Personality and Conspiracy Theories: What Your Beliefs Say About You

[Sinnerman]

Personality and Conspiracy Theories: What Your Beliefs Say About You

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...racy-theories-what-your-beliefs-say-about-you

Do you believe in conspiracy theories?

Imagine that everything we think we understand about how the world works is, in fact, an elaborate hoax. Democracy is a sham designed to fool us into believing we are in control. That a small group of unknown, unaccountable elites is actually pulling the strings and pretty much deciding the course of history; everything from the world economy and the conduct of nations to the media and pop culture is under their complete control. Anyone who says otherwise has either been fooled by the conspiracy or is an agent of disinformation.

Conspiracy theories are now a firm feature of popular culture - the recent furore around Wiki-leaks provided compelling evidence for this. But the popularity of conspiracy theorising dates back to the shocking assassination of American President J.F.K. in broad daylight and in front of dozens of onlookers on November 22nd, 1963. Immediately, many people claimed that there was more than one gunman, and conspiracy theories arose implicating everyone from the CIA to the communists. More recently, films like Oliver Stone's JFK and T.V. shows like The X-Files brought conspiratorial themes further into the mainstream. The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 have become perhaps the most widely debated events of the current generation. Many people doubt the ‘official' story, believing instead that the events were the result of a conspiracy.

So, what has psychological research told us about belief in conspiracy theories? Not much. Indeed, so far only a handful of studies have looked at the personality of conspiracy theory believers. This research has found that believers tend to be lacking in trust and higher in levels of anomie - the feeling that things are generally getting worse - when compared to people with low levels of conspiracy beliefs. However, these findings show correlation, not causation. On the one hand, it may indicate that people's conspiratorial beliefs are a result of their underlying lack of trust; people who see conspiracies behind everything are simply be projecting their own jaded view of the world onto events. Alternatively, lack of trust may follow from the perception of a conspiracy, reflecting a rational response to the reality of living in a world of conspiracy.

 

[Sinnerman]

There were six comments to the article above. One of them is worth reading. It is from some delusional conspiracy nut, for sure. He lives in a fantasy world he has created in his own twisted mind. To some extent, he is no different than the conspiracy theory kooks on this site. Here he is...

[h=3]Mikhail Kryzhanovsky."HILLARY AND OBAMA : MAFIA WAR".[/h] Submitted by Mikhail Kryzhanovsky on April 24, 2011 - 1:57pm

My personal situation and my deep concern about the U.S. national security pushed me to write this letter.
I have nothing to lose after I've refused to participate in CIA-FBI conspiracy I have no money, no job, no permanent place to stay. I'm telling the truth though I understand that I violated Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.
Part I . "Kremlin" operation.
I was born in 1958 in Ukraine, I'm a former KGB USSR and SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) intelligence senior officer, and KGB "Nabat" anti-terror group member (a sniper). In 1991-1992, as SBU illegal intelligence officer, I came to Moscow to get into Russian President Boris Yeltsin "inner circle" to influence his decisions,extremely anti-Ukrainian at the time. Operation was in progress until Kremlin got information about it, and in 1992 Russia and Ukraine signed a Treaty to stop mutual espionage. I had to resign and move to Europe for security reasons.
====================
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Part II. "Millenium Hilton" operation

In 1995 I came to USA where I hoped to work for the government as strategic intelligence analyst . In September I was recruited at "Millenium Hilton" by two CIA agents and signed a certain obligation as "Filament". Then they introduced me to FBI National Security Division agent and next was a joint CIA-FBI conspiracy.
They were impressed by my intelligence, counter-intelligence and anti-terror experience, and also, by my research in political science. They decided to "copy" my Moscow operation .I had to spy on the U.S. Congress and work with Congress Librarian James Billington who knew me as a political scientist through his Moscow representative, and could introduce me to Senators and Representatives. They wanted also to influence the White House and approved my idea to create special instructions for American president on successful election and re-election campaigns, strategic planning and top decisions making, national security, foreign policy and diplomacy, propaganda, economy, war and special operations.
I was paid $900 to start the job and they guaranteed me "anything I wanted", including special CIA status - "stay in USA as long as you want and do whatever you think is necessary" and "best medical service in the world" . It was clear that political surveillance and control over the White House and the U.S. Congress, not national security, was and is the CIA and FBI top priority. Besides, they were interested in effective interrogation,tortures and murders methods -I gave them detailed instructions on that, and that was a big help in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
We talked about the Gestapo methods and I asked them about Gestapo Chief Heinrich Mueller - reaction was really rude: "Never ask questions about him. Don't even try to look after him in America". Interesting, right ?
I wrote "The Professional" presidential handbook, a system of top political management for President Bill Clinton - they wanted me to stay close to him. And then they said thay had "a very important job up to my high professional skills as a sniper" - read this carefully, Mr Bill Clinton. Maybe, CIA Director Leon Panetta can explain more.I was in Washington , D.C. couple of times and met some people. After that I tried to avoid them - I didn't want to kill politicians and be next Lee Harvey Oswald.
.
In 2000 I 've sent a letter to DCI Tenet saying that I stop cooperation with CIA.They've pressed me very hard in return. I'm immigrant, but I have no green card,no citizenship until now. For years INS ignored my family reunion petition.
There was open and aggressive surveillance in the streets and taking pictures right in my face, illegal searches of my apartment in my absence and stealing papers and phone books, breaking the mail boxes and stealing my correspondence.I had to fight back.
Three months before 9/11 tragedy happened, in June 2001,I've warned American President George W. Bush and the U.S. Senate on CIA anti-American activity, national security collapse and my personal situation.
Senator Hillary Clinton refused to mess with CIA . In 2002 I've called Lus Mendez, her Office Director and asked her to tell her boss the following:"I refused to work for CIA, I've saved your husband's (Bill Clinton's life), you must help me now". Only after that she helped my family to come to USA. Mrs Clinton wasn't surprised when I said :"I saved Bill Clinton's life" - can she explain America why ?
And would she take some responsibility for 9/11 and 3,000 dead Americanas ? Let's investigate.
In September 2002, White House sent a request to the Dept. of Justice, where FBI Director R. Mueller blocked it because I was a "joint" CIA-FBI project. Let's investigate.
June 14, 2004 ,the Office of NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer: "If an investigation is ultimately opened, someone from the Bureau will contact you. Janya Washington".
March 24, 2010, Senator Chuck Schumer's (D) New York Office: "You have to hire a lawyer if it's about American national security.We can just trace your correspondence with CIA but we can't investigate anything. Susan Orlove, Director of the Office". Let's investigate what Schumer is doing at his Office !
June 8, 2010 U.S. Office of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzerald (Ken Starr, his predecessor, brought Bill Clinton to impeachment procedure).
.
U.S. Office of Special Counsel
RE: OSC File No: HA-10-2641
Dear Mr. Kryzhanovsky
.
Your allegation that Mr. Panetta is involved in a CIA-FBI conspiracy, which you call the "Millenium Hilton" operation, even if true, is not activity that falls within the prohibitions of the Hatch Act. Therefore , we are closing the above referenced file.
Sincerely, Erica S. Hamrick
.
February 6, 2011 From: Mulqueen, Clifford, Deputy Commissioner/General Counsel, New York City Commission on Human Rights
"The New York City Commission on Human Rights does not have jurisdiction over the agencies you take issue with.Talk to Attorney General, CIA, US Congress".
.
I wrote to President Obama ,Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary and Mark Kappelhof, Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division - nothing happened. Let's investigate why national security is not Obama's priority ?
In 2007, ALGORA, a small publishing company, released my "White House Special Handbook, or How to Rule the World in the 21st Century", based on "The Professional". 300 universities and colleges including Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Georgetown and Oxford, learn top political management in a right, KGB way .
President Barack Obama is using my advices on economy, diplomacy, domestic propaganda, war, and if he wants to build socialism, he's moving in a right direction . Something else is very important. On July 2, 2008 he made the following statement :" We can't continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We got to have a civilian national security force that just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded". Many people , including Paul Broun, a Republican Congressman, think that Obama wants to establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship, but I think he means KGB with its structure and methods - exactly as I explain in my book.Then Leon Panetta promised him "full loyalty and support". Looks like Obama promised CIA political power (in exchange of support ? money for campaign ?) and new "civilian national security force " already exists - that's CIA with additional secret functions of total control.
One more thing. I've discussed with CIA Gestapo practice. They liked it , but talking about Gestapo Chief Mueller who disappeared after World War II was a taboo and that meand CIA saved him and moved him to USA. Does Obama know about that ? Does American and international Jewish community has the right to ask him about that ?
I was ready to leave America , but then I said to myself - let them leave, all 20 000 CIA bastards, why me ? As intelligence agency CIA does not exist, America is deaf and blind and that's the fact we have to face.
===================
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Part III. Mafia war.
In October, 12 2010, I had a meeting with two Secret Service agents, John and Bratt (646-842-2107) - they were pretty nervous about the video "How to kill President Obama" I put on YouTube to show the vulnerability of the protection system (video was based on a real fact - DCCC sent me invitation for a dinner with Obama). I've asked them why they allow the White House press office to put Obama's next day schedule on Internet with exact time and place of his trips - it gives a perfect possibility to kill him. You know what they told me ? That it was Rahm Emanuel's order and they can do nothing. On October 2, 2010 Emanuel was fired but they keep posting every day it's OK with the White House meetings, but not with the trips.Interesting.
More interesting - they told me they wanted me to work for them too, considering my experience, and they were ready to pay me.Still ,I don't know what's the job,but what if it's same stuff CIA wnted me to
They said :" We know you as "Filament", you work for CIA and we want you to work for us too under the same alias. We'll pay you". So, I'm still acting CIA agent and they're still sure I'll do political murders ? And who's the target now - Obama ? That's why Secret service is nervous - they are in the game ?And now I have to work for US Secret Service - doing what ? I'm still waiting for a phone call.
That's not the end. On January, 20 2011 I talked to FBI agent Eric Perry. He said that the video I put on YouTube made "high authorities, people on the very top vextremely nervous". He didn't explain if it was FBI Director Robert Mueller, the White House Chief of Staff or somebody else. He asked me to delete the video from YouTube. Interesting - why FBI is so nervous, it's not their job. They are in the game ?
Looks like there's mafia war inside the White House and there's connection with campaign 2012. I don't want to speculate, but I'm 30 years in espionage business and I undrestand far more than people tell me. Even if it's a White House mafia war and the Secret Service is in it, we have to do something.
Like with JFK assassination, you don't need huge conspiracy - it's enough if CIA Director, FBI Director and Secret Service Director make a deal. Back in 1963 they made a deal not to touch Lee Oswald untill he finished the job - simple, right , Mrs Hillary Clinton ? Your mafia soldier (or captain ?) CIA Director Leon Panetta, who wants sniper Kryzhanovsky back, is very "loyal" to you and your husband since he was his Chief of Staff ? Your mafia soldiers FBI Director Robert Mueller and Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan are good fellas too ?
Sorry, I violated omerta.
=====================
.

