Why Conspiracy Theories Provoke Violence

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

GFY's conspiracy kooks may take issue, but some interesting ideas in this article from Discovery.com:

Why Conspiracy Theories Provoke Violence

At the trial this week of Raulie Casteel, the Michigan man accused of going on a shooting spree in October 2012, Casteel's lawyer explained that his client shot at nearly two dozen people because of his conspiracy beliefs.

"Casteel thought drivers along Michigan's Interstate 96 were part of a government conspiracy against him," he said in court Monday, according to ABC News. So he started firing.

Casteel, a husband and father, is taking the stand in his own trial, which continues Tuesday.

"To my way of thinking at the time, [the shooting] was to get rid of the demons so to speak. It was those thoughts ? the fear, the anxiety," the confessed shooter said Monday.

After being fired from his job as a scientist, Casteel says he believed his phone calls were being monitored and that government helicopters were watching him.

Casteel is only one of many violent conspiracy theorists who have taken up arms and attacked innocent victims.

In 2002, Luke Helder, a Minnesota college student, left 18 pipe bombs left in mailboxes that injured six people in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. Before the bombings Helder wrote a six-page letter to a university student newspaper discussing his belief in various conspiracy theories.

Helder wrote that each person can create his or her own reality, and that "once you begin to realize the potential you have as a consciousness/soul/spirit, you will begin to harness the abilities you have to produce realities."

Helder stated that his bombs were designed as "attention getters" that would allow him to tell the world about his conspiracy beliefs: "I'm doing this because I care?In the end you will know I was telling you the truth anyway."

Jared Loughner, the gunman who killed six people and injured 14 others including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a 2011 Tucson shooting, also advocated conspiracy theories.

According to a profile in The New York Times, Loughner "became intrigued by anti-government conspiracy theories, including that the Sept. 11 attacks were perpetrated by the government and that the country?s central banking system was enslaving its citizens."

In addition to his beliefs associated with a co-called "New World Order," he was also convinced that many NASA programs were fake and that images of the Mars surface taken by the Mars Rover were hoaxed as part of a government conspiracy.

Aaron Alexis, a government contractor who killed a dozen people and injured eight others at the Washington Navy Yard in September 2013 told police that he had been harassed through a government mind control program using ultra low frequency microwaves. In one document Alexis wrote: "An ultra low frequency attack is what I?ve been subject to for the last three months, and to be perfectly honest, that is what has driven me to this."

Needless to say, there is no evidence that the U.S. government can control anyone?s thoughts or decisions using microwaves, though that claim is common in conspiracy theory literature.

Part of the reason that conspiracy theories are so popular is that we are hard-wired to find them. Our brains, even without the help of books, late-night talk shows, and web sites promoting all manner of conspiracy theories, have a tendency to generate conspiracy-type thinking. The human brain sometimes has a difficult time understanding why things happen, and two unrelated events can appear to be connected in some way.

Seeing hidden connections and causes is a key element of conspiracy thinking. But that logic is a common fallacy with a Latin name: post hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin for "after this, therefore because of it"). Because the human mind seeks connections, people often mis-attribute causes, thinking that "B happened after A did, so A must have caused B." It makes sense, and it?s often true, but not always. It?s like saying "roosters crow before the sun rises, so the roosters must have made the sun rise."

Taken in extreme, this type of thinking can result in clinical paranoia. The "Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders," the so-called bible of psychiatry, notes that in paranoid disorders "The persecutory delusions may be simple or elaborate and usually involve a single theme or series of connected themes, such as being conspired against, cheated, spied upon, followed, poisoned or drugged, maliciously maligned, harassed, or obstructed in the pursuit of long-term goals. Small slights may be exaggerated and become the focus of a delusional system?. Common associated features include resentment and anger, which may lead to violence."

Paranoia and conspiracy thinking lead to feelings of powerlessness or helplessness. Those who believe in conspiracies often see themselves and those around them as victims, pawns in some sinister master plot. They often feel intellectually superior to others around them, especially the "sheeple," a pejorative term for the unenlightened masses who are routinely deceived by government lies and misinformation.

Yet even armed with that conspiracy "knowledge" they cannot attack their oppressors directly. They cannot take out their anger and frustration against a faceless conspiracy ? there is no official New World Order or Illuminati spokesman or headquarters to attack ? so as a result the anger is released on symbols of the government (such as elected officials) or random crowds.

Extreme acts of violence can seem to be a logical reaction to conspiracy beliefs. If one sincerely believes that President Obama is the Antichrist who at any moment will take away American's guns and trigger Armageddon, or that elected officials in the G.W. Bush administration murdered nearly 3,000 innocent citizens in a Sept. 11, 2001, conspiracy, then resorting to violence may seem reasonable and appropriate. This is especially true when conspiracy theories appeal to political extremists who already harbor a distrust of the government and a willingness to take up arms.

Of course it is important to remember that most violent people are not conspiracy theorists, most mentally people are not violent, and that most conspiracy believers are not violent.

Though conspiracy beliefs do not cause violence, they can give a name and form to generalized rage and helplessness and set the stage for violent actions.

More help is needed for mentally ill people obsessed with conspiracy theories...



ADG

[_Richard_]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

More help is needed for mentally ill people obsessed with conspiracy theories...



ADG

should round em up! concentration camps dubbed as 'medical centers'

than we can wipe out this scourge once and for all

Since most of these seem to be apart of universities etc, i suggest you start there

[Rochard]

Conspiracy Theories provoke violence? Since when. JFK was shot six thousand years ago and I don't recall any violence. Hell, even after 9/11 we didn't even have a single protest...

