They think that they have a secret knowledge that is kept from others and enjoy the feeling of being special. Plus, they always have a surprising story to tell. As a coping strategy, this feeling of superiority could have two functions: On the one hand, it gives conspiracy theorists the impression of power as a substitute for their lack of power.
The second attitude would also explain why anti-Semitism is a frequent element in conspiracy theories. Anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists consider Jews inferior, but still powerful Fiske The current pandemic is characterized by a loss of control due to an invisible threat.
Both aspects promote conspiracy thinking. While full-fledged conspiracy theorists are often self-proclaimed skepticists and critical thinkers, they typically confuse science as a combination of method and positive scientific knowledge with the current knowledge alone.
Science, as a method, is the systematic discovery of the truth, while the current scientific knowledge is by its nature preliminary. Conspiracy theorists take revisions in science e. This method has proven its worth for several reasons. First, it is based on the insight that knowledge is fallible: what you believe to be true can be proved to be wrong later Popper Second, scientific theses are always empirically undetermined, no matter how good and large the data set is Quine Later discoveries can throw a new light on your approach.
Third, humans are fallible beings: we make mistakes. And even if we take all precautionary measures, we tend to employ typical heuristics and biases. This is why peer review and criticism from colleagues is such an important corrective in science. Treating knowledge as preliminary and theories as undetermined is challenging for many in everyday life.
Even people who are resilient towards conspiracy thinking, prefer to know what is going on instead of constantly dealing with ambiguity and indeterminacy. Why is that the case? Evolutionary psychologists tell something of the following story: Our everyday thinking is not geared towards virology, statistics and the philosophy of science, but has evolved in order to survive in a harsh and dangerous environment Stanovich Living during the Stone Age in small groups, the thought patterns of our ancestors were advantageous even though they contradicted the principles of science.
It was better on average, for instance, to follow those who appeared confident, because every full-bodied boast about the close-up area was easy to unmask: Those who could not correctly interpret the track of the wild boar immediately lost their reputation Pinker p. Those who questioned the standard assumptions of the tribe were ostracized or even killed. Moreover, the safest assumption was: correlation implies causation.
If the companion ate a toadstool and died afterwards, then the natural assumption was that the mushroom had caused his death. Today, we are still susceptible to those archaic thought patterns.
However, they are harmful when it comes to pandemics and the like, since science does not work that way. Researchers are revising their assumptions and carefully formulating their hypotheses, which makes them appear uncertain and fickle to laypeople.
Causes are rarely agents, but in the case of pandemics invisible entities like bacteria or the Covid virus. To investigate them, you have to conduct experiments. While science is arguably not as open and transparent as it could be, and while researchers, too, sometimes misuse their power, only very few got rich or powerful from their discoveries. And finally, correlation does not imply causation.
For instance, the decline of the number of storks and the birth rates in Europe have been strongly correlated for decades now, as are margarine consumption in the USA and the divorce rate in the state of Maine Matthews But those correlations tell us nothing about causation.
In order to bring the nature of things to light, you need experimental and statistical methods. We are made from crooked timber, as Kant has pointed out Kant Empirical research on heuristics and biases can corroborate and specify this observation. We are prone to prejudices and mental shortcuts, because evolution has equipped us with an intuitive thinking apparatus that is not tailor-made for the modern world of science and technology.
Fortunately, however, evolution has also given us reason, that is the ability to distance us from ourselves, and to think critically and scientifically, so that we can shield ourselves against mental shortcuts and recognize our own prejudices Stanovich This is tiring, since it requires attention and intensive training, but it can save lives and prevent us from making fools out of ourselves in believing ludicrous fake news and conspiracy theories.
In , he is fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin. Adorno, Theodor W. Harper und Brothers: New York. Barkun, Michael Ed. Berkeley: University of California Press. Barrett, Justin L. Hannover: JMB-Verlag. Boyer, Pascal Religion Explained. So what does cause those trails to last for several hours? According to Ken Caldeira, an author on the study, they are most likely contrails from planes, seen with more frequency due to the rise in air travel. He also posits that global warming could be causing them to last longer, as more humidity causes them to linger.
The point of the study was to provide an objective bookmark for future research. I love being a KC boom operator, and this is one of the reasons.
The A. Finally, they were presented with the analysis of samples from pond sediment, snow and air that the collectors claim were contaminated with traces of barium, aluminum, copper and strontium from chemtrails.
The researchers said that 80 to 89 percent of the samples could be explained by phenomena much more simple than chemtrails. A patent filed in for a technique of seeding the upper atmosphere with particles that could reflect sunlight and slow global warming also intrigued theorists. Combined with anecdotal tales of plants dying and people getting sick after planes left contrails above their homes, the conspiracy theory coalesced and took off on the internet in the late s.
Since then, the issue periodically pops up in the media. According to Public Policy Polling, about five percent of Americans believe in chemtrails.
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