Part IV. Obama might be KGB "illegal spy"

There's a lot of suspicious information concerning our socialist President Obama's place of birth, his original birth certificate and his Columbia University attendance records. Loooks like he might be a KGB "illegal spy" or a "plant". I have some questions - what they were talking about with Bill Clinton in December 2008 and why Obama hired Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State ? Did Bill Clinton blackmail Obama ? How ?
Do you remember espionage scandal of a century - in June ,2010 GBI arrested 10 (ten) Russian illegal spies, a whole ring. Obama ordered to exchange them for 4 former CIA secret sources arrested in Russia. There was no investigation - why ? Maybe there's another Russian "ring" in America ? Or 2 ? or 3 ? Who knows ? 10 Russian spies were sent back to Russia without a single question ! What is that ? Who is Obama ?
He's destroying America - its called "socialist intervention into the US economy". Why ? Show me a single American who's happy about that.
The highest intelligence level — illegal spies, intelligence operatives who are secretly deployed abroad and covertly operate there under assumed names and well-documented cover stories, masquerading as native citizens. It's very important if you get , for example, original birth certificate of American citizen, who died (at young age preferably) or any records and documents on him(birth, wedding, death, any IDs, etc) .
The process of training and “installing” such officer is rather complex and includes:
a) Special training.
Foreign language, general, political and special (espionage and counter-espionage) knowledge of the target country; personal cover story — new biography, special technical devices, recruitment methods). Up to three years.
b) Illegal probation period abroad. A trip abroad through intermediate countries with numerous changes of passports and cover stories, jobs, personal connections. Then he gets to the target country, stays there for another 1-2 years and goes back to his country for additional training and correction of cover story — actually, it’s his first combat assignment. The most important part of this assignment is to check the reliability of the cover story and documents; the cover story has to be reinforced with new and old true facts, like short-term studies at universities or professional training courses).
c) Intermediate legislation.
On his way back the officer could stay in an intermediate country for another 1-2 years, make contacts with business, scientists, government employees, celebrities.
d) Basic legislation.
Officer comes to the target country, obtains genuine documents, gets a job which allows him to travel and talk to many people, recruit informants thus creating an illegal station.
The illegal is usually supplied with a variety of cover documents to make him “invisible” for counter-intelligence — some are used only to cross the borders on the way to a target country, others — to live there, other documents — only for travel to “third countries” to meet with officers of legal or illegal stations or to be used in case of urgent recall to home country (in that case the illegal is supposed to transit at least two or three countries). His further activity depends on how professional counter-espionage service is working in the country.
He could fail in his mission also because of:
- poor training and low quality documents
- neglecting security rules.
- one mistake in pronunciation can give you away
- treason (traitor-informant or a “mole” inside his own service)
- low personal security level (while working with sources)
If we talk about "legal plants", KGB (and modern Russian SVR) loves to recruite Harvard, Yale and Columbia students and "push" them to the top of American politics - US Congress, the White House, the Cabinet.
It might the reason CIA together with FBI and Secret Serevice conspire to give Obama "one-way ticket" - you can imagine the scandal if Obama IS a Russian "illegal spy" !
===========================
.

Mikhail Kryzhanovsky
a former KGB intelligence officer
a former KGB "Nabat" anti-terror group member (a sniper)
a former Ukrainian National Security officer
CIA, FBI and US Secret Service "Filament"
the author of the "White House Special Handbook"
PS I'm unemployed, but I'll fight for freedom, I'll fight the CIA machine even if I'm the only person in America who cares about it's national security. Wanna help me fight for America ? Why should KGB officer protect you all by himself ?

 

[Sinnerman]

[h=1]Conspiracy Theorists Aren’t Really Skeptics[/h]Conspiracy theory psychology: People who claim to know the truth about JFK, UFOs, and 9/11.
[h=2]The fascinating psychology of people who know the real truth about JFK, UFOs, and 9/11.[/h] By William Saletan

Believing in conspiracy theories doesn't make you any less gullible than people who buy the "official story."
Photo by Joshua Roberts/AFP/Getty Images


To believe that the U.S. government planned or deliberately allowed the 9/11 attacks, you’d have to posit that President Bush intentionally sacrificed 3,000 Americans. To believe that explosives, not planes, brought down the buildings, you’d have to imagine an operation large enough to plant the devices without anyone getting caught. To insist that the truth remains hidden, you’d have to assume that everyone who has reviewed the attacks and the events leading up to them—the CIA, the Justice Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, scientific organizations, peer-reviewed journals, news organizations, the airlines, and local law enforcement agencies in three states—was incompetent, deceived, or part of the cover-up.

And yet, as Slate’s Jeremy Stahl points out, millions of Americans hold these beliefs. In a Zogby poll taken six years ago, only 64 percent of U.S. adults agreed that the attacks “caught US intelligence and military forces off guard.” More than 30 percent chose a different conclusion: that “certain elements in the US government knew the attacks were coming but consciously let them proceed for various political, military, and economic motives,” or that these government elements “actively planned or assisted some aspects of the attacks.”

