conspiracy theories

There's a lull in the conversation

to my amazement the group joints in with other evidence supporting the moon landing hoax

a fluttering flag when there's no atmosphere on the moon

but now things are taking a turn down crackpot alley

so I take a deep breath and decides to chip in

they turn to me aghast that a stranger would dare to butt into their conversation

they turn to me aghast that a stranger would dare to butt into their conversation

I continue undeterred, hitting them with a barrage of facts and rational explanations

I continue undeterred, hitting them with a barrage of facts and rational explanations

one of the reasons why conspiracy theories bring up with such regularity is due to our desire to impose structure on the world and incredible ability to recognize patterns

this means that if our social groups believe something we are more likely to follow herd

and also if we are overly exposed to a particular idea then it becomes embedded in our world view

but instead of modifying our belief we tend to invoke self-justification any folks are justification and even stronger dislike of opposing theories which can make us more entrenched in our views