Is Global Warming a conspiracy too?

           It seems as if there is always some group of people that disagree with historic events. Global warming is my research topic, so as I was researching I came across this crazy assumption. From my previous knowledge and research I knew some people believed global warming was occuring and some did not. I knew that some believed it was caused by humans' actions or it was just natural. Never have I found or previously knew that people thought global warming may just be a scheme by the governement to make money, or "take over the world."
          Jesse Ventura has a whole television show based on different conspiracy theories, so I decided to see if he had anything interesting to say about global warming. And actually he did a whole episode on it! Here is a little excerpt from the episode defending the claim that the government has made up global warming, and the whole world is behind it. The facts that are shown in this video are compelling and easily believable. But remember, watch this video "against the grain." Never will I make the mistake I did in my last post to believe everything I hear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52yr7OAO-SM

THE ONION?!

Attention: Last week I was not "evaluating my sources" very critically...as we learned in class today all their stories are bogus. I thought the website looked legit! No wonder no one I told believed me when I said Neil Armstrong believes the moon landing was a conspiracy theory....:( Sorry about that guys, disregard the validity of my last post!!

even Neil Armstrong believes it was fake??

          Neil Armstrong was one of the two men to walk on the moon from the Apollo 11 mission. This was a great acheivment in science and very important to American history. At the time we were in the space race with the Soviets, and this allowed us to come out on top. But not so fast, this conpiracy theory has been a large controversy over the years. Did it really happen or did the government fake this one as well??
          In August of 2009, Neil Armstrong was interviewed by the Onion, a news company. The astronaut, who walked on the moon, and stuck the American flag into the ground, believes he got punked. After he was convinced by Ralph Coleman's website OmmisonControl.org. he really got his emotions out. The Onion article emphasizes Armstrong's point of view when he states, "It has become painfully clear to me that on July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module under the control of my crew did not in fact travel 250,000 miles over eight days, touch down on the moon, and perform various experiments, ushering in a new era for humanity. Instead, the entire thing was filmed on a soundstage, most likely in New Mexico."
              He is skeptical due to the fact that the rippling of the American flag cannot happen in a vaccuum. Also, Coleman shows Armstrong that we would not have had the technology to put men on the moon in 1969. Lastly, he points out that in the photos of the moonlanding one of the rocks has a "C" stamped onto it. This realization the Armstrong is emotional for him. He throws his rocks in the trash, cries, and calls NASA a "lying bastards." His whole life he has thought he has made one giant leap for mankind. Clearly dissapointed he states, "I suppose it really was one small step for man, one giant lie for mankind."
         What does this mean for the belief of the rest of the world?? If Neil Armstrong believes its fake, and HE WAS THERE, what should we believe??

Psycholoy of it all

I have never taking psychology in high school and now I am in Gpysch  101 this semester. David Daniel is so entertaining I actually do not dread his class! Who would have thought, right?? It is not only him actually I kind of like psychology as a subject. It’s a different way to look at the world, which I have never done before. We just learned about the different parts of the brain and how the work. I think it is so awesome that so many things are going on around your body that you have no recollection of. So since I think like a psychologist now I wanted to know how it affected conspiracy theories.

So I did my research found that Jonah Lehrer published an article, “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories.” His answer to the theory behind this conspiracy theory is cognitive dissonance. He calls it “one of the most influential theories in social psychology.”  (We haven’t learned about this yet, so I cannot tell you David Daniel’s take on the subject). But this theory was concocted in 1954 by Leon Festinger.  He read an article about a housewife who was convinced the world was coming to an end. She claims she had been getting messages from aliens and had very specific details on where they came from and how the world would end.

                Festinger decided she would make a great case study (study where you study one person extensively, you can find out a lot but cannot generalize to the population).  He pretended to be her follower to see the reactions when they world did not end on December 20, 1954. When that date rolled around the group leader got a telegram from the aliens saying, “This little group sitting all night long had spread so much light,” the aliens told her, “that god saved the world from destruction. Not since the beginning of time upon this Earth has there been such a force of Good and light as now floods this room.” They were stubborn and now the group believed the aliens were MORE real and they got MORE followers. They reacted by becoming even more certain they were right.

                The anterior cingulate cortex is responsible for cognitive dissonance. It is kind of scary that even though we find conflicting evidence, we “double-down” on our beliefs.  We are all vulnerable to this theory, and Festinger was worried about that. Lehrer also points out in his article how easy it is to find “proof” on the internet that a conspiracy theory exists. Nowadays people will believe anything that they find off of a Google search. Thus raises the question, “Is Google Making us Stupid?...” For publishing all this bogus info that tricks us into believing?

