,
12 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
you can learn everything about a "normal" person by asking them why people get convinced by certain conspiracy theories if theres nothing (0) true about them. their answers are always fascinating and a reflection of how their own internal world is built.
"people only believe that because it allows them to feel smart and better than other people": look at this persons interests/politics, its a safe bet that this mindset is a huge factor in their life, so it serves as a suitable explanation for them to explain the actions of others
"people only believe that because they want to fit in to certain circles and groups" - a guarantee that this person has adopted certain beliefs or traits so that they themselves could fit into certain groups.
"wow, these people just saw a few facts or one convincing video, and then they got convinced of this crazy idea" - its a safe bet that this person has received at least a few foundational beliefs in their life in this way, and then assumes that others are doing the same.
every liberal / lefty explanation for why other people arent like them functions on a principle ive come to call "appeal to irrationality". it essentially always boils down to some irrationality as the core of why this other person see things differently, its the only explanation
of course youre familiar with the basic appeals to irrationality: racism (you have an irrational hatred of a race), sexism (you have an irrational hatred of women), xenophobia (you have an irrational hatred of foreigners), but these are omnipresent and standard.
they dont reveal much about the person deploying them aside from their politics and general worldview. its much more interesting to see how an individual has chosen to explain things that society doesnt supply a standard explanation for, what their "homegrown" explanation is.
sometimes i play dumb and ask normal people how they explain a popular conspiracy theory. "wow yeah its so weird. if theres literally nothing true about this at all, how do you explain that so many otherwise rational people are getting convinced by this apparently crazy idea?"
the truth (obviously you know this) is that theyre true, OR there is something true in them. most popular conspiracy theories are an accelerated version of something that is true (this is the key to understanding btw). but most normal people could never admit this.
most telling explanation dovetails with the political world + is essentially, "this person is just scared", "scared of this type of person" or "scared of x idea". the people this explanation appeals to almost always live in total fear of another group or idea. just a coincidence
also, fear isnt always irrational, fearing something in and of itself isnt a logical fallacy but, thats not really the point. people accept explanations for others apparently irrational behavior that resonates with their own lives, otherwise the explanation wouldnt appeal to them
its a perfect social inkblot test that is underutilized. "heres this otherwise rational functional person that you see as having this completely irrational insane inexplicable aspect to them. why are they like this?", will tell you everything about most "normal" people. try it.