How can this be? How can so many people, in the name of skepticism, promote so many absurdities?

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The answer is that people who suspect conspiracies aren’t really skeptics. Like the rest of us, they’re selective doubters. They favor a worldview, which they uncritically defend. But their worldview isn’t about God, values, freedom, or equality. It’s about the omnipotence of elites.

Conspiracy chatter was once dismissed as mental illness. But the prevalence of such belief, documented in surveys, has forced scholars to take it more seriously. Conspiracy theory psychology is becoming an empirical field with a broader mission: to understand why so many people embrace this way of interpreting history. As you’d expect, distrust turns out to be an important factor. But it’s not the kind of distrust that cultivates critical thinking.

In 1999 a research team headed by Marina Abalakina-Paap, a psychologist at New Mexico State University, published a study of U.S. college students. The students were asked whether they agreed with statements such as “Underground movements threaten the stability of American society” and “People who see conspiracies behind everything are simply imagining things.” The strongest predictor of general belief in conspiracies, the authors found, was “lack of trust.”

But the survey instrument that was used in the experiment to measure “trust” was more social than intellectual. It asked the students, in various ways, whether they believed that most human beings treat others generously, fairly, and sincerely. It measured faith in people, not in propositions. “People low in trust of others are likely to believe that others are colluding against them,” the authors proposed. This sort of distrust, in other words, favors a certain kind of belief. It makes you more susceptible, not less, to claims of conspiracy.

Once you buy into the first conspiracy theory, the next one seems that much more plausible.

A decade later, a study of British adults yielded similar results. Viren Swami of the University of Westminster, working with two colleagues, found that beliefs in a 9/11 conspiracy were associated with “political cynicism.” He and his collaborators concluded that “conspiracist ideas are predicted by an alienation from mainstream politics and a questioning of received truths.” But the cynicism scale used in the experiment, drawn from a 1975 survey instrument, featured propositions such as “Most politicians are really willing to be truthful to the voters,” and “Almost all politicians will sell out their ideals or break their promises if it will increase their power.” It didn’t measure general wariness. It measured negative beliefs about the establishment.

The common thread between distrust and cynicism, as defined in these experiments, is a perception of bad character. More broadly, it’s a tendency to focus on intention and agency, rather than randomness or causal complexity. In extreme form, it can become paranoia. In mild form, it’s a common weakness known as the fundamental attribution error—ascribing others’ behavior to personality traits and objectives, forgetting the importance of situational factors and chance. Suspicion, imagination, and fantasy are closely related.



The more you see the world this way—full of malice and planning instead of circumstance and coincidence—the more likely you are to accept conspiracy theories of all kinds. Once you buy into the first theory, with its premises of coordination, efficacy, and secrecy, the next seems that much more plausible.
Many studies and surveys have documented this pattern. Several months ago, Public Policy Polling asked 1,200 registered U.S. voters about various popular theories. Fifty-one percent said a larger conspiracy was behind President Kennedy’s assassination; only 25 percent said Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Compared with respondents who said Oswald acted alone, those who believed in a larger conspiracy were more likely to embrace other conspiracy theories tested in the poll. They were twice as likely to say that a UFO had crashed in Roswell, N.M., in 1947 (32 to 16 percent) and that the CIA had deliberately spread crack cocaine in U.S. cities (22 to 9 percent). Conversely, compared with respondents who didn’t believe in the Roswell incident, those who did were far more likely to say that a conspiracy had killed JFK (74 to 41 percent), that the CIA had distributed crack (27 to 10 percent), that the government “knowingly allowed” the 9/11 attacks (23 to 7 percent), and that the government adds fluoride to our water for sinister reasons (23 to 2 percent).

The appeal of these theories—the simplification of complex events to human agency and evil—overrides not just their cumulative implausibility (which, perversely, becomes cumulative plausibility as you buy into the premise) but also, in many cases, their incompatibility. Consider the 2003 survey in which Gallup asked 471 Americans about JFK’s death. Thirty-seven percent said the Mafia was involved, 34 percent said the CIA was involved, 18 percent blamed Vice President Johnson, 15 percent blamed the Soviets, and 15 percent blamed the Cubans. If you’re doing the math, you’ve figured out by now that many respondents named more than one culprit. In fact, 21 percent blamed two conspiring groups or individuals, and 12 percent blamed three. The CIA, the Mafia, the Cubans—somehow, they were all in on the plot.





Two years ago, psychologists at the University of Kent led by Michael Wood (who blogs at a delightful website on conspiracy psychology), escalated the challenge. They offered U.K. college students five conspiracy theories about Princess Diana: four in which she was deliberately killed, and one in which she faked her death. In a second experiment, they brought up two more theories: that Osama Bin Laden was still alive (contrary to reports of his death in a U.S. raid earlier that year) and that, alternatively, he was already dead before the raid. Sure enough, “The more participants believed that Princess Diana faked her own death, the more they believed that she was murdered.” And “the more participants believed that Osama Bin Laden was already dead when U.S. special forces raided his compound in Pakistan, the more they believed he is still alive.”

Another research group, led by Swami, fabricated conspiracy theories about Red Bull, the energy drink, and showed them to 281 Austrian and German adults. One statement said that a 23-year-old man had died of cerebral hemorrhage caused by the product. Another said the drink’s inventor “pays 10 million Euros each year to keep food controllers quiet.” A third claimed, “The extract ‘testiculus taurus’ found in Red Bull has unknown side effects.” Participants were asked to quantify their level of agreement with each theory, ranging from 1 (completely false) to 9 (completely true). The average score across all the theories was 3.5 among men and 3.9 among women. According to the authors, “the strongest predictor of belief in the entirely fictitious conspiracy theory was belief in other real-world conspiracy theories.”

Clearly, susceptibility to conspiracy theories isn’t a matter of objectively evaluating evidence. It’s more about alienation. People who fall for such theories don’t trust the government or the media. They aim their scrutiny at the official narrative, not at the alternative explanations. In this respect, they’re not so different from the rest of us. Psychologists and political scientists have repeatedly demonstrated that “when processing pro and con information on an issue, people actively denigrate the information with which they disagree while accepting compatible information almost at face value.” Scholars call this pervasive tendency “motivated skepticism.”



Conspiracy believers are the ultimate motivated skeptics. Their curse is that they apply this selective scrutiny not to the left or right, but to the mainstream. They tell themselves that they’re the ones who see the lies, and the rest of us are sheep. But believing that everybody’s lying is just another kind of gullibility.

 

[Sinnerman]

Insights into the Personalities of Conspiracy Theorists

Psychologists find that distrust of authority and low agreeableness are among factors underlying the willingness to believe

• By Caitlin Shure on September 1, 2013

Insights into the Personalities of Conspiracy Theorists - Scientific American

Conspiracy theories and scientific theories attempt to explain the world around us. Both apply a filter of logic to the complexity of the universe, thereby transforming randomness into reason. Yet these two theoretical breeds differ in important ways. Scientific theories, by definition, must be falsifiable. That is, they must make reliable predictions about the world; and if those predictions turn out to be incorrect, the theory can be declared false. Conspiracy theories, on the other hand, are tough to disprove. Their proponents can make the theories increasingly elaborate to accommodate new observations; and, ultimately, any information contradicting a conspiracy theory can be answered with, “Well sure, that’s what they want you to think.”
Despite their unfalsifiable nature, conspiracy theories attract significant followings. Not all theorists, it seems, hold their “truths” to the standards of conventional science. And scientists are beginning to understand the types of personalities that buy into more extreme and unlikely theories. Research reveals that conspiracy theorists tend to share a core set of traits, regardless of their conspiracy of choice. Low self-esteem, for example, may characterize both those who believe that Paul McCartney died in 1966 and those who think that Britain’s royal family consists of reptilian aliens.
For a more in-depth account, see “What a Hoax” by Sander van der Linden in the September/October issue of Scientific American MIND.
DA VINCI'S DISCIPLES

