Interesting article on susceptibility to conspiracy theories, plotted against political leanings in the US: http://www.vox.com/2015/12/10/9886222/conspiracy-theories-right-wing.
They looked at two factors, trust in the political system and level of knowledge of current affairs (their term, though the definition they use seems to be better represented by "level of engagement" in my view). Their hypothesis was that lower trust in the system tended towards susceptibility to conspiracy theories, while higher levels of knowledge would mitigate such susceptibility.
That hypothesis held up when looking at Americans with views on the Liberal end of the spectrum. However, on the Conservative end level of knowledge appeared to have no effect among those with high levels of trust in the system - i.e. susceptibility didn't change however much or little they stayed informed. However amongst low trust Conservatives, susceptibility actually increased with the level of information.
Jacob, interesting, though I tend to use belief in conspiracy theories as a handy gauge against which to measure how much I want to interact with the person and at what level.
Quote from: mongers on December 11, 2015, 01:11:55 PM
Jacob, interesting, though I tend to use belief in conspiracy theories as a handy gauge against which to measure how much I want to interact with the person and at what level.
You
conspire not to interact with them? :hmm:
:P
Confirmation bias in action.
Quote from: Malthus on December 11, 2015, 01:17:38 PM
Quote from: mongers on December 11, 2015, 01:11:55 PM
Jacob, interesting, though I tend to use belief in conspiracy theories as a handy gauge against which to measure how much I want to interact with the person and at what level.
You conspire not to interact with them? :hmm:
:P
:D
No, I'll be explicit and explain to them why I'm 'backing away'. :)
Sometimes they actually ARE sending you East to be eliminated. Better safe than sorry.
Quote from: Jacob on December 11, 2015, 12:56:20 PM
Interesting article on susceptibility to conspiracy theories, plotted against political leanings in the US: http://www.vox.com/2015/12/10/9886222/conspiracy-theories-right-wing.
They looked at two factors, trust in the political system and level of knowledge of current affairs (their term, though the definition they use seems to be better represented by "level of engagement" in my view). Their hypothesis was that lower trust in the system tended towards susceptibility to conspiracy theories, while higher levels of knowledge would mitigate such susceptibility.
That hypothesis held up when looking at Americans with views on the Liberal end of the spectrum. However, on the Conservative end level of knowledge appeared to have no effect among those with high levels of trust in the system - i.e. susceptibility didn't change however much or little they stayed informed. However amongst low trust Conservatives, susceptibility actually increased with the level of information.
Actually, you have it backwards on what they assumed about political knowledge going in, if the article is correct:
QuoteThey went into the study with two hypotheses:
1. All things being equal, knowledge — close engagement with partisan politics, consumption of political news — will tend to exacerbate the tendency to endorse conspiracy theories (CTs).
2. Trust in the political system will tend to mitigate this effect; those with high levels of trust will be less prone to accept CTs.
The hypothesis failed when examining the left, and was only partially true on the right (i.e. low trust and high knowledge behaved as expected, high-trust conservatives didn't become more conspiracy-minded as knowledge increased).
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
Quote from: Siege on December 11, 2015, 02:09:21 PM
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
Like people who believe global warming is as fake as the moon landing because there's a vast scientific conspiracy?
Quote from: Siege on December 11, 2015, 02:09:21 PM
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
:hmm:
Quote from: Siege, 3 minutes ago
Trump will be the next President.
Americans are tired of the liberal agenda that is destroying this country.
The liberal control of academia, the educational system and the mainstream media has back fired and provoked a rebellion.
Don't believe the polls. Trump is far more ahead in reality than the polling companies claim.
The liberals are using polling to shape opinion.
Then the week before election they start to report the real numbers so it doesn't appear as if they were wrong in their polling data.
Quote from: Siege on December 11, 2015, 02:09:21 PM
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
:hug:
Quote from: grumbler on December 11, 2015, 01:44:46 PM
Actually, you have it backwards on what they assumed about political knowledge going in, if the article is correct:
You're right :blush:
Quote from: Siege on December 11, 2015, 02:09:21 PM
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
Ooops. You let your mask slip there, kemosabe.
Quote from: grumbler on December 11, 2015, 03:31:37 PM
Quote from: Siege on December 11, 2015, 02:09:21 PM
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
Ooops. You let your mask slip there, kemosabe.
Still managed to catch a couple in the troll net though.
Quote from: grumbler on December 11, 2015, 03:31:37 PM
Quote from: Siege on December 11, 2015, 02:09:21 PM
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
Ooops. You let your mask slip there, kemosabe.
I got no mask.
I got an armored faceplate, made of nano materials, molecular strengthened, with smart adaptive ergonomics and AI brain computer interface.
The AI does the thinking for you? Might want to get it reprogrammed.
Conspiracy theory nuttiness is the opposite of head in the sand ignore all threats nuttiness. People who live under a high level of threat and deprivation tend to be more susceptible to the former and people who live in safety and abundance are more susceptible to the latter. That's my expert theory.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on December 11, 2015, 06:54:57 PM
Conspiracy theory nuttiness is the opposite of head in the sand ignore all threats nuttiness. People who live under a high level of threat and deprivation tend to be more susceptible to the former and people who live in safety and abundance are more susceptible to the latter. That's my expert theory.
What do you have in mind when you say "head in the sand ignore all threats nuttiness"?
Climate change denial for example.
BTW, I know one conspiracy theory that's completely true. [spoiler]there is no Santa Claus[/spoiler]
Quote from: Siege on December 11, 2015, 02:09:21 PM
People that believe in conspiracy theories are stupid.
:lol:
I love you man.