Post #3835535

2026-07-15 12:01 UTC

@BillySmith@social.coop @jonny@neuromatch.social @yora@mastodon.gamedev.place Off topic, but my theory is it's because they're unprovable - or at least, it's the unprovable ones that stay around as conspiracy theories as opposed to established facts and therefore have longer to gain social inertia than other things which lose interest once they've been clarified. Conspiracy theorists them selves appear to be attracted to the things that make them paranoid, reinforcing their anxiety surrounding the topic in question.

Replies (3)

@BillySmith@social.coop 2026-07-15 12:02

@toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place @jonny@neuromatch.social @yora@mastodon.gamedev.place Like Godel's Unprovable Truths. :D

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@yora@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-07-15 12:05

@toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place @BillySmith@social.coop @jonny@neuromatch.social I believe conspiracy theorists are simply people who are scared and confused by the world that makes no sense to them and they are powerless to deal with. And they end up trapped in the fantasy that they are not the ones who can't understand, but actually the few smart people that can see through the lie that everyone else is falling for. The world makes no sense because it's a lie. They don't have to feel powerless, they are actually the smart ones. That's comforting

Open ##3901818
@tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org 2026-07-15 15:15

@toerror@mastodon.gamedev.place There is a paper going round about researchers trying to define "religion" who went at it frem a new angle: as a set of behaviors, not beliefs. In short, that the core mechanism of a religion or similar is: public expression of a belief in an assertion that cannot be proven, that the group shares. The specifics don't matter, this declaration puts you on the inside. This dangerous time has lots of people grasping for something anything, and a nicely modern scientificalish one involving computers is a QAnon for nerdfolk. And this oracle you can actually ask questions! I have a copy of the paper on a real computer but atm im sitting out in a sunny socal parking lot with my phone. @BillySmith@social.coop @jonny@neuromatch.social @yora@mastodon.gamedev.place

Open ##3901819