Fifty percent of Americans believe in some conspiracy theory. Here’s why.

[Seshmeister]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/02/19/fifty-percent-of-americans-believe-in-some-conspiracy-theory-heres-why/

Fifty percent of Americans believe in some conspiracy theory. Here’s why.


By John Sides February 19

In a newly published article, “Conspiracy Theories and the Paranoid Style(s) of American Politics,” the political scientists Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood present some startling findings about how prevalent conspiracy theories are, and what encourages people to believe them. Oliver kindly answered some of my questions via e-mail.

In your view, what exactly is a conspiracy theory?

We define a conspiracy theory as an explanation that makes reference to hidden, malevolent forces seeking to advance some nefarious aim. Not all conspiracy theories are untrue but they all contradict a commonly accepted explanation for the same phenomenon.

Once a conspiracy theory becomes the commonly accept explanation, it ceases to be a conspiracy theory and becomes history or simply fact. Few people today, for example, doubt the Watergate conspiracy although in 1972 it might have seemed outlandish.

What are the typical explanations for why people believe conspiracy theories?

The common stereotype is that conspiracy theorists are paranoid loners squirreled away in their mom’s basement. Another is that conspiracy theory is a pathology of the political right, a view that dates back to historian Richard Hofstadter’s essay on the “paranoid style” of American politics.

These views are inaccurate. We think of conspiracy theories as simply another form of magical thinking. And as with all types of magical thinking, people engage in conspiracy theories in order to cope with difficult emotions.

Usually this emotion is the apprehension that is triggered by an inexplicable or unusual event. In struggling to restore our emotional equilibrium, we search for patterns. In looking for patterns, we use mental shortcuts called heuristics. These heuristics include our tendency to ascribe intentionality to inanimate objects or to assume that things that resemble each other share core traits.

Because conspiracy theories articulate these heuristics, they may feel more intuitively compelling than other explanations, particularly to people in distress.

What kind of data did you collect to study this?

In our research, we conducted 8 nationally representative surveys beginning 2006 and asked questions about 20 different conspiracy theories. In many of our surveys we tried to measure the traits that we hypothesized would predict conspiratorial thinking.


What did you find? Was belief in conspiracy theories relatively rare?

We find that in any given year, about half the public generally endorses at least one conspiracy theory. Some of the most popular include the “birther” conspiracy about Obama (endorsed by about 25 percent), the “truther” conspiracy about 9/11 (endorsed by about 19 percent), the theory that the FDA is deliberately withholding natural cures for cancer (endorsed by 40 percent), and the theory that the Fed intentionally orchestrated the 2008 recession (endorsed by 19 percent).

What factors led so many people to believe in conspiracy theories?

Contrary to popular speculations, conspiracy theorists are not the sole domain of conservatives nor are conspiracy theorists all paranoid. We do find that conspiracy theories are more popular among the less educated. Not surprisingly, conspiracy theorists also tend to be less trusting of other people and feel more politically alienated.

But the biggest predictor of whether someone believes in conspiracy theories is whether they also hold other magical beliefs—conspiracy theorists are much more likely to believe in the supernatural and paranormal or believe in Biblical prophesy.

These results seem a little disheartening, no?

Disheartening to whom? For the political cognoscenti perhaps. But we must remember that our beliefs are simply tools we use to make sense of the world and conspiracy theories are simply another type.

Conspiracy theories may make public opinion less coherent, but by themselves they are not necessarily any more problematic than any other political belief. And just as there are a wide variety of political views, there are also a wide array of political conspiracies, many incommensurate with each other. America doesn’t have a single “paranoid” style of public opinion, as Hofstadter observed, but rather a multitude of styles.

If we are disheartened, it is probably because the popularity of conspiracy theories is symptomatic of our alienated political culture. Conspiracy theories flourish when there is a vacuum of accepted political authority. When people don’t trust their political leaders or institutions, they feel naturally uneasy and then look to alternative explanations for unusual events.

[ELVIS]

Did you read that childish crap before posting it ??

[kwame k]

Probably as much as you read the actual crap that you post by actual children, actually :yo:

[Kristy]

Did you read that childish crap before posting it ??

Oh dear. Did Sesh inadvertently insult your (F A T) boyfriend?

[Seshmeister]

Did you read that childish crap before posting it ??


