While you are home doing real moon research vivian pumpkin, I am freemindfade, man about town, drinking old fashioned's with gorgeous exotic blonde Ruskies
You're such a child sometimes.
Won't get fooled again ...Moon Landing.
by The Rebel 579 Replies latest jw friends
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Viviane
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freemindfade
sometimes
Im sorry viv I'll try to grow up
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The Rebel
Terry I guess the point from your link is,that we have a lot of conspiracy bullshit.-:)
The Rebel.
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breakfast of champions
[Breakfat of Champions enters the room and looks around]
BoC: Huh, this is still here.
[Breakfast of Champions sighs and leaves room]
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The Rebel
Kepler thank you for your informative post and link. Much appreciated.
The Rebel.
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LisaRose
It's not surprising to me that many ex JWs believe in conspiracy theories. You could argue that the Watchtower itself is a conspiracy theory. The Watchtower teaches that Satan and other religions are trying to con you, that only they have "the truth". Studies show that people who believe in one conspiracy theory are more likely to believe in another, even when the two contradict each other.
Some who leave the Jehovah's Witnesses simply jump to a different conspiracy theory, others learn critical thinking.
From the scientific American:
Since a number of studies have shown that belief in conspiracy theories is associated with feelings of powerlessness, uncertainty and a general lack of agency and control, a likely purpose of this bias is to help people “make sense of the world” by providing simple explanations for complex societal events — restoring a sense of control and predictability. A good example is that of climate change: while the most recent international scientific assessment report (receiving input from over 2500 independent scientists from more than a 100 countries) concluded with 90 percent certainty that human-induced global warming is occurring, the severe consequences and implications of climate change are often too distressing and overwhelming for people to deal with, both cognitively as well as emotionally. Resorting to easier explanations that simply discount global warming as a hoax is then of course much more comforting and convenient psychologically. Yet, as Al Gore famously pointed out, unfortunately, the truth is not always convenient
This is why conspiracy theorists don't look at or believe information that debunks their theory, they are invested in believing it. It's also why they resort to name calling and anger, your belief that they are wrong is threatening to them. No proof would ever be enough.
Finally, also from Scientific American
In terestingly, belief in conspiracy theories has recently been linked to the rejection of science. In a paper published in Psychological Science, Stephen Lewandowsky and colleagues investigated the relation between acceptance of science and conspiricist thinking patterns.
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freemindfade
I think more witnesses who are "in" than "out" are as LisaRose said. What I hear from exjw's and jwjw's is usually not the same. While we may discuss and joke about it here, I think in witnesses take them much much more seriously with little investigation.
i think there is also a difference with the anti-conspiracy folks, most the people on here providing the facts to disprove the theories do their research and do understand the allegations and the reasons they are not true, but there are also people outside of here, or maybe even some who don't get as involved who will deny a conspiracy theory simply for the fact they believe "america would never do that". And not really base their conclusion on facts either just like the person who accepts it because it sounds cool.
As i have said before, even though I have stirred the pot, I am like most who don't believe most based on facts, but I don't believe in teasing or deriding someone who distrusts and established way of thinking. I do believe its good to help them see the facts without trying to call them fools. Distrust of what is presented to you as truth is what got a lot of people out of the org. But I see a high and mighty reaction from many that I think is uncalled for. Even if someone is claiming to accept one of these things, you can help them see the facts without calling them a chump for questioning what they have been told is true. Mocking them will not help their critical thinking skills as much as showing them.
I think it is a healthy exercise to entertain an idea that , fictitious or not, exercises your brain against bias. If we were all in the "troof" still and one of us heard the jw religion was lying about something, or hiding something (conspiracy), would we insult them? Mock them? I don't think so, you want them to take that step of distrust to begin searching for their own answers.
Again, this is the only reason I play devils advocate on things like this:
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
I don't think anyone should speak so harshly towards those who express distrust in status quo. That being said its ok to help them see the facts without belittling them.
People get fooled everyday, bullshit is everywhere, and even superior minds that can debate the best of them and make claims to the best critical thinking could get taken advantage of by a high-school drop our with street smarts and charm.
Be nice, like Kepler, he did an awesome job
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freemindfade
And another thing, there seems to be an all inclusive assumption that
believing a conspiracy theory (regardless of what it is) = Some sort of brainwashing
This basically would imply that every conspiracy theory is wrong, simply by being a conspiracy theory. That doesn't seem like unbiased critical thinking to me.
I am not talking about the moon landing or cow mutilations, I am talking about the broad brush used because so many of those things are wacky. CRAZY THINGS HAVE TURNED OUT TRUE IN THE PAST.(watergate?) That should mean that they are not all true, just as much as they are all true.
When the moon landing madness is addressed thats good, when its just an attack those who wear the tin foil hats () thats a little extreme. Sometimes conspiracies do come true....
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TD
2 hours agoIt's not surprising to me that many ex JWs believe in conspiracy theories. You could argue that the Watchtower itself is a conspiracy theory
It's also not surprising that niggling away at loose ends, as JW's and kindred groups do with evolutionary theory, for example, is mistaken for actual evidence.
Personally, I'm not satisfied with all the answers vis-à-vis the assassination of John F. Kennedy and I'm speaking with a modicum of expertise on firearms. Anomalous data does not an argument make though. That is not evidence of a conspiracy....