Credit: Courtesy of Jez Elliot
The theory:
Some or all of the claims made in Dan Brown’s 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code, are true.
Studies say:
Even theories billed as fiction can attract a following. A survey conducted in 2005 revealed that 64 percent of respondents who read The Da Vinci Code believed to some extent that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene had spawned a secret bloodline. Willingness to believe in this conspiracy may be related to what researchers call “terror management theory,” which holds that subscribing to such grand dogma can assuage fears related to mortality. Indeed, a 2011 study found an association between belief in Da Vinci-esque conspiracies and anxiety about death.
AMELIA EARHART

Credit: Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Harris & Ewing Collection Collection
The theory:
The disappearance of aviators Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan has bred an array of conspiracy theories ranging from the optimistic (Earhart survived and lived in New Jersey until 1982) to the extraterrestrial (the duo was abducted by aliens).
Studies say:
In a study of 914 adults in London, University of Westminster's Viren Swami andAdrian Furnham of University College London found that 4.5 percent of respondents espoused an alien abduction theory, 5.5 percent believed the two were spies taken down by the Japanese, and only 32 percent endorsed a relatively undramatic account that the plane crashed into the Pacific after running out of gas. Further, researchers found that respondents who believed in Earhart conspiracy theories had lower self-esteem, were more likely to be cynical toward politics, were less agreeable and gave themselves lower ratings of intelligence.
SPAWNING A "TRUTH MOVEMENT"

Credit: Courtesy of diking
The theory:
Numerous outlandish narratives exist surrounding the events of September 11, 2001. In many of these stories, the U.S. government knew about the attacks ahead of time; in some, they even helped orchestrate the tragedy.
Studies say:
A second study by Viren Swami and colleagues found that belief in a 9/11 conspiracy was associated with political cynicism and a general tendency toward believing in conspiracies. This latter finding supports what psychologists call a “monological belief system,” in which any and all events can be explained by a web of interconnected conspiracies.
INFECTIOUS IDEAS

Credit: Courtesy of Michael Irving
The theory:
HIV was created by government-funded scientists as a bioweapon to extinguish certain minority populations.
Studies say:
Conspiracy theories can sometimes arise as a means of making sense of an otherwise senseless tragedy. In this way, theories about the HIV epidemic may help people cope with fear of the virus or the passing of loved ones afflicted by disease-related illness. Though assigning blame may be therapeutic to some people, such attribution has been linked with risky sexual behavior, negative attitudes about medication and lower treatment adherence among those infected with the disease.
DIANA and OSAMA (and 2Pac and ELVIS)

Credit: Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Exit Art's "Reactions" Exhibition Collection
The theory:
Osama bin Laden was dead prior to the U.S. raid on his compound. Also, he is still alive.
Studies say:
A study in 2012 by Michael J. Wood and his colleagues at the University of Kent found that those who believed Bin Laden was dead prior to American intervention are more likely to believe he’s currently alive. Similarly, authors found that those who think Princess Diana faked her death are more likely to believe she was murdered. So, which is it? Dead or alive? Research suggests that such contradictory narratives are linked by an underlying distrust of authority. Among conspiracy theorists, it seems, this suspicion is strong enough to overpower traditional life-death logic.
FAKE SCIENCE

Credit: Courtesy of Kathryn Hansen/NASA
The theory:
Scientists are not to be trusted. The 1969 moon landing was produced on a Hollywood movie set. And global warming is a conspiracy between the government and scientists to achieve world domination.
Studies say:
Polls estimate that anywhere from 6 to 25 percent of the general population believes the moon landing was faked, and 37 percent of Americans suspect global warming is a hoax. Although theories of earth and moon seem worlds apart, they are linked by a general rejection of science wherein distrust of one scientific claim predicts distrust of others. Researchers have found, for example, that people who reject climate science are also more likely to reject evidence that smoking causes cancer. But that’s just, y’know, according to science, and who believes that stuff, anyway?

 

[blue_ladybug]

For somebody who said his wife is unhappy about your amount of time in this forum, you sure are spending alot of time here..

 

[GodIsSalvation]

Lol indeed everyone a conspiracy theorist then.

Guess it's just an opinion of tastes. Lol haven't kept up with the new wave conspiracy theory files for a while, unless you count politics lol.

For myself idk the more wild conspiracy theories and their popularity, indeed many pplz in the offline know them. Lol I have a theory on that, not sure if it's a conspiracy though per not really being secret. A lot of the conspiracy theory stuff popular I think because frankly it's a free source of entertainment. That's why I figure it is popular. It's just kind of simple really, lots of people not rich at all in the manner, so in boredom time they get some cheap entertainment. Can watch a crazy fantastical plot about nazi reptilians from the moon on youtube for free whereas costs like 10-15 bucks to see a movie at theaters like Star Wars, and its basically the same thing.

Lol I like you Sir SM and your approach to some of the conspiracy theories. However me thinks you a conspiracy theorist too from our other discussions on politics, which I do not totally disagree with ya on, nor hate you even if we have disagreements on certain details.

Consider the Obama Conspiracy Mythos is vast, definitely bigger than Bush that's for sure. Lol To note for the softy leftists too btw I do not dislike Obama but its fair in his capacity as president for pplz to theorize about him that's part of the political contract in America, the people may say or think anything about their public servants. Even Obama himself jokes about it lol, maybe a lil saving grace to him for that other thread. Praise Jesus and may 2016 be good year for Obama and all America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_44QQMcGo
[video=youtube;Gv_44QQMcGo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_44QQMcGo[/video]

 

[Sinnerman]

For somebody who said his wife is unhappy about your amount of time in this forum, you sure are spending alot of time here..

Why would I, or anyone, for that matter, care about the opinions of someone entangled in depression, suicidal thoughts, a dislike of police, and an affinity for nutty conspiracies. Seriously, unlike you, my wife is well adjusted and has many interests of her own that, unlike you, are healthy and don't display acute mental illness. Go obsess on someone who has an interest in providing helpful mental health advice, not me.

 

[Sinnerman]

Canadian Psychiatrist insists, “Conspiracy theorists have underlying mental illness.

http://thedamienzone.com/2010/12/17/canadian-psychiatrist-insists-conspiracy-theorists-may-have-underlying-mental-illness/

“In my practice, it’s been pretty much the norm that patients who maintain and/or pursue beliefs in some of the more common conspiracy theories or far-out fringe conspiracy theories, are almost always suffering from mental illness.”

