
Good point on the last. Yes, wanting to feel "part" of some shadowy power (no matter how mundane one's role is) is a big draw for everything from masons to the CIA.
Both of which organizations do in fact have a perfectly legitimate mundane mandate to go with the outsize mystique its members (secretly) lip-smackingly enjoy.
2 comments:
Yes. I once read an article that said that, given how hard it is to get a group of people to, say, decide on a restaurant or organize a picnic, how could ANYONE believe in a conspiracy? But then someone else pointed out that the article proved too much. It proved that group endeavor was nearly impossible, and that nothing was ever accomplished by groups.
It occurs to me that the very things your previous post describes as some people's motivations to believe conspiracy theories, might also serve others as motivations to JOIN a conspiracy.
The biggest thing in my mind was the idea of different wings of government all working silent and secretly together collaborating on a vile act, on secrets supposedly so earth-shaking that they'd sunder the foundation of the earth practically, and the whole enterprise is always pulled off so flawlessly, and no leaks. Yeah.
The whole adage, "three may keep a secret if two of them are dead" applies.
These conspiracy fans just need something to believe in. They want to believe in government as a cruel god. All-knowing (any disaster that ever happens was known about in advance and allowed to happen!), totally in control, capable of doing whatever it wants. It's a paradoxical form of self-reassurance, to believe one is clued in to what others so struthiously deny.
Good point on the last. Yes, wanting to feel "part" of some shadowy power (no matter how mundane one's role is) is a big draw for everything from masons to the CIA.
Both of which organizations do in fact have a perfectly legitimate mundane mandate to go with the outsize mystique its members (secretly) lip-smackingly enjoy.
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