Wackiest Conspiracy Theories

In my research of conpiracy theories I came across a site about the WACKIEST conspiracy theories. Some of these theories are so rediculous, I cannot understand how someone in their right mind would come up with these. Also, some of them I have mentioned previously that actual do have causation. I guess it must depend on whoever you are talking to. Some people think these theories are wacky and some live by them. I know in my previous blogs my opinions have been swayed on what the real story is, but some of these accusations are humurous. So, I am here to pass on the 10 Wackiest Conspiracy Theories:

1 - Dinosauroid-like alien reptiles are dominating the world.
2 - Apollo 11 Moon Landings were faked by NASA.
3 - September 11 was orchestrated by the government
4 - Barcodes are really intended to control people
5 - Charlemagne never existed, is a fictional character
6 - The truth is out there, on Area 51
7 - Microsoft sends messages on Wingdings Font
8 - US military caused the 2004 Indian Tsunami
9 - The Nazis had a moon base
Last, but certainly not least....
10 - Kentucky Fried Chicken makes black men impotent.

I can't tell from the website if people actually believe this kind of stuff?? Like really, alien reptiles are invading the world? Peope will believe anything these days,  "Hey, gullible is written on the ceiling!"

Thought this was funny to share with you guys!

What "They Say" About JFK

                The most fascinating responses to conspiracy theories have to be about the John F. Kennedy assassination. So many theories are out there debating who was behind the murder of this beloved president. In regards to conspiracy theories it is hard to determine what “They say” because everyone says something different. Was it Lee Harvey Oswald acting on his own will or not?? I hate to admit it yet again, but when I read different justifications I get so confused! I seem to believe everyone, maybe it could be this or maybe it could be that…I think that’s what makes these conspiracy theories so intriguing to me. We will never really know the real answer to these mysteries.

JFK’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald is a mystery. He was influenced by so many groups, and people had real motive to carry out such a horrible deed. All of the following theories influence my thoughts, so I will tell you what “they say” and you can decide for yourself what “you say.”

-          The Cubans: Pat Anders describes this theory as “the weakest theory.”  It is believed that since Kennedy did not allow US forces to participate in the Bay of Pigs, the people that were exiled from Cuba were not happy with Mr. President.

o   Another theory was that Castro had him murdered. There had been assassination attempts against him and he was under the impression he was in a “kill-or-be-killed situation”

-          The Mafia: The mafia had many alleged reasons for murdering the president. One having to do with the Cubans. The mobsters had stake in the Cuban casinos so after the Castro revolution they paid exiles and tried to kill Castro. They did not receive very good treatment from the Kennedys.

o   Sam Giancana, mobster, shared a mistress with JFK, maybe it was jealousy?

-          The US Government: The CIA was not happy with Kennedy; He had just given away Cuba and they wanted to prevent him from giving away Vietnam as well. Kennedy had also just fired CIA director Allen Dulles, who probably was not too happy. The CIA had a lot of connections and was very sneaky back then.

-          The KGB: Oswald had family ties to the KGB. Pat Anders asks, “How could the KGB NOT have a hand in the shooting??” They had just had a huge showdown in Cuba the year before, and Kennedy had just removed the missiles aimed at Russia. It is thought that the Government may be covered it up because they would then be forced to go into war with Russia.

-          The Zero Game: Has anyone ever noticed every president elected in a year ending in zero has died in office? Far right-wing writers are the ones to claim this option.  

More info on the theories found at - http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/4/jfk.htm

9/11 Conspiracy: true or not? and why is it so popular?

                Conspiracy theories have been brought to my attention recently by one of my friends who showed me a youtube video on 9/11. So this week I read an article from the Times called “Why the 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Won’t Go Away?”  Lev Grossman explains in this article that there are two kinds of interpretations of the puffs of the “little puffs of dust spurting out from the sides of the towers.” The difference being the planes caused the destruction or they did not. He then presents the arguments conspiracy theorists make to justify the government planning the attack to the world trade center. I think he does this to try to lure the readers into considering the conspiracy theory as an option. He even tells us that 36% of a sample of adults admits that this could be “very likely” or “somewhat likely”. To present this data he is using psychology, by showing us that we wouldn’t be alone in believing this accusation.

Then the switch is made in his motives when he describes the video game, called “Loose Change.” He kind of implies that this is a joke, due to the fact that it is a video game, not made by professionals.  Then he really jabs at this theory with giving the facts from www.nist.gov as a resource. The most concrete point in his article is when he talks about the psychological explanations of conspiracy theories. I felt like I was tricked into considering this possibility at the beginning of his article. These findings also answer the question in the title of the article, why won’t it go away?? The answer is…it is comforting for people.

I think the pitch is different throughout the article, at first he wants you to believe the conspiracy theory then he wants you to understand why it is bogus and why it is so popular now-a-days. The complaint is the increase in belief of this theory he stresses that A LOT more people than you think are starting to believe it. The first aspect that effects the moment is that 9/11 is the last major nationwide disaster and people are still affected by it. Also, the fact that it is still talked about partially because of the video game revolving around the conspiracy.

Lev Grossman responds to two different “They Say” points of view. He responds to the people that believe the conspiracy theory and the people who do not. It seems like he tries to prove both sides as well. He goes into more detail and provides more support for the plane crashing scenario, but that’s towards the end. This article was intriguing because you got both points of views, so after you read it you’re even more unsure then when you started it!!

Check out the article -- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1531304-1,00.html