.
In a study covering over twenty-two years of patient study in the fields of paranoiac anxiety states and bipolar paranoiac disorders, German-Canadian psychiatrist Leo Gann has raised a few eyebrows with statements like the one printed above. Dr. Gann has been both lauded and lambasted by the medical community in North America and abroad, but ironically, it’s the patients in his study who support him the most.
“I came to Dr. Gann in 1991 with a firm belief that oil companies and car companies were secretly trying to poison the globe,” said Manitoba, Canada resident Jayne Minner (not her real name).
“I looked up everything I could find on this subject and went so far as to home school my children. This was in the days before the internet so looking up fringe ideologies was taking up a lot of my time. I spent hours in the library filling my head with everything from John F. Kennedy’s killing to the levels of lead in a lake near my home. It got to be a problem because I started going to activist meetings where I met people who thought like me and eventually I became part of a group of crazy people — and I was one of them.”
Dr. Gann agrees that Minner was in a downward spiral and that her beliefs were destroying her life inasmuch as being a wife and mother were concerned, but he would never have seen Minner as a patient if she hadn’t been in a car accident that badly shattered her right arm.
“I was called in to consult on Jayne’s case after she’d been in an accident that nearly cost her the use of her arm. She required a lot of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications yet she insisted that the doctors were trying to poison her. Because of her paranoid state of mind, I was asked to have a look at her. Initially she resisted psychiatric therapy and counseling but eventually she relented and spent hours upon hours lecturing me about my profession.
“I was amazed at her knowledge of medicine and medications,” continued Dr. Gann.
“For example, Jayne insisted that an antibiotic that she was receiving in hospital, although it had a Canadian label on the IV bag, was actually manufactured by a company in Belgium that had been cited by Belgian authorities for using excess amounts of a mercury compound. I looked at the IV bag of N-6 Erythromycin, and while it had a Canadian branding I asked the hospital chemist about this medication and he told me that it was made by a generic drug giant in Belgium.
“Of course the drug cured Jayne’s bone infection and she made a complete recovery, but when she insisted on mercury testing, I approved it. The tests showed that mercury levels, both hair and blood were virtually non-existent. As a matter of fact, her levels were far lower than what is expected as the norm for the average person in North America. When I told her this, she ventured off on another theory that her lead levels were low because chemicals in gasoline that chelated lead were in her body because they were being spilled out by an energy plant sixty-two kilometers from her home. She insisted that constant westerly winds carried the exhaust from the plant to an area directly around her house. Again, against my better judgement, I obtained meteorological evidence that this was indeed a fact, but the chemical, 5-hydroxy-n-butyl- ammonium lactate, can’t exist in the presence of oxygen for more than a millionth of a second before being turned into nitrogen and butane gas which is burned off by a stacking tower. Independant testing of air and plants and animals (mice and birds) in and around the plant showed zero levels of this compound.
“Still I was amazed by the depth of her knowledge of these seemingly minute and patently paranoid oddities. Today’s internet access, and the ease of obtaining information that was otherwise left to the most obscure library references, leaves me more in awe of Jayne’s knowledge because she had to go through great pains to learn all of these things without the use of the internet.
“I later learned that many conspiracy theorists go through the same kind of grueling madness. Many agoraphobic patients, people who begin to fear leaving their homes, eventually start to embrace conspiracy theories because their world becomes small for reasons they can’t explain and when conventional therapy fails to help them their mind start to venture into madness. I realize that to say madness seems unkind and almost primitive, but that’s the best way to describe what happens.
“There is something to the old adage, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”
“In 2006 I called Jayne and sixteen other patients with similar ideas, and asked them to participate in a study. I was not surprised to hear that all of them were still active in their conspiracy theories but by now they had dug in deep with Internet groups and individuals. What had once been a time-consuming process, had now become a few clicks of a mouse — feeding into their ideas about medicine, government, extraterrestrials, secret experimentation — the list goes on and on.”
Dr. Gann was not surprised when seven of the sixteen patients refused to see him and accused him of being part of the Canadian government’s plan to secretly test anti-viral medications on average citizens.
“Around the time I contacted these people, there was indeed a little known and patently obscure study going on where healthy patients were being tested with anti-viral agents. Of course none of this was done without the permission of the patient, but the idea spread across the internet and conspiracy theorists that the US and Canadian drug companies were plotting some diabolical scheme.
“Oddly enough, none of the anti-virals being tested were pharmaceuticals per se. The trials involved things like oregano oil, tea tree oil, shirk mushroom extract and cumin, but of course the trail of the internet had convinced these unfortunate people otherwise. All it takes is for one grossly unstable person to grab the internet ear of vulnerable people and the whole house of consiracy cards starts being built.
” I regret that these patients are still continuing with their system of anti-social beliefs. I truly believe that these ideas are a sign of anti-social behaviour and if the medical world is put off by that, they will have to live with it because I will not change my opinion — especially because my current research supports it. ”
In three years of out patient therapy, Jayne Minner’s life has changed dramatically.
“Currently I take Paxil, 1mg per day, and that’s one tenth of the smallest dose available,” said Minner. “I no longer worry about silly things. I call them silly because 10 years ago I thought they were dead serious issues that needed to be addressed. Today I look back and see another person — a dead person. I am not that person. I have had time to get my MBA and I enjoy my life. I had become increasingly agoraphobic during my conspiracy years, but now I’m out and about. Dr. Gann saved me from a life of craziness because in the end it was just that — craziness.”
I have had a 100% cure rate with the five patients I have in my study. That might not seem like a whole lot of data, but in each case the symptoms were the same and in each case the symptoms have vanished. One of my male patients has gone from spending 12 hours per day on the internet looking up things from UFO’s and Gulf Oil Spill conspiracies, to just checking his email and football scores. He’s gone back to his hunting and fishing club and just returned from a trip to Hawaii with his children and grandchildren.”
Dr. Gann firmly believes that the newer classes of anti-depressants, in doses far less than the recommended dose, along with psychological counseling, can cure a lot of people whose lives are wasted on the internet reading about medical problems, government plots, industrial scheming and a whole host of other time consuming obsessions that prevent people with mental illness from living their lives.
Gann believes that up to 5% of Canadians and11% of Americans suffer from this “disease” and he will publish his report in the March 2011 New England Journmal of Medicine as an add-on to his studies of POTS or Potural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome; a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that also seems to trouble devout conspiracy theorists who suffer with comormid agoraphobia and other anxiety disorders.
Of course conspiracy theory groups are already petitioning the governments of the USA and Canada and say that there is an ongoing plot to discredit them.
“I am not surprised,” said Dr. Gann. “I knew this would happen, but if I canhelp five people, I think I can help many many more.”

 

[Mitspa]

For somebody who said his wife is unhappy about your amount of time in this forum, you sure are spending alot of time here..

haha there you go Blue ...nag him until he prefers to listen to his wife

 

[Sinnerman]

Pay attention, conspiracy theorists. There is still hope for you. The article above had some quotes worth repeating. Read them and get the help you need.

I started going to activist meetings where I met people who thought like me and eventually I became part of a group of crazy people — and I was one of them.”

“I later learned that many conspiracy theorists go through the same kind of grueling madness. Many agoraphobic patients, people who begin to fear leaving their homes, eventually start to embrace conspiracy theories because their world becomes small for reasons they can’t explain and when conventional therapy fails to help them their mind start to venture into madness. I realize that to say madness seems unkind and almost primitive, but that’s the best way to describe what happens.

I was not surprised to hear that all of them were still active in their conspiracy theories but by now they had dug in deep with Internet groups and individuals. What had once been a time-consuming process, had now become a few clicks of a mouse — feeding into their ideas about medicine, government, extraterrestrials, secret experimentation — the list goes on and on.”

I had become increasingly agoraphobic during my conspiracy years, but now I’m out and about. Dr. Gann saved me from a life of craziness because in the end it was just that — craziness.”

One of my male patients has gone from spending 12 hours per day on the internet looking up things from UFO’s and Gulf Oil Spill conspiracies, to just checking his email and football scores. He’s gone back to his hunting and fishing club and just returned from a trip to Hawaii with his children and grandchildren.”

Dr. Gann firmly believes that the newer classes of anti-depressants, in doses far less than the recommended dose, along with psychological counseling, can cure a lot of people whose lives are wasted on the internet reading about medical problems, government plots, industrial scheming and a whole host of other time consuming obsessions that prevent people with mental illness from living their lives.

 

[Blain]

Why would I, or anyone, for that matter, care about the opinions of someone entangled in depression, suicidal thoughts, a dislike of police, and an affinity for nutty conspiracies. Seriously, unlike you, my wife is well adjusted and has many interests of her own that, unlike you, are healthy and don't display acute mental illness. Go obsess on someone who has an interest in providing helpful mental health advice, not me.

Now hold on there you go to far, Blue has suffered more than most people ever will and yet she is caring she is honest and she has a heart for God. Unless you know what it's like to go through great suffering and what it's like have a harsh and seemingly unfair life I would ask you to keep your mouth shut especially saying that what she says doesn't matter. You come to a Christian site but I have been watching you for a while now and I don't think your a christian at all and if you are you are one of those judgmental kinds which is not something a believer in Christ is to be

 

[Blain]

Pay attention, conspiracy theorists. There is still hope for you. The article above had some quotes worth repeating. Read them and get the help you need.

My hope and my help is in Jesus Christ not your articles

 

[blondieindahouse]

Canadian Psychiatrist insists, “Conspiracy theorists have underlying mental illness.

http://thedamienzone.com/2010/12/17/canadian-psychiatrist-insists-conspiracy-theorists-may-have-underlying-mental-illness/

“In my practice, it’s been pretty much the norm that patients who maintain and/or pursue beliefs in some of the more common conspiracy theories or far-out fringe conspiracy theories, are almost always suffering from mental illness.”

