The inner worlds of conspiracy believers - Those who subscribe to 9/11 conspiracy beliefs are...

Science News ^ | May 22nd, 2009 | Bruce Bower

[neverdem]

Those who subscribe to 9/11 conspiracy beliefs are generally suspicious and inquisitive, a new study suggests.

Shortly after terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center and mangled the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, conspiracy theories blossomed about secret and malevolent government plots behind the tragic events. A report scheduled to appear in an upcoming Applied Cognitive Psychology offers a preliminary psychological profile of people who believe in 9/11 conspiracies.

A team led by psychologist Viren Swami of the University of Westminster in London identified several traits associated with subscribing to 9/11 conspiracies, at least among British citizens. These characteristics consist of backing one or more conspiracy theories unrelated to 9/11, frequently talking about 9/11 conspiracy beliefs with likeminded friends and others, taking a cynical stance toward politics, mistrusting authority, endorsing democratic practices, feeling generally suspicious toward others and displaying an inquisitive, imaginative outlook.

“Often, the proof offered as evidence for a conspiracy is not specific to one incident or issue, but is used to justify a general pattern of conspiracy ideas,” Swami says.

His conclusion echoes a 1994 proposal by sociologist Ted Goertzel of Rutgers–Camden in New Jersey. After conducting random telephone interviews of 347 New Jersey residents, Goertzel proposed that each of a person’s convictions about secret plots serves as evidence for other conspiracy beliefs, bypassing any need for confirming evidence.

A belief that the government is covering up its involvement in the 9/11 attacks thus feeds the idea that the government is also hiding evidence of extraterrestrial contacts or that John F. Kennedy was not killed by a lone gunman...

[Erik Latranyi]

If it really did happen that way, why do so many people think the USA government did it, and not the terrorists?

Because it happened under Bush and not Gore.

Those same people would have fully accepted 9/11 had Gore been president.

Likewise, an entirely different group would have believed it to be staged if Gore was president.

Remember all the black helicopter stuff during Clinton?

Both sides have conspiracy nuts and they need to be marginalized or the entire movement gets painted with their drool.

[kb2614]

If it really did happen that way, why do so many people think the USA government did it, and not the terrorists?

Steel Wolf answered this question on post#5. "One in four people are absolute idiots".

[Nateman]

Jet fuel will burn at 10,000 degrees F even easier than it does at 410

Not quite true. When something burns it is the chemical reaction of combining with oxygen. If temperatures get too high chemical compounds become impossible. This is why one does not see evidence of chemical compounds on the surface of stars. I still think 911 conspiracy buffs are reality challenged.

[Iscool]

A belief that the government is covering up its involvement in the 9/11 attacks thus feeds the idea that the government is also hiding evidence of extraterrestrial contacts or that John F. Kennedy was not killed by a lone gunman...

Can you tell me where to get a box of those 'magic' bullets...I could shoot a whole herd of deer with one shot...Great things, those magic bullets...

[Raycpa]

This misses the real reason for the conspiracy folks and it is the same kind of folks who buy into grand government control theories.

As much as they fear and distrust authority (probably related to their child hood), their real fear is that the authorities are not in control. It is plain to see that our government is not fully in control of events and cannot protect us, just as a child someday realizes that their parents are not able to protect them.

These people cannot handle this truth so they conjure up an imaginary government, a shadow government. This government is the real cause of these events and is always in control of everything. To them WTC event was controlled rather than uncontrolled. To them the recession is manufactured, to them all bad events are in control only they are in control of a shadow government.

Man is no more in control of the evil in this world than he is of the global climate. It is hubris to think otherwise.

They also deny the reality that God is in ultimate control and that the patterns of evil are part of the satanic control that is allowed to control the earth.

[Rennes Templar]

Here is the definitive report by engineers who were there. Concise, no-nonsense report on why the towers collapsed.

http://www.implosionworld.com/news.htm#1

[Roccus]

In one of the basements of 7 WTC were the fuel tanks for the emergency generators for the entire WTC. This fuel burned all day long (and for several days afterward) leading to the colapse of the building.

[Rennes Templar]

The one 911 conpiracy believer I know supports Lyndon LaRouche for POTUS. ‘nuff said.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Only a few pictures exist of the damage to WTC 7 but it was extensive caused by debris from the fallen twin towers. It looked to me almost like the damage done during the Oklahoma City bombing, only turned upside down.

The 9/11 truthers have achieved one slight “victory.” Their refusal to accept reality and facts have basically made most of us who can debunk their theories give up even trying to set them straight as they're too stupid waste our time with.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I also forgot to add that in order to destroy the truthers weak premises, one has to first consider that they could be “right,” just for the sake of argument. That’s where they say ah ha, so it could have been done. They don’t care about the laws of physics or any other facts that get in the way. Just that you even considered their idea is enough for them.

[marktwain]

“These people cannot handle this truth so they conjure up an imaginary government, a shadow government.”

---

You have real insight in this sentence. I believe that you are correct to say that people need to believe that someone is in control.

[Smokin' Joe]

Thanks, Roccus, that explains the collapse of WTC 7, which was the one which seemed odd to me. The other buildings’ collapse made perfect sense to me although admittedly, I had not foreseen it.

[Roccus]

140 West St. (Verizon bldg) was closer to 1 WTC than 7 WTC was and yet it survived. Though 7 WTC recieved some damage from the collapse of 1 WTC, it was the long duration fuel fed fires that led to its collapse. Most (if not all) the video of 7 WTC that day was taken from the north...the side not facing 1 WTC.

[John Valentine]

Sure, in principle. But 10,000 degrees F ain’t there yet.

Oxidation of jet fuel at 10,000 degrees proceeds just fine.

[bkepley]

It was a demolition and the government used top secret stealth explosives.

[HangThemHigh]

"...I still think 911 conspiracy buffs are reality challenged."

In an apparent effort to support the above statement, a member of Democratic Underground contributed the experiment pictured below.

He built a little cage of hardware cloth with concrete slabs, lit a small kerosene fire inside, and eventually stood on top of the whole thing. The structure held his weight, proving once and for all that Bush collapsed the WTC towers.

A classic thread and a truly monumental moment in the history of human logic (DU version).

Click to enlarge

I won't link to DU, but if you want to see the original thread, do a search on Google for "chicken wire concrete 911" this is the #1 hit.

[Roccus]

Sorry about hijacking the thread....as to conspiracies;

I'm not sure I agree with the theories about grand conspiracies (Bilderbergs, CFR, Rothschild's, etc.), but I DO believe that conspiracies abound in our government. It is at the very core of how our government works. (you vote for my bill and I'll vote for yours) Of course in polite circles this is called “compromise.”

There are uncountable small conspiracies in DC. Oftentimes they interconnect and weave through one another. All government is “wheels within wheels.”

[Hardastarboard]

the intense heat from the jet fuel fire could soften and weaken uninsulated steel

I thought the jets brought down the towers, too, but the noted metallurgical expert Rosie O'Donnell pointed out that this was the first time in history that fire had melted steel, so I'm back to being a 9/11 truther.

[lbama]

The government is ultimately responsible. Why were these people allowed into the country to begin with? Same reason the border with Mexico is not secured.

[Library Lady]

Good observation.