It's almost like the researchers have met you. :D




Contrary to popular speculations, conspiracy theorists are not the sole domain of conservatives nor are conspiracy theorists all paranoid. We do find that conspiracy theories are more popular among the less educated. Not surprisingly, conspiracy theorists also tend to be less trusting of other people and feel more politically alienated.

But the biggest predictor of whether someone believes in conspiracy theories is whether they also hold other magical beliefs—conspiracy theorists are much more likely to believe in the supernatural and paranormal or believe in Biblical prophesy.

[kwame k]

Now on to the article........the glaring omission here and what I feel is the real reason conspiracy theories abound in this country is;

It all starts with JFK and the mishandling of the facts by the Warren Commission. Most Americans believe it was flawed and most Americans believe it was part of a greater cover up!

Not delve too deep into it but.......the guys who did the official autopsy never had done one and lost JFK's brain! Add onto that the tons of shitty investigation done by the people involved in the biggest shooting in modern times! When Lyndon Johnson tells Walter Cronkite he doesn't feel the WC answered all the questions and isn't convinced Oswald acting alone.......that's a pretty powerful statement that anyone can YouTube and see LBJ say on camera!

In the course of a little over a decade you have Robert Kennedy killed, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X(a true conspiracy because there was more than one shooter) but 3 done by a lone nut job! Add in a sitting President has to step down because of Watergate!

Remember this happen all from 1963 to 1974 when Nixon left office!

Add to that we find out that the Gulf of Tonkin was a lie to escalate us into full scale war admitted as such by McNamara and the Iraq war was found to be based on a lie!

So when an article wants to start claiming it's based on magical thinking I say this.......from 1963 to 2003 more governmental blunders, lies, deceit, un-winnable wars and theft has happen to this country all in a person's lifetime. Add in what happened in the last 10 years and it's not hard to get the impression that the people running this country will do and say anything to keep the gravy train rolling for a select few! They willingly killed hundreds of thousands probably more like millions, to advance their agenda! What's the big deal in killing a political leader when the stakes are billions of dollars of profit!

Conspiracy theory is the wrong word........it's greed and a thirst for power!

A quick aside, when JFK was around public service was the highest aspiration for a majority of people by Nixon's time it was the lowest form and has hit it's rock bottom today! No one even argues that the corporations run this country.........it's not a conspiracy when they do it right in front of your face!

[DONNIEP]

And I thought this was gonna be a cool UFO thread. Oh well.

These days everything is a "conspiracy", just so long as you don't agree with whatever version was put forth of whatever events that are currently in the "news". I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, hell I even enjoyed most of those stupid episodes of that show Jesse Ventura did. Sure they're mostly wacky and way the hell off the reservation, but entertaining in the way all those UFO programs on History are. But I'm easily entertained.

[kwame k]

I'm on my phone and can't link the vids but there are several other tapes out there, all verifiable, where Johnson is telling Hoover we need to set up a commission ourselves to prove Oswald acted alone! This is a mere day after Dallas!

In another conversations Johnson says to (can't remember which WC member) he must serve on the commission and Oswald has to be found to be the lone gunman because if he's not the generals and American people will demand we go to war and it will be a nuclear war and life as we know it will end!

These are all tapes from either LBJ's presidential library or the National Archives that have been verified as authentic!

So in a sense it was a cover up for good reasons! We almost went to nuclear war in Cuba a year before!

So if the president tells you that if you don't find Oswald as the lone gunman then you pretty much will be starting WWIII and killing hundreds of millions of people, you might work harder to reach a forgone conclusion than the actual truth!

I know if I was president and faced with nuclear war with Russia or with saying a lone nut killed JFK! I'd pretty much go the lone assassin route!

LBJ's own words on camera says he had doubts!

Remember the context of the times and if they even said there might be someone else involved! How do you think the public would of reacted ?

[ELVIS]

Well, call it conspiracy or whatever...

The American people are lied to about EVERYTHING under the sun by the bought off government and the state controlled media...

Next they'll tell us we're being attacked by UFOs and only more taxes will keep them at bay...

[Kristy]

And I thought this was gonna be a cool UFO thread. Oh well.

Say "Yankee."

[kwame k]

Let's see here........no one believes that Dubya and Friends didn't cherry pick the evidence to fit a foregone conclusion the day of 9/11 to invade Iraq!

Nobody disputes the fact they cherry picked the evidence to escalate and justify the Vietnam war!

LBJ is on record saying they must fit the facts for the forgone conclusion that Oswald acted alone!

