I was thinking the other day about such people and the term 'conspiracy theorist', in particular 'CRAZY conspiracy theorist'. For many years, much of the information we've been presenting to people has been labeled 'crazy'. It struck me that the reason it is seen that way is that, for those people, it IS crazy. Whether or not it is true is besides the point.
Such people are like children (albeit some with prodigious intellects), and they quickly intuit what the implications for them of what we are saying. The implications of any 'crazy conspiracy theory' for such people are, essentially, that we live in a world where the authorities are corrupt and not only do not care about their wards (the people) but are actively attempting to harm them in one way or another.
The rational response to this (if it were assumed to be true) is for the people to ditch their reliance on authorities and assume responsibility for their own lives, the lives of others and the world around them, to take responsibility for the 'big stuff' that the authorities are supposedly responsible for.
The problem is that many people are fundamentally UNABLE to do this, and to ask them to do so (in the form of asking them to accept, or at least consider, an alternative view of the nature and intentions of the authorities of this world) is the same as asking a 5 year old child to ditch its abusive parents and go out in the world on its own, get a car, a job and start paying the bills. To the child, that suggestion is literally crazy because the child IS literally unable to do it.
This helps me to understand why so many people react with such derision and anger to 'conspiracy theories'. They know the implications of the theory for them, but that awareness is mostly unconscious, and they are therefore unable to be honest with themselves about it. This is the reason, IMO, that many people attack such theories in a dismissive way, not really knowing why they are doing so, although those with more developed intellects will make extra effort to marshal an apparently convincing rebuttal to the theory. This also suggests that those that go after conspiracy theories in a particularly energetic way are likely to be those MOST unable to live without a temporal authority in their lives.
Ultimately, the motivation of all such people is self-preservation, and has nothing to do with an open and objective assessment of the facts and where they lead. So there's little wonder that the debate on issues like these is usually so fractious and divided between 'us and them'. For both sides, it's personal. For one side, its about NEEDING to refuse or refute certain uncomfortable facts in order to maintain their childish world view. For the other side, its about NEEDING to know the Truth because the Truth is perceived as being essential to maintain order in their personal lives and the wider world.
So much important information and so helpful in these turbulent times.
I hope Elvis will find the way back quickly. Impressive that he is apparently a very good candidate for his own, individual soul.