.
In a study covering over twenty-two years of patient study in the fields of paranoiac anxiety states and bipolar paranoiac disorders, German-Canadian psychiatrist Leo Gann has raised a few eyebrows with statements like the one printed above. Dr. Gann has been both lauded and lambasted by the medical community in North America and abroad, but ironically, it’s the patients in his study who support him the most.
“I came to Dr. Gann in 1991 with a firm belief that oil companies and car companies were secretly trying to poison the globe,” said Manitoba, Canada resident Jayne Minner (not her real name).
“I looked up everything I could find on this subject and went so far as to home school my children. This was in the days before the internet so looking up fringe ideologies was taking up a lot of my time. I spent hours in the library filling my head with everything from John F. Kennedy’s killing to the levels of lead in a lake near my home. It got to be a problem because I started going to activist meetings where I met people who thought like me and eventually I became part of a group of crazy people — and I was one of them.”
Dr. Gann agrees that Minner was in a downward spiral and that her beliefs were destroying her life inasmuch as being a wife and mother were concerned, but he would never have seen Minner as a patient if she hadn’t been in a car accident that badly shattered her right arm.
“I was called in to consult on Jayne’s case after she’d been in an accident that nearly cost her the use of her arm. She required a lot of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medications yet she insisted that the doctors were trying to poison her. Because of her paranoid state of mind, I was asked to have a look at her. Initially she resisted psychiatric therapy and counseling but eventually she relented and spent hours upon hours lecturing me about my profession.
“I was amazed at her knowledge of medicine and medications,” continued Dr. Gann.
“For example, Jayne insisted that an antibiotic that she was receiving in hospital, although it had a Canadian label on the IV bag, was actually manufactured by a company in Belgium that had been cited by Belgian authorities for using excess amounts of a mercury compound. I looked at the IV bag of N-6 Erythromycin, and while it had a Canadian branding I asked the hospital chemist about this medication and he told me that it was made by a generic drug giant in Belgium.
“Of course the drug cured Jayne’s bone infection and she made a complete recovery, but when she insisted on mercury testing, I approved it. The tests showed that mercury levels, both hair and blood were virtually non-existent. As a matter of fact, her levels were far lower than what is expected as the norm for the average person in North America. When I told her this, she ventured off on another theory that her lead levels were low because chemicals in gasoline that chelated lead were in her body because they were being spilled out by an energy plant sixty-two kilometers from her home. She insisted that constant westerly winds carried the exhaust from the plant to an area directly around her house. Again, against my better judgement, I obtained meteorological evidence that this was indeed a fact, but the chemical, 5-hydroxy-n-butyl- ammonium lactate, can’t exist in the presence of oxygen for more than a millionth of a second before being turned into nitrogen and butane gas which is burned off by a stacking tower. Independant testing of air and plants and animals (mice and birds) in and around the plant showed zero levels of this compound.
“Still I was amazed by the depth of her knowledge of these seemingly minute and patently paranoid oddities. Today’s internet access, and the ease of obtaining information that was otherwise left to the most obscure library references, leaves me more in awe of Jayne’s knowledge because she had to go through great pains to learn all of these things without the use of the internet.
“I later learned that many conspiracy theorists go through the same kind of grueling madness. Many agoraphobic patients, people who begin to fear leaving their homes, eventually start to embrace conspiracy theories because their world becomes small for reasons they can’t explain and when conventional therapy fails to help them their mind start to venture into madness. I realize that to say madness seems unkind and almost primitive, but that’s the best way to describe what happens.
“There is something to the old adage, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”
“In 2006 I called Jayne and sixteen other patients with similar ideas, and asked them to participate in a study. I was not surprised to hear that all of them were still active in their conspiracy theories but by now they had dug in deep with Internet groups and individuals. What had once been a time-consuming process, had now become a few clicks of a mouse — feeding into their ideas about medicine, government, extraterrestrials, secret experimentation — the list goes on and on.”
Dr. Gann was not surprised when seven of the sixteen patients refused to see him and accused him of being part of the Canadian government’s plan to secretly test anti-viral medications on average citizens.
“Around the time I contacted these people, there was indeed a little known and patently obscure study going on where healthy patients were being tested with anti-viral agents. Of course none of this was done without the permission of the patient, but the idea spread across the internet and conspiracy theorists that the US and Canadian drug companies were plotting some diabolical scheme.
“Oddly enough, none of the anti-virals being tested were pharmaceuticals per se. The trials involved things like oregano oil, tea tree oil, shirk mushroom extract and cumin, but of course the trail of the internet had convinced these unfortunate people otherwise. All it takes is for one grossly unstable person to grab the internet ear of vulnerable people and the whole house of consiracy cards starts being built.
” I regret that these patients are still continuing with their system of anti-social beliefs. I truly believe that these ideas are a sign of anti-social behaviour and if the medical world is put off by that, they will have to live with it because I will not change my opinion — especially because my current research supports it. ”
In three years of out patient therapy, Jayne Minner’s life has changed dramatically.
“Currently I take Paxil, 1mg per day, and that’s one tenth of the smallest dose available,” said Minner. “I no longer worry about silly things. I call them silly because 10 years ago I thought they were dead serious issues that needed to be addressed. Today I look back and see another person — a dead person. I am not that person. I have had time to get my MBA and I enjoy my life. I had become increasingly agoraphobic during my conspiracy years, but now I’m out and about. Dr. Gann saved me from a life of craziness because in the end it was just that — craziness.”
I have had a 100% cure rate with the five patients I have in my study. That might not seem like a whole lot of data, but in each case the symptoms were the same and in each case the symptoms have vanished. One of my male patients has gone from spending 12 hours per day on the internet looking up things from UFO’s and Gulf Oil Spill conspiracies, to just checking his email and football scores. He’s gone back to his hunting and fishing club and just returned from a trip to Hawaii with his children and grandchildren.”
Dr. Gann firmly believes that the newer classes of anti-depressants, in doses far less than the recommended dose, along with psychological counseling, can cure a lot of people whose lives are wasted on the internet reading about medical problems, government plots, industrial scheming and a whole host of other time consuming obsessions that prevent people with mental illness from living their lives.
Gann believes that up to 5% of Canadians and11% of Americans suffer from this “disease” and he will publish his report in the March 2011 New England Journmal of Medicine as an add-on to his studies of POTS or Potural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome; a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that also seems to trouble devout conspiracy theorists who suffer with comormid agoraphobia and other anxiety disorders.
Of course conspiracy theory groups are already petitioning the governments of the USA and Canada and say that there is an ongoing plot to discredit them.
“I am not surprised,” said Dr. Gann. “I knew this would happen, but if I canhelp five people, I think I can help many many more.”

So your mental illness has led you to cling to one guys theories

Yeah you seem well balanced to me

Which btw, I didnt bother to read your wall of text. Yawn..................

 

[KennethC]

Why would I, or anyone, for that matter, care about the opinions of someone entangled in depression, suicidal thoughts, a dislike of police, and an affinity for nutty conspiracies. Seriously, unlike you, my wife is well adjusted and has many interests of her own that, unlike you, are healthy and don't display acute mental illness. Go obsess on someone who has an interest in providing helpful mental health advice, not me.

This is the exact type of crap that should not be said to a person dealing with depression !!!

Any person that agrees with this man needs to examine themselves and spend a lot of prayer time with God to soften their heart.

You don't ever tell a person dealing with depression or act toward them that they don't matter !!!

You need to lean some love, compassion, kindness, and longsuffering my brother......................

 

[ThomistColin]

Which btw, I didnt bother to read your wall of text. Yawn..................

Then don't comment on it.

 

[RachelBibleStudent]

sinnerman although the psychological studies are interesting and validate what reasonable people already understand...a very helpful study for rational christians is to look into the philosophical and spiritual underpinnings of conspiracy theory...

here are a few key terms to get you started...

postmodernism
deconstruction
gnosticism
spirit of fear
projection

also note the very first conspiracy that the 'zeitgeist' movie postulates...even before they get to the 9/11 and global banking gobbledygook...

