This is only coincidentally relevant to recent threads on conspiracy theories. This thread idea mostly came out of discussions on Facebook about Nate Silver being a witch (Yes, witch. Not warlock. Not wizard. Witch) and/or time traveler.
Does anybody else find being a conspiracy theorist from time to time fun? I mean, not seriously believing any of it in the end, but starting from some insane premise and researching the most tenuous evidence you can to support your pet batshit idea?
I really love doing it, I’m not sure why. It may be an evolution of my love for the paranormal and occult when I was a teenager (though I was never an actual conspiracy theorist). It may be an extension of my love for fiction with a lot of speculation. Maybe I just admire all the creativity and work that obviously went into some of the more insane urban legends I’ve read. I’m not sure why, but for some reason I just really like giving some random Congresscritter some grand master plan, or assuming Barack Obama is secretly a Russian sleeper agent and going out and finding any shred of evidence filtered through Obi-Wan levels of “certain points of view” to support absolutely ridiculous premises.
Like I said, at the end of the day I know it’s all fake and in good fun, I’ve never actually believed a conspiracy theory I’ve come up with. It’s just incredibly fun and interesting to play with the ideas. Especially when others play along, or even better, when others argue with you with their OWN completely asinine conspiracy theory (e.g. “Ghosts? Ridiculous. It was clearly energy beings from the Andromeda galaxy!”). Note that I’m not talking about trolling people with these ideas, if I start arguing about it I try to make it clear I’m joking (though I try to stay “in character” as much as possible after I make it clear).
So does anyone else find being a nutter for a few hours now and then fun/interesting, or am I just insane for liking this sort of thing?
ETA: And because I knew this is a peeve of some people, “does anybody else…” is just a turn of phrase here. I know the chances of me being the “only one” are practically nonexistent.
It’s fun…if you do it as a game. If you remember that you are “suspending disbelief,” and not actually believing!
It’s like holding that Sherlock Holmes was a real person (which, of course, he was!) It’s like participating in P.D.Q. Bach scholarship. It’s like making up devil’s advocate reasons to believe that the world is flat. (Which, of course, it is.)
I go on kicks where i gobble up conspiracies and get into them. They are very entertaining.
I actually get mildly annoyed when they can’t be debunkt properly by people on this site.
I love conspiracy theories! My personal favourites are the ones about the real Stargate, which was built millennia ago and smashed into four bits and scattered to the four winds, three parts of it have been found and are now in Area 51, the fourth part is somewhere in the middle east (Iran, or Iraq) which is why America keeps invading these countries.
And a more recent one which says that the earth is caught in a temporal loop that starts in 1947 and goes on to some point decades later (I don’t remember seeing what the ‘end’ date was but I’m going to assume it’s Dec 21 2012) when we get to that date we do the whole groundhog day thing and go back to 1947. Probably something to do with Nazis. Or aliens.
I read the Illuminatus trilogy as a young hippie. In which I learned the secret truth about the occult forces behind history (backed up with real historical facts). In the next chapter, I learned that the real story was very different–& another group was Behind It All. Etc., etc. (Plus a bunch of sex & drugs.)
It was a great introduction to conspiracy theory. The sort that includes skepticism, flexibility & a good sense of humor. I just wish subscriptions to The Fortean Times were cheaper…