In the 90's our own government came to the conclusion that there was compelling evidence that Oswald didn't act alone!

So let's label it as this instead of conspiracy.........our government has a history of fitting the facts to support their narrative and not having the narrative fit the facts! For whatever political or financial or national security reasons!

[jacksmar]

And I thought this was gonna be a cool UFO thread. Oh well.

These days everything is a "conspiracy", just so long as you don't agree with whatever version was put forth of whatever events that are currently in the "news". I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, hell I even enjoyed most of those stupid episodes of that show Jesse Ventura did. Sure they're mostly wacky and way the hell off the reservation, but entertaining in the way all those UFO programs on History are. But I'm easily entertained.

UFO's shot Oswald. Kennedy drove a Lincoln. Cleveland was a rabbi and 3rd baseman for the Indians. Delaware was supposed be to one large casino. And Casino was shot on location in Delaware.



https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608020198244027685&pid=15.1&P=0

[kwame k]

Obama is a Muslim!
Obama wasn't born in this country!

Finally nice that you admit you're an idiot :love0066:

[kwame k]

Here's LBJ in his own words!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfFMUWg39WU

[Kristy]

Apple closed at $133.00 today. Conspiracy?

[Seshmeister]

I think there is a conspiracy in how the fuck Apple gets to still be the outsider cool guy company while making $80 billion a year, evading taxes, using hundreds of thousands of Chinese drone workers who will never be able to afford to own one of their products and giving fuck all back to the world in any sort of philanthropy.

Apple is like the organisation that would be left after James Bond killed Blofeld.

[kwame k]

Gov John Connally to the day he died always believed he was not hit by the first shot. His wife said the exact same thing and she seen Kennedy hit by the first shot!

Now the Warren Commission's report says Kennedy and Connally were hit by the first shot, the magic bullet, the second shot missed and the third shot hit Kennedy in the head. Now if Connally was hit by a second shot the presupposed facts of only three bullets being fired falls apart.

Eyewitness testimony is horribly inaccurate and unreliable but it's kinda hard to be mistaken on which bullet went through your body! When your own wife who was looking directly at Kennedy when he was shot backs you up!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7zH-oqqrLg

[kwame k]

Here's Nellie Connally saying she looked right at Kennedy and seen him clutching his throat before the second shot hit Gov Connally! In Zapruder's film it is crystal clear she's looking at Kennedy grabbing for his throat before her husband got hit!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6rUgfjgUiU

[Seshmeister]

Dude the whole thing is a massive waste of your time.

There are 2000 theories which means that even if one were correct 1999 are wrong.

The aftermath was confused, it's easier to find people with a motive than those without and most importantly as you say eye witness testimony is horrendously inaccurate and gets worse and worse. There are key witnesses who have completely changed their statements over the years just feeding this industry forever. It's shocking just how inaccurate human memories are. Every time you remember something it gets overwritten with the new version.

[jacksmar]

Obama is a Muslim!
Obama wasn't born in this country!

Finally nice that you admit you're an idiot :love0066:


Hillary Rod Ham started all that shit didn't she............

Glad you think the old broad is a idiot....................

BTW, Hillary is fucking the Roswell alien..................

[Nickdfresh]

Hillary Rod Ham started all that shit didn't she............

Glad you think the old broad is a idiot....................

BTW, Hillary is fucking the Roswell alien..................

Um, what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDL8V_Xu8us

[kwame k]

Here's Hoover and LBJ discussing that they don't want a rash of House and Senate investigations and that they need to form a committee that will prove Hoover's conclusion that Oswald acted alone.

Also notable here is when Hoover confirms that the first and third shots hit Kennedy and the second shot hit Connally and they go on to say several times the second shot only hit Connally! At the 9:30 mark, it confirms Connally's testimony. The WC clearly states the second shot missed everyone! Make the facts fit the narrative, to keep us out of nuclear war!

If you listen to the entire conversation it becomes clear that the Warren Commission went entirely to Hoover's script! All the while knowing that the Dallas police, the FBI, their medical experts, the Secret Service and the CIA fucked it up from the get-go, they can't agree on anything and aren't really sure what went down there but Hoover's explanation keeps us out of WWIII!

Final thoughts..............I used that garbage article Sesh posted to finally prove my own conspiracy theory! ;)

With the threat of nuclear war a possibility if the American public knew that our government wasn't a 100% sure what happened or there might of been a conspiracy or not, we damn sure would of invaded Cuba at the least, the generals and the public would of demanded it...........they were damn sure gonna make the facts fit the, "nothing to see here, everything's fine", narrative!