 

[Reborn]

Personality and Conspiracy Theories: What Your Beliefs Say About You

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...racy-theories-what-your-beliefs-say-about-you

Do you believe in conspiracy theories?

Imagine that everything we think we understand about how the world works is, in fact, an elaborate hoax. Democracy is a sham designed to fool us into believing we are in control. That a small group of unknown, unaccountable elites is actually pulling the strings and pretty much deciding the course of history; everything from the world economy and the conduct of nations to the media and pop culture is under their complete control. Anyone who says otherwise has either been fooled by the conspiracy or is an agent of disinformation.

Conspiracy theories are now a firm feature of popular culture - the recent furore around Wiki-leaks provided compelling evidence for this. But the popularity of conspiracy theorising dates back to the shocking assassination of American President J.F.K. in broad daylight and in front of dozens of onlookers on November 22nd, 1963. Immediately, many people claimed that there was more than one gunman, and conspiracy theories arose implicating everyone from the CIA to the communists. More recently, films like Oliver Stone's JFK and T.V. shows like The X-Files brought conspiratorial themes further into the mainstream. The terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 have become perhaps the most widely debated events of the current generation. Many people doubt the ‘official' story, believing instead that the events were the result of a conspiracy.

So, what has psychological research told us about belief in conspiracy theories? Not much. Indeed, so far only a handful of studies have looked at the personality of conspiracy theory believers. This research has found that believers tend to be lacking in trust and higher in levels of anomie - the feeling that things are generally getting worse - when compared to people with low levels of conspiracy beliefs. However, these findings show correlation, not causation. On the one hand, it may indicate that people's conspiratorial beliefs are a result of their underlying lack of trust; people who see conspiracies behind everything are simply be projecting their own jaded view of the world onto events. Alternatively, lack of trust may follow from the perception of a conspiracy, reflecting a rational response to the reality of living in a world of conspiracy.

There were six comments to the article above. One of them is worth reading. It is from some delusional conspiracy nut, for sure. He lives in a fantasy world he has created in his own twisted mind. To some extent, he is no different than the conspiracy theory kooks on this site. Here he is...

[h=3]Mikhail Kryzhanovsky."HILLARY AND OBAMA : MAFIA WAR".[/h] Submitted by Mikhail Kryzhanovsky on April 24, 2011 - 1:57pm

My personal situation and my deep concern about the U.S. national security pushed me to write this letter.
I have nothing to lose after I've refused to participate in CIA-FBI conspiracy I have no money, no job, no permanent place to stay. I'm telling the truth though I understand that I violated Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.
Part I . "Kremlin" operation.
I was born in 1958 in Ukraine, I'm a former KGB USSR and SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) intelligence senior officer, and KGB "Nabat" anti-terror group member (a sniper). In 1991-1992, as SBU illegal intelligence officer, I came to Moscow to get into Russian President Boris Yeltsin "inner circle" to influence his decisions,extremely anti-Ukrainian at the time. Operation was in progress until Kremlin got information about it, and in 1992 Russia and Ukraine signed a Treaty to stop mutual espionage. I had to resign and move to Europe for security reasons.
====================
.
Part II. "Millenium Hilton" operation

In 1995 I came to USA where I hoped to work for the government as strategic intelligence analyst . In September I was recruited at "Millenium Hilton" by two CIA agents and signed a certain obligation as "Filament". Then they introduced me to FBI National Security Division agent and next was a joint CIA-FBI conspiracy.
They were impressed by my intelligence, counter-intelligence and anti-terror experience, and also, by my research in political science. They decided to "copy" my Moscow operation .I had to spy on the U.S. Congress and work with Congress Librarian James Billington who knew me as a political scientist through his Moscow representative, and could introduce me to Senators and Representatives. They wanted also to influence the White House and approved my idea to create special instructions for American president on successful election and re-election campaigns, strategic planning and top decisions making, national security, foreign policy and diplomacy, propaganda, economy, war and special operations.
I was paid $900 to start the job and they guaranteed me "anything I wanted", including special CIA status - "stay in USA as long as you want and do whatever you think is necessary" and "best medical service in the world" . It was clear that political surveillance and control over the White House and the U.S. Congress, not national security, was and is the CIA and FBI top priority. Besides, they were interested in effective interrogation,tortures and murders methods -I gave them detailed instructions on that, and that was a big help in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
We talked about the Gestapo methods and I asked them about Gestapo Chief Heinrich Mueller - reaction was really rude: "Never ask questions about him. Don't even try to look after him in America". Interesting, right ?
I wrote "The Professional" presidential handbook, a system of top political management for President Bill Clinton - they wanted me to stay close to him. And then they said thay had "a very important job up to my high professional skills as a sniper" - read this carefully, Mr Bill Clinton. Maybe, CIA Director Leon Panetta can explain more.I was in Washington , D.C. couple of times and met some people. After that I tried to avoid them - I didn't want to kill politicians and be next Lee Harvey Oswald.
.
In 2000 I 've sent a letter to DCI Tenet saying that I stop cooperation with CIA.They've pressed me very hard in return. I'm immigrant, but I have no green card,no citizenship until now. For years INS ignored my family reunion petition.
There was open and aggressive surveillance in the streets and taking pictures right in my face, illegal searches of my apartment in my absence and stealing papers and phone books, breaking the mail boxes and stealing my correspondence.I had to fight back.
Three months before 9/11 tragedy happened, in June 2001,I've warned American President George W. Bush and the U.S. Senate on CIA anti-American activity, national security collapse and my personal situation.
Senator Hillary Clinton refused to mess with CIA . In 2002 I've called Lus Mendez, her Office Director and asked her to tell her boss the following:"I refused to work for CIA, I've saved your husband's (Bill Clinton's life), you must help me now". Only after that she helped my family to come to USA. Mrs Clinton wasn't surprised when I said :"I saved Bill Clinton's life" - can she explain America why ?
And would she take some responsibility for 9/11 and 3,000 dead Americanas ? Let's investigate.
In September 2002, White House sent a request to the Dept. of Justice, where FBI Director R. Mueller blocked it because I was a "joint" CIA-FBI project. Let's investigate.
June 14, 2004 ,the Office of NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer: "If an investigation is ultimately opened, someone from the Bureau will contact you. Janya Washington".
March 24, 2010, Senator Chuck Schumer's (D) New York Office: "You have to hire a lawyer if it's about American national security.We can just trace your correspondence with CIA but we can't investigate anything. Susan Orlove, Director of the Office". Let's investigate what Schumer is doing at his Office !
June 8, 2010 U.S. Office of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzerald (Ken Starr, his predecessor, brought Bill Clinton to impeachment procedure).
.
U.S. Office of Special Counsel
RE: OSC File No: HA-10-2641
Dear Mr. Kryzhanovsky
.
Your allegation that Mr. Panetta is involved in a CIA-FBI conspiracy, which you call the "Millenium Hilton" operation, even if true, is not activity that falls within the prohibitions of the Hatch Act. Therefore , we are closing the above referenced file.
Sincerely, Erica S. Hamrick
.
February 6, 2011 From: Mulqueen, Clifford, Deputy Commissioner/General Counsel, New York City Commission on Human Rights
"The New York City Commission on Human Rights does not have jurisdiction over the agencies you take issue with.Talk to Attorney General, CIA, US Congress".
.
I wrote to President Obama ,Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary and Mark Kappelhof, Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division - nothing happened. Let's investigate why national security is not Obama's priority ?
In 2007, ALGORA, a small publishing company, released my "White House Special Handbook, or How to Rule the World in the 21st Century", based on "The Professional". 300 universities and colleges including Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Georgetown and Oxford, learn top political management in a right, KGB way .
President Barack Obama is using my advices on economy, diplomacy, domestic propaganda, war, and if he wants to build socialism, he's moving in a right direction . Something else is very important. On July 2, 2008 he made the following statement :" We can't continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We got to have a civilian national security force that just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded". Many people , including Paul Broun, a Republican Congressman, think that Obama wants to establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship, but I think he means KGB with its structure and methods - exactly as I explain in my book.Then Leon Panetta promised him "full loyalty and support". Looks like Obama promised CIA political power (in exchange of support ? money for campaign ?) and new "civilian national security force " already exists - that's CIA with additional secret functions of total control.
One more thing. I've discussed with CIA Gestapo practice. They liked it , but talking about Gestapo Chief Mueller who disappeared after World War II was a taboo and that meand CIA saved him and moved him to USA. Does Obama know about that ? Does American and international Jewish community has the right to ask him about that ?
I was ready to leave America , but then I said to myself - let them leave, all 20 000 CIA bastards, why me ? As intelligence agency CIA does not exist, America is deaf and blind and that's the fact we have to face.
===================
.