[stickyfingerz]

I'll just say anyone that believes what the Media and Government tells them even though we've seen time and time again they lie over and over.. deserves what they get.

If you believe all that was told about those "events" you'll believe whatever they tell you and fight against those that disagree.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by Rochard

Conspiracy Theories provoke violence? Since when. JFK was shot six thousand years ago and I don't recall any violence. Hell, even after 9/11 we didn't even have a single protest...

ADG

[dyna mo]

Thread got fucking stupid fast.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by dyna mo

Thread got fucking stupid fast.

Thanks in part to your (non)-contribution.



My theory is that this generally occurs when one of two phenomena are present:

1) Conspiracy Theories are involved

2) You post in a thread



ADG

[dyna mo]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

Thanks in part to your (non)-contribution.



My theory is that this generally occurs when one of two phenomena are present:

1) Conspiracy Theories are involved

2) You post in a thread



ADG

speaking of conspiracy theories.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by dyna mo

speaking of conspiracy theories.

ADG

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

True Grist...







ADG

[seeandsee]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

ADG

this is only truth!

[TheSquealer]

Originally Posted by Rochard

Conspiracy Theories provoke violence? Since when. JFK was shot six thousand years ago and I don't recall any violence. Hell, even after 9/11 we didn't even have a single protest...

The conspiracy theories of the perpetrators of such violence, driven by their paranoid delusions. Not conspiracy theories about the act itself.

[PR_Glen]

It's mostly just a scapegoat. These same people have been blaming others for their failures their whole lives then snapped. When they get pinched they blame X. Used to be parents, at one point it was pornography and now its conspiracy theories.

I'm the first one to expose kookery myself but this is just the same formula.

[NewNick]

Originally Posted by _Richard_

should round em up! concentration camps dubbed as 'medical centers'

than we can wipe out this scourge once and for all

Since most of these seem to be apart of universities etc, i suggest you start there

you are such a dickhead !

[_Richard_]

Originally Posted by NewNick

you are such a dickhead !

too much enthusiasm? or is this a symptom of tourettes and i shouldn't be so tongue in cheek?

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by _Richard_

too much enthusiasm? or is this a symptom of tourettes and i shouldn't be so tongue in cheek?

ADG

[Barry-xlovecam]

His Lawyer said ...

[Doctor Feelgood]

CHEMTRAILS


an we get some support from you activists to help march downtown providence https://www.facebook.com/groups/Rhod...nstChemtrails/

[Rumbledog]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

ADG

You must believe all is good and there is no evil in the world.

Oh wait, the US has invaded more countries and murder more people than any other nation to date. In your mind there are no conspiracies.

I would seriously hate to be a sheep.

[Doctor Feelgood]

2014 #Winter #Storm #Leon hit #Georgia with #Geo-engineered #Snow That Doesn?t #Melt is really #Nanobots. when tried to melt it #burns and smells like #plastic. they were spraying #chemtrails as the storm happened. #fakesnow #Atlanta #Alabama #southernstates #California #heavysnow #winterstorm #geoengineering
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YrpQ9Pf6hCI

[Doctor Feelgood]

please sign our petition
http://www.petition2congress.com/124...ementchemtrai/

[Doctor Feelgood]

and i know all about the HAARP weapons all over the globe. am i gonna go bonkers and shoot up someplace? hells no

[EddyTheDog]

Originally Posted by Rumbledog

You must believe all is good and there is no evil in the world.

Oh wait, the US has invaded more countries and murder more people than any other nation to date. In your mind there are no conspiracies.

I would seriously hate to be a sheep.

The problem is there are people who believe nothing they are told - They then make up their own version of events based on no evidence at all and tell anyone who will listen for their own agenda...

'Conspiracy Theorists' do exactly what they say they are against - Its appalling hypocrisy.....

[Doctor Feelgood]

the usa got 100,000 people to sign the deport bieber petition and we struggle to get 5000. what is wrong with people?

[JockoHomo]

[dyna mo]

Originally Posted by Doctor Feelgood

the usa got 100,000 people to sign the deport bieber petition and we struggle to get 5000. what is wrong with people?

that's some serious ownage.

[L-Pink]

Originally Posted by Doctor Feelgood

the usa got 100,000 people to sign the deport bieber petition and we struggle to get 5000. what is wrong with people?

When I signed the petition I thought it was for all Canadians ?..













.

[EddyTheDog]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

When I signed the petition I thought it was for all Canadians ?..













.

If you got rid of the Canadians you would have to take the piss out of the Mexicans and the jokes seem to get lost in translation...

[oppoten]

Originally Posted by AsianDivaGirlsWebDude

True Grist...







ADG

I'm not defending conspiracies, but their methods of debunking them are classically Jewish. A pathology no less!

I don't understand why the common Jew finds it necessary to protect the elite. They're doing the Jewish people more harm than good, and surely the likes of Chomsky can see that.

(don't bother with the pic, I'm done)

[L-Pink]

Originally Posted by EddyTheDog

If you got rid of the Canadians you would have to take the piss out of the Mexicans and the jokes seem to get lost in translation...

Most of my riding buddies are Canadians. Most of the people I see this time of year are Canadians, who the hell takes care of business when the temperature turns?

[EddyTheDog]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

Most of my riding buddies are Canadians. Most of the people I see this time of year are Canadians, who the hell takes care of business when the temperature turns?

Perhaps we could take a few so that when it snows here the country doesn't come to a grinding halt...

[TheSquealer]

Originally Posted by oppoten

I'm not defending conspiracies, but their methods of debunking them are classically Jewish. A pathology no less!

[EddyTheDog]

Originally Posted by TheSquealer

My thoughts exactly...