From You Are Not So Smart: What's up with all that conspiracy theory shit?
It goes along with the Type 1 Error I posted about earlier. We take a certain bit of information, it makes us skittish, and at some point (feeling the need for reasons and explanations), we ascribe Agency or Intent to it.
Nobody's saying there can't possibly be anything to any of what you think is a conspiracy regarding certain events or conditions. But while there are (and have been) in fact many conspiracies to commit various acts both heinous and heroic, The Grand Conspiracy has so far been thoroughly delusional.
Oh yeah - in case you're wondering about the Ant Death Spiral mentioned in the podcast:
The ant gets a bit of info and, since he can't apply any reasoning to the problem, he can only follow along dutifully ("thinking" this is how he gets to a safe dry place that his little ant-sized brain calls home). Eventually, they all die of starvation and/or dehydration, never even knowing they were acting on insufficient evidence.
The real difference of course is that the ants can't reason their way thru it, while we actually choose not to.
One last bit, for all you Randites out there, I'll paraphrase from The Fountainhead: The evil at work in the world is when a man recognizes Truth and Beauty as they are, and denies them.
It goes along with the Type 1 Error I posted about earlier. We take a certain bit of information, it makes us skittish, and at some point (feeling the need for reasons and explanations), we ascribe Agency or Intent to it.
Nobody's saying there can't possibly be anything to any of what you think is a conspiracy regarding certain events or conditions. But while there are (and have been) in fact many conspiracies to commit various acts both heinous and heroic, The Grand Conspiracy has so far been thoroughly delusional.
Oh yeah - in case you're wondering about the Ant Death Spiral mentioned in the podcast:
The ant gets a bit of info and, since he can't apply any reasoning to the problem, he can only follow along dutifully ("thinking" this is how he gets to a safe dry place that his little ant-sized brain calls home). Eventually, they all die of starvation and/or dehydration, never even knowing they were acting on insufficient evidence.
The real difference of course is that the ants can't reason their way thru it, while we actually choose not to.
One last bit, for all you Randites out there, I'll paraphrase from The Fountainhead: The evil at work in the world is when a man recognizes Truth and Beauty as they are, and denies them.
