From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Tue Jul 30 2002 - 12:51:52 MDT
On Tuesday, July 30, 2002, at 10:50 am, Scott Badger wrote:
> Another factor which may contribute to developing
> conspiracy theories is our tendency to explain
> perceived patterns anthropomorphically, a factor which
> also leads many into god theories. IOW, you see a
> pattern and conclude someone must be the architect
> behind the pattern.
This is very true. I think a simpler version of this explanation is the
fact that people assume everyone else sees the universe the same way we
do.
People assume that everyone has the same set of experiences and the same
set of facts. So when an opposing political party proposes an approach
that one's own party thinks won't work, one can't imagine that those
people really believe in this "obviously" flawed plan. Instead, they
imagine that the other side "knows" the same facts, and "knows" the plan
won't work. So then they must invent some reason why those people are
deliberately trying to mislead everyone into following a plan that they
know won't work.
The truth is usually much, much simpler. People really do disagree when
it comes to politics. They really do believe in all different wacky
plans. It really is not so obvious which plans will work and which ones
won't.
-- Harvey Newstrom, CISSP <www.HarveyNewstrom.com> Principal Security Consultant <www.Newstaff.com>
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