Not a conspiracy if they do it right in front of your face!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-1E7pivtss

[Kristy]

I think there is a conspiracy in how the fuck Apple gets to still be the outsider cool guy company while making $80 billion a year, evading taxes, using hundreds of thousands of Chinese drone workers who will never be able to afford to own one of their products and giving fuck all back to the world in any sort of philanthropy.

Apple is like the organisation that would be left after James Bond killed Blofeld.

No one hates Apple more than me. Their overzealous and overpriced products made from slave labor I'll never buy. However...

(and this is a big however)

I inherited Apple stock from my Aunt from when she died last September. I will eventually sell although my last quarterly dividends were @$6,000. This is how one suddenly becomes a capitalist pig.

[vandeleur]

No one hates Apple more than me. Their overzealous and overpriced products made from slave labor I'll never buy. However...

(and this is a big however)

I inherited Apple stock from my Aunt from when she died last September. I will eventually sell although my last quarterly dividends were @$6,000. This is how one suddenly becomes a capitalist pig.

Only the very rich and the very poor can profess to not be capitalists , every one else just scratches in the dirt for a living ..... nods head :)

[Kristy]

That's where you're wrong. The rich pay zero taxes on their dividends.

[vandeleur]

That's where you're wrong. The rich pay zero taxes on their dividends.


profess
prəˈfɛs/Submit
verb
1.
claim, often falsely, that one has (a quality or feeling).


nods head :)

[kwame k]

Here's LBJ and Senator Russell, on the Warren Commission, saying the magic bullet is nonsense and LBJ agreeing with him!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtxIGWvLJmw

[kwame k]

Robert McNamara saying the Gulf of Tonkin never happened!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AaGVAipGp0

[ashstralia]

It's almost like the researchers have met you. :D


The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias wherein unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability to be much higher than is accurate. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their ineptitude. Conversely, highly skilled individuals tend to underestimate their relative competence, erroneously assuming that tasks which are easy for them are also easy for others.[citation needed]

[kwame k]

Dude the whole thing is a massive waste of your time.

There are 2000 theories which means that even if one were correct 1999 are wrong.

The aftermath was confused, it's easier to find people with a motive than those without and most importantly as you say eye witness testimony is horrendously inaccurate and gets worse and worse. There are key witnesses who have completely changed their statements over the years just feeding this industry forever. It's shocking just how inaccurate human memories are. Every time you remember something it gets overwritten with the new version.

My point was that we'll never know for certain what really happened and what the true motives were.

What I was pointing out is they had to make the facts fit the narrative to avoid WWIII!

So is it any wonder 50% of Americans believe in some conspiracy when you can prove that our government covered up an assassination of a president, lied about two major wars and on and on.

So for that crappy article you posted to say it's magical thinking.........that is complete and utter bullshit!

Sure, morons like Jack who believe Obama's a Muslim and wasn't born in this country are just trying to mask their unwarranted fear of black people with lunatic fringe conspiracies. I get that :love0066:

[Seshmeister]

No one hates Apple more than me. Their overzealous and overpriced products made from slave labor I'll never buy. However...

(and this is a big however)

I inherited Apple stock from my Aunt from when she died last September. I will eventually sell although my last quarterly dividends were @$6,000. This is how one suddenly becomes a capitalist pig.

In other words at the first possible opportunity.

What a sell out you are.

[ELVIS]

It never dawned on shitforface before that capitalist pigs made money...

[ELVIS]

This is how one suddenly becomes a capitalist pig.




:boom:

[DONNIEP]

I inherited Apple stock from my Aunt from when she died last September. I will eventually sell although my last quarterly dividends were @$6,000. This is how one suddenly becomes a capitalist pig.

That's not how you become a capitalist pig. This is how you do it...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_--5ZHewQY

[Kristy]

What a sell out you are.

You know you should really watch what you say to me. If I didn't pay taxes on those dividends then who would be paying for Trollvis' welfare check? Then where would your life be? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

[ELVIS]

You're a total dumb ass...

[Seshmeister]

You know you should really watch what you say to me. If I didn't pay taxes on those dividends then who would be paying for Trollvis' welfare check? Then where would your life be? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

I think they used the money for drone fuel.

[ELVIS]

And funding ISIS...

[jacksmar]

Both Kennedy and Oswald slept with Elanor Roosevelt.

