Asking questions without looking ‘holier than thou’ is important. Ask questions in a patient, conversational way. Soon, the other person will stop talking. Hopefully starting to wonder.
Exactly. And then, not to get frustrated with their holier than thou attitude. People get stuck in conspiracy theories or cults because that makes them feel special, part of something bigger than themselves.
Conspiracy theories make a complex and random world neat, organized, and explain everything. They provide excuses and reasons for people's failures in life, particularly those who feel entitled by virtue of their melanin content and family history (my great-great-grandpappy was in the 4th Alabama at Murfreesboro and one of my ancestors was a Crusader Knight! So I'm entitled to a McMansion, an expensive car, and a hot blonde!)
They also put the blame on the world's catastrophes not on said random and complex events, but on an evil conspiracy designed to crush that precious civilization -- Christianity, capitalism, heterosexuality -- in the name of an omnipotent power, sometimes Satan himself.
Asking questions without looking ‘holier than thou’ is important. Ask questions in a patient, conversational way. Soon, the other person will stop talking. Hopefully starting to wonder.
Exactly. And then, not to get frustrated with their holier than thou attitude. People get stuck in conspiracy theories or cults because that makes them feel special, part of something bigger than themselves.
I lost more than one friend over this. A friend of over 50 years is no longer in my life.
Conspiracy theories make a complex and random world neat, organized, and explain everything. They provide excuses and reasons for people's failures in life, particularly those who feel entitled by virtue of their melanin content and family history (my great-great-grandpappy was in the 4th Alabama at Murfreesboro and one of my ancestors was a Crusader Knight! So I'm entitled to a McMansion, an expensive car, and a hot blonde!)
They also put the blame on the world's catastrophes not on said random and complex events, but on an evil conspiracy designed to crush that precious civilization -- Christianity, capitalism, heterosexuality -- in the name of an omnipotent power, sometimes Satan himself.