Part III. Mafia war.
In October, 12 2010, I had a meeting with two Secret Service agents, John and Bratt (646-842-2107) - they were pretty nervous about the video "How to kill President Obama" I put on YouTube to show the vulnerability of the protection system (video was based on a real fact - DCCC sent me invitation for a dinner with Obama). I've asked them why they allow the White House press office to put Obama's next day schedule on Internet with exact time and place of his trips - it gives a perfect possibility to kill him. You know what they told me ? That it was Rahm Emanuel's order and they can do nothing. On October 2, 2010 Emanuel was fired but they keep posting every day it's OK with the White House meetings, but not with the trips.Interesting.
More interesting - they told me they wanted me to work for them too, considering my experience, and they were ready to pay me.Still ,I don't know what's the job,but what if it's same stuff CIA wnted me to
They said :" We know you as "Filament", you work for CIA and we want you to work for us too under the same alias. We'll pay you". So, I'm still acting CIA agent and they're still sure I'll do political murders ? And who's the target now - Obama ? That's why Secret service is nervous - they are in the game ?And now I have to work for US Secret Service - doing what ? I'm still waiting for a phone call.
That's not the end. On January, 20 2011 I talked to FBI agent Eric Perry. He said that the video I put on YouTube made "high authorities, people on the very top vextremely nervous". He didn't explain if it was FBI Director Robert Mueller, the White House Chief of Staff or somebody else. He asked me to delete the video from YouTube. Interesting - why FBI is so nervous, it's not their job. They are in the game ?
Looks like there's mafia war inside the White House and there's connection with campaign 2012. I don't want to speculate, but I'm 30 years in espionage business and I undrestand far more than people tell me. Even if it's a White House mafia war and the Secret Service is in it, we have to do something.
Like with JFK assassination, you don't need huge conspiracy - it's enough if CIA Director, FBI Director and Secret Service Director make a deal. Back in 1963 they made a deal not to touch Lee Oswald untill he finished the job - simple, right , Mrs Hillary Clinton ? Your mafia soldier (or captain ?) CIA Director Leon Panetta, who wants sniper Kryzhanovsky back, is very "loyal" to you and your husband since he was his Chief of Staff ? Your mafia soldiers FBI Director Robert Mueller and Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan are good fellas too ?
Sorry, I violated omerta.
=====================
.

Part IV. Obama might be KGB "illegal spy"

There's a lot of suspicious information concerning our socialist President Obama's place of birth, his original birth certificate and his Columbia University attendance records. Loooks like he might be a KGB "illegal spy" or a "plant". I have some questions - what they were talking about with Bill Clinton in December 2008 and why Obama hired Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State ? Did Bill Clinton blackmail Obama ? How ?
Do you remember espionage scandal of a century - in June ,2010 GBI arrested 10 (ten) Russian illegal spies, a whole ring. Obama ordered to exchange them for 4 former CIA secret sources arrested in Russia. There was no investigation - why ? Maybe there's another Russian "ring" in America ? Or 2 ? or 3 ? Who knows ? 10 Russian spies were sent back to Russia without a single question ! What is that ? Who is Obama ?
He's destroying America - its called "socialist intervention into the US economy". Why ? Show me a single American who's happy about that.
The highest intelligence level — illegal spies, intelligence operatives who are secretly deployed abroad and covertly operate there under assumed names and well-documented cover stories, masquerading as native citizens. It's very important if you get , for example, original birth certificate of American citizen, who died (at young age preferably) or any records and documents on him(birth, wedding, death, any IDs, etc) .
The process of training and “installing” such officer is rather complex and includes:
a) Special training.
Foreign language, general, political and special (espionage and counter-espionage) knowledge of the target country; personal cover story — new biography, special technical devices, recruitment methods). Up to three years.
b) Illegal probation period abroad. A trip abroad through intermediate countries with numerous changes of passports and cover stories, jobs, personal connections. Then he gets to the target country, stays there for another 1-2 years and goes back to his country for additional training and correction of cover story — actually, it’s his first combat assignment. The most important part of this assignment is to check the reliability of the cover story and documents; the cover story has to be reinforced with new and old true facts, like short-term studies at universities or professional training courses).
c) Intermediate legislation.
On his way back the officer could stay in an intermediate country for another 1-2 years, make contacts with business, scientists, government employees, celebrities.
d) Basic legislation.
Officer comes to the target country, obtains genuine documents, gets a job which allows him to travel and talk to many people, recruit informants thus creating an illegal station.
The illegal is usually supplied with a variety of cover documents to make him “invisible” for counter-intelligence — some are used only to cross the borders on the way to a target country, others — to live there, other documents — only for travel to “third countries” to meet with officers of legal or illegal stations or to be used in case of urgent recall to home country (in that case the illegal is supposed to transit at least two or three countries). His further activity depends on how professional counter-espionage service is working in the country.
He could fail in his mission also because of:
- poor training and low quality documents
- neglecting security rules.
- one mistake in pronunciation can give you away
- treason (traitor-informant or a “mole” inside his own service)
- low personal security level (while working with sources)
If we talk about "legal plants", KGB (and modern Russian SVR) loves to recruite Harvard, Yale and Columbia students and "push" them to the top of American politics - US Congress, the White House, the Cabinet.
It might the reason CIA together with FBI and Secret Serevice conspire to give Obama "one-way ticket" - you can imagine the scandal if Obama IS a Russian "illegal spy" !
===========================
.

Mikhail Kryzhanovsky
a former KGB intelligence officer
a former KGB "Nabat" anti-terror group member (a sniper)
a former Ukrainian National Security officer
CIA, FBI and US Secret Service "Filament"
the author of the "White House Special Handbook"
PS I'm unemployed, but I'll fight for freedom, I'll fight the CIA machine even if I'm the only person in America who cares about it's national security. Wanna help me fight for America ? Why should KGB officer protect you all by himself ?

Don't ya just hate when people obsess about trivial things?
What a bunch of nutjobs, eh?







....wait a minute?

 

[RachelBibleStudent]

Why would I, or anyone, for that matter, care about the opinions of someone entangled in depression, suicidal thoughts, a dislike of police, and an affinity for nutty conspiracies. Seriously, unlike you, my wife is well adjusted and has many interests of her own that, unlike you, are healthy and don't display acute mental illness. Go obsess on someone who has an interest in providing helpful mental health advice, not me.

ok i am in agreement with you about conspiracy theories...but using someone's depression and suicidal thoughts as 'ammo' for personal criticism is kind of over the line...

 

[Tintin]

Why would I, or anyone, for that matter, care about the opinions of someone entangled in depression, suicidal thoughts, a dislike of police, and an affinity for nutty conspiracies. Seriously, unlike you, my wife is well adjusted and has many interests of her own that, unlike you, are healthy and don't display acute mental illness. Go obsess on someone who has an interest in providing helpful mental health advice, not me.

I don't agree with conspiracy theories and I don't generally dislike the police and Blue and I have butted heads at times in the past, but that's not cool, man. Not cool at all. I used to give you the benefit of the doubt. Now I doubt I'll give you the benefit.

 

[blue_ladybug]

Then don't comment on it.

She has a right to comment on whatever she wants to comment on..