Both Lincoln and Booth slept with Susan B Anthony.

Both Kennedy and Lincoln had huge Johnsons.

[kwame k]

Yep and Obama and his Muslim brotherhood are going to overthrow our government and install Obama as dictator! That's why he's taking all our guns:yo:

[Kristy]

I have ZERO respect, interest, and care for Obama anymore. Dude is a walking train wreck that constantly derails.

[Seshmeister]

He's working his ass off for you and your type.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/02/08/why-apple-investors-should-thank-president-obama.aspx

Why Apple Investors Should Thank President Obama
By Adam Levine-Weinberg
February 8, 2015

U.S. corporations have been begging for corporate tax reform for years. Under the current system, companies are hit with a repatriation tax of up to 35% when they bring money earned internationally back to the U.S. As a result, many U.S. firms -- led by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL ) -- have collectively stashed $2 trillion outside the country to avoid this tax hit.

President Obama recently proposed a solution that would immediately levy a 14% tax on U.S. corporations' overseas cash and then charge a 19% tax on future overseas earnings. This could leave Apple with a tax bill of up to $22 billion on its foreign cash holdings. But this proposal would be far better for Apple shareholders than the status quo. Read on to find out why.

Cash piling up offshore
In the past few years, Apple has become the biggest holder of offshore cash. Meanwhile, it has aggressively spent its U.S. cash on dividends and share buybacks, even borrowing tens of billions of dollars to avoid repatriating any of its foreign cash and triggering a tax liability.

As of late December, Apple had $157.8 billion of cash held offshore, compared to just $20 billion in the U.S. This is making it increasingly hard for Apple to return cash to shareholders. There are practical limits on how much debt Apple can issue to fund buybacks, even if that debt is matched dollar for dollar with overseas cash.

Enter President Obama's corporate tax proposal
President Obama has proposed a major change to corporate tax law in order to encourage companies to bring home their overseas cash without losing out on lots of tax revenue.

First, his proposal calls for a 14% tax on overseas cash that U.S. corporations have already earned. Unlike previous voluntary "tax holidays" that only applied to cash that corporations wanted to repatriate, President Obama's proposed tax would be mandatory -- it would apply to all overseas cash held by U.S. corporations.

Second, Obama's proposal would institute a 19% tax rate on all income earned overseas by U.S. corporations going forward. (Companies would get credits for taxes paid abroad in this scheme.) Third, the standard corporate tax rate in the U.S. would be reduced from 35% to 28%.

This proposal would be great for Apple
Based on Apple's $157.8 billion foreign cash horde, a 14% tax would hit the company with a $22 billion bill. In practice, Apple might owe substantially less than that amount, since it has already paid tax on some of its foreign income.

But even if Apple had to pay the full $22 billion to satisfy its tax obligations on its overseas cash, President Obama's proposal would still be great for shareholders. After paying $22 billion, Apple would be left with about $136 billion that it could repatriate and use to support further increases in its capital return program.

With that amount of money, Apple could buy back nearly 20% of its 5.8 billion outstanding shares. This would dramatically increase the company's long-term EPS.

Additionally, the proposed 28% domestic corporate tax rate and 19% international tax rate would reduce Apple's long-term tax burden. In recent years, Apple has recognized an effective tax rate of about 26%.

With nearly 65% of Apple's earnings coming from overseas, its federal tax rate under the proposed system would be about 22% before the benefit of the R&D tax credit. Assuming that state and local corporate taxes roughly offset the R&D credit, Apple's overall tax rate might drop by 4 percentage points -- boosting its net income by $2.5 billion or more.

Furthermore, since there would no longer be an incentive to stash its cash overseas, it would be easier in the future for Apple to return its free cash flow to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks.

An alternative plan
President Obama's proposal isn't the only corporate tax reform plan making the rounds on Capitol Hill. Senators Rand Paul and Barbara Boxer recently proposed a voluntary repatriation tax holiday that would offer an even lower 6.5% tax rate.

This might seem more enticing than President Obama's proposal -- and for some companies, that might be true. However, the Paul-Boxer bill includes restrictions on how the repatriated cash can be used. Depending on how the bill is interpreted, this could significantly limit its benefits for Apple.

The key terms of the Paul-Boxer bill are that a portion of the cash repatriated must be used for increased spending on things like employee pay, R&D, CapEx, and acquisitions. Additionally, the repatriated cash cannot be used to support increased executive compensation, dividends, or buybacks.

