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Why would an American president bow down to world leaders? Why is it easy for politicians to stoke hatred for rich, fat-cat CEOs? And why do so many nations around the world hate America, the world’s lone superpower? read more
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I asked Dr. Patrick Leman of Oxford and Cambridge, a researcher on the psychology of conspiracy theorists, if he knew of any conspiracies that did not feature a powerful “overdog” person or institution at the top, pulling the strings. “No,” he replied, “all are powerful.”
Underdogma reveals that conspiracy theories, and those who believe them, are driven by our love/hate relationship with power and our distrust for those who have power. Which leads some people to believe that powerful “overdogs” are capable of…anything.
CONSPIRACY FILE #1: The 9/11 Truthers
Here are some (actual) 9/11 “Truther” beliefs: the U.S. government somehow staged the 9/11 hijackings, intercepted the hijacked aircraft, removed all passengers, transferred them to new planes, impersonated their voices in fake phone calls back to their families, then flew them to their deaths in the Atlantic Ocean while taking the original planes and flying those, via remote-control, into their targets where the government had, over the previous months, tunneled through the interior walls of the World Trade Center buildings-without any of the office workers noticing-and planted thousands of pounds of explosives so they could be detonated to bring the Twin Towers down (which, if true, would make the whole airplane hijacking plot a bit unnecessary).
Oh, and if you believe that, you also have to believe that government behind the DMV and the United States Postal Service is the same government pulled this off-without a single person leaking any of it, to anyone, ever. And you have to believe that the Obama administration chose to continue this “coverup” by picking up the torch from the Bush administration and running with it.
To discuss this topic, visit the discussion board on Michael's Facebook page, or you can send him a tweet, by clicking here.
Underdogma reveals that conspiracy theories, and those who believe them, are driven by our love/hate relationship with power and our distrust for those who have power. Which leads some people to believe that powerful “overdogs” are capable of…anything.
CONSPIRACY FILE #1: The 9/11 Truthers
Here are some (actual) 9/11 “Truther” beliefs: the U.S. government somehow staged the 9/11 hijackings, intercepted the hijacked aircraft, removed all passengers, transferred them to new planes, impersonated their voices in fake phone calls back to their families, then flew them to their deaths in the Atlantic Ocean while taking the original planes and flying those, via remote-control, into their targets where the government had, over the previous months, tunneled through the interior walls of the World Trade Center buildings-without any of the office workers noticing-and planted thousands of pounds of explosives so they could be detonated to bring the Twin Towers down (which, if true, would make the whole airplane hijacking plot a bit unnecessary).
Oh, and if you believe that, you also have to believe that government behind the DMV and the United States Postal Service is the same government pulled this off-without a single person leaking any of it, to anyone, ever. And you have to believe that the Obama administration chose to continue this “coverup” by picking up the torch from the Bush administration and running with it.
To discuss this topic, visit the discussion board on Michael's Facebook page, or you can send him a tweet, by clicking here.
