Why does he believe the crap he believes?
Some possible explanations:
Conspiracy theorists are seeking to prove something they want to believe. Instead of scientifically following a stream of facts to a rational conclusion they collect bits and pieces and oddments, not to synthesize a robust alternative explanation, but more to crap on an official version or more cohesive theories. The fact that their interpretation of events, evidence, and testimony leads to more and more dubious explanations for the data, and impossible situations is unimportant.
Unfortunately there has been little research carried out into what kind of events trigger conspiracy theories, who tends to believe them, and why. We do know, however, that people who believe in one theory are more likely to believe in others: there is a good chance that someone who believes the moon landings were faked will also believe that JFK was killed by a second gunman from the infamous grassy knoll.
http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/07/why_do_people_believe_in_consp.php
And then there's this:
A new article in Scientific American tries to figure that out. Michael Shermer outlines in his “Skeptic” column four traits of those who believe:
patternicity, or a tendency to find meaningful patterns in random noise;
agenticity, or the bent to believe the world is controlled by invisible intentional agent;
confirmation bias, or the seeking and finding of confirmatory evidence for what we already believe;
hindsight bias, or tailoring after-the-fact explanations to what we already know happened.
Note: For those of us beating our heads against the wall trying to convince Shamu that what he says is fact, isn't really fact, confirmation bias is what keeps him from accepting any evidence to the contrary that his beliefs are what really happened. This is why I've asked him several times if it really matters what videos or photos we provide. It doesn't, even though he continues to ask for such evidence. His mind is made up and NOTHING will change it.
http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/four-reasons-why-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories/762/
And then this one from Wiki:
According to some psychologists, a person who believes in one conspiracy theory tends to believe in others; a person who does not believe in one conspiracy theory tends not to believe another.[25] This may be caused by differences in the information upon which parties rely in formulating their conclusions.
Psychologists believe that the search for meaning is common in conspiracism and the development of conspiracy theories, and may be powerful enough alone to lead to the first formulating of the idea. Once cognized, confirmation bias and avoidance of cognitive dissonance may reinforce the belief. In a context where a conspiracy theory has become popular within a social group, communal reinforcement may equally play a part. Some research carried out at the University of Kent, UK suggests people may be influenced by conspiracy theories without being aware that their attitudes have changed. After reading popular conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, participants in this study correctly estimated how much their peers' attitudes had changed, but significantly underestimated how much their own attitudes had changed to become more in favor of the conspiracy theories. The authors conclude that conspiracy theories may therefore have a 'hidden power' to influence people's beliefs.
Humanistic psychologists argue that even if the cabal behind the conspiracy is almost always perceived as hostile there is, often, still an element of reassurance in it, for conspiracy theorists, in part because it is more consoling to think that complications and upheavals in human affairs, at least, are created by human beings rather than factors beyond human control. Belief in such a cabal is a device for reassuring oneself that certain occurrences are not random, but ordered by a human intelligence. This renders such occurrences comprehensible and potentially controllable. If a cabal can be implicated in a sequence of events, there is always the hope, however tenuous, of being able to break the cabal's power - or joining it and exercising some of that power oneself. Finally, belief in the power of such a cabal is an implicit assertion of human dignity - an often unconscious but necessary affirmation that man is not totally helpless, but is responsible, at least in some measure, for his own destiny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory
Some possible explanations:
Conspiracy theorists are seeking to prove something they want to believe. Instead of scientifically following a stream of facts to a rational conclusion they collect bits and pieces and oddments, not to synthesize a robust alternative explanation, but more to crap on an official version or more cohesive theories. The fact that their interpretation of events, evidence, and testimony leads to more and more dubious explanations for the data, and impossible situations is unimportant.
Unfortunately there has been little research carried out into what kind of events trigger conspiracy theories, who tends to believe them, and why. We do know, however, that people who believe in one theory are more likely to believe in others: there is a good chance that someone who believes the moon landings were faked will also believe that JFK was killed by a second gunman from the infamous grassy knoll.
http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/07/why_do_people_believe_in_consp.php
And then there's