This is potentially problematic for Apple. The company could probably find productive ways to invest several billion dollars a year in incremental R&D, CapEx, and/or acquisitions. Indeed, the company has been steadily increasing its R&D spending by more than 30% annually.

However, Apple has more than $150 billion in offshore cash. That's almost certainly more than Apple could invest at a reasonable rate of return. The best use for most of that cash would be returning it to shareholders through dividends or buybacks.

It's unclear how much leeway would be permitted under the Paul-Boxer bill for shareholder returns. Apple spent more than $55 billion in FY14 on dividends and buybacks. If it was allowed to continue spending that amount each year, the Paul-Boxer bill would not be much of an imposition.

On the other hand, if the bill would prevent Apple from using any of its foreign cash for future buybacks, then it wouldn't be nearly as helpful as President Obama's proposal.

The biggest risk is deadlock
While President Obama's corporate tax reform proposal would be great for Apple, plenty of other companies are unhappy about it. As Tim Cook noted in 2013, Apple is unusual among U.S. corporations in that it isn't lobbying for zero taxes on foreign earnings.

Thus, the biggest risk for Apple may be that the latest effort at corporate tax reform gets caught up in Washington gridlock like previous attempts. Plenty of people on both sides of the aisle oppose solutions like President Obama's proposal. Liberals argue that it's corporate welfare. Conservatives argue that taxing foreign income will just chase corporations out of the U.S.

The truth is that it's an imperfect solution to a difficult problem. But a proposal that would make the country's largest holder of untaxed overseas cash happy to cough up $22 billion to Uncle Sam just might be the best compromise available.


Adam Levine-Weinberg is long January 2016 $80 calls on Apple and short January 2016 $120 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

[DONNIEP]

Ugh...too many words...

[FORD]

What pisses me off about Barry is that he's now standing up to this Kochsucking Kowardly Kongress like he should have been doing since January 2009.

It's great that he vetoed the Keystone Death Pipe, that his FCC finally landed on the sane side of Net Neutrality, and that he seems to suddenly think that corporations should pay taxes, but that doesn't undo the damage that has already been done, that he allowed to happen. And he STILL seems to be in favor of the Southern Hemisphere and Asian Free Trade Agreement (SHAFTA) - formerly known as the Trans Pacific Partnership. Even though this disaster would pretty much undo his veto of Kochstone AND net neutrality, as soon as any corporation made the case to do so, under SHAFTA's corporations over national sovereignty provisions.

[Seshmeister]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/facebook-conspiracy-theorists-fooled-by-even-the-most-obvious-anti-science-trolling-study/


Facebook conspiracy theorists fooled by even the most obvious anti-science trolling: study

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Woman-wearing-tinfoil-hat-looking-at-computer-Shutterstock-800x430.png

Anti-science conspiracy theorists are so credulous they can’t determine when they’re being purposefully duped, according to a new study.

A team of Italian and American researchers tested the social media biases feeding belief in conspiracy theories such as chemtrails, shape-shifting reptilian overlords, and the Illuminati, reported Motherboard.

The researchers found that adherents to conspiracy theories are highly receptive to claims that support their views and rarely engage with social media pages that question their beliefs.


The ongoing measles outbreak linked to unvaccinated children has exposed one danger posed by hostility toward science, which is promoted in large part through social media.

The World Economic Forum last year identified “digital misinformation” alongside terrorism, cyber attacks, and global governmental failure as threats to modern society.

Social media allows this misinformation to be transmitted and amplified as users gather around shared beliefs, interests, and worldviews – whether or not factual evidence supports those belief systems.

The researchers examined social media patterns for 1.2 million Facebook users and found that nearly 92 percent of those who engage with Italian conspiracy theory pages interact almost exclusively with conspiracy theory pages.

The study also found that conspiracy theory posts are much more likely to be shared and liked by Facebook users.

The researchers then tested the strength of these users’ biases by posting “troll information” – or sarcastic comments parodying anti-science views – on Facebook.

“These posts are clearly unsubstantiated claims, like the undisclosed news that infinite energy has been finally discovered, or that a new lamp made of actinides (e.g. plutonium and uranium) might solve problems of energy gathering with less impact on the environment, or that the chemical analysis revealed that chemtrails contains sildenafil citratum (the active ingredient of Viagra),” the researchers said.

They found that 78 percent of those who “liked” these 4,709 troll posts interacted primarily with conspiracy theory pages, as were 81 percent of those who commented on them.

The researchers also noted that anti-conspiracy theorists often wasted “cognitive resources” pushing back against these unscientific “troll” claims, even when they were “satirical imitation of false claims.”

[Seshmeister]

Ugh...too many words...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/files/2015/02/2007to2015.png&w=1484

[Kristy]

As of late December, Apple had $157.8 billion of cash held offshore, compared to just $20 billion in the U.S. This is making it increasingly hard for Apple to return cash to shareholders. There are practical limits on how much debt Apple can issue to fund buybacks, even if that debt is matched dollar for dollar with overseas cash.


President Obama has proposed a major change to corporate tax law in order to encourage companies to bring home their overseas cash without losing out on lots of tax revenue.

Believe it when it happens. And I'm not an Apple investor. I hate their fucking products and the assholes who buy them.

[Kristy]

Ugh...too many words...

Good news is Apple is facing a billion-or-so dollar lawsuit for patent infringement. Part of the reason why their stock fell to $128 today.

All I care about is the DOW. The S&P and NAS can fuck themselves.

[Kristy]

Social media allows this misinformation to be transmitted and amplified as users gather around shared beliefs, interests, and worldviews – whether or not factual evidence supports those belief systems.

Exactly why I'm calling shenanigans on this study. They really don't define "social media" other than a Facecrook generalization. While Facecrook may be an outlet for many like Trollvis who suffer from a Schizotypal personality disorder to spew their anti-human, anti-Obama (i.e., cloaked racist), anti-capitalism, anti-woman, pro-gun horsehockey I highly doubt they are as networked as this "study" claims. Like any flotsam on a river it had to come from a source such as Jone$, Drudge, Mark Dice, these fucked in the head Christian groups, whatever and all these "truthers" do is pick it and reinterpret unfounded, untested and unscientific claims as being a conspiracy because, if anything they're too fucking stupid as a collective to think otherwise. It's like one big internet Chinese whisper.

[Kristy]

Shit like this which has been posted on so many sites before:


Such as:
http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/economist-2015-cover-filled-cryptic-symbols-dire-predictions/

[jacksmar]

Yep and Obama and his Muslim brotherhood are going to overthrow our government and install Obama as dictator! That's why he's taking all our guns:yo:


KK, The Kenyan Houseboy is a God fearin' Christian and has the exact same foreign policy that President George W Bush enforced. Eric Holder's "biggest disappointment" was how little gun control he was able to exact.

KK, iffin' it bleeds, it leads.......


http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2013/07/17/emily-gets-her-gun-web_s640x963.jpg?7cf3533f247784e16e0bfdbab3392ab3e 35474fc


KK, Just stay with the area 51 shot Kennedy and Johnson had shrimp with Forrest Gump theories.......

[jacksmar]

http://m5.paperblog.com/i/43/438435/faking-conspiracy-theories-L-cMwzVA.jpeg

[Kristy]

Emily gets her gun because Emily can't get any cock. No surprise you'd post that nonsense.

[DONNIEP]

cock

I love it when you talk dirty.

[Kristy]

I've read that deplorable book. It's basically O'Reilly drivel with a clitoris. Miller sold out her future husband to save her thick skin. She is the very definition of a cunt. A rich Catholic school girl so fucking repressed with her phallic gun posturing to make up for her frigidity.

[jacksmar]

I've read that deplorable book. It's basically O'Reilly drivel with a clitoris. Miller sold out her future husband to save her thick skin. She is the very definition of a cunt. A rich Catholic school girl so fucking repressed with her phallic gun posturing to make up for her frigidity.


deplorable clitoris....thick skin cunt............Catholic school girl frigidity...........


http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l102/eightof9/I-Came.jpg

[jacksmar]

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/marlene-227x300.jpg

[Kristy]

quit thanking me, warf!!!

[ELVIS]

Control freak bastard...:rolleyes:

[Nickdfresh]

http://m5.paperblog.com/i/43/438435/faking-conspiracy-theories-L-cMwzVA.jpeg

He was a combat veteran who shot Japanese sailors and marines, you idiot...

[jacksmar]

He was a combat veteran who shot Japanese sailors and marines, you idiot...

nick, your sense of humor just isn't the same after all those years in the cia.........


http://www.dandelion-films.com/chuck-barris-cia-assassin-15.jpg



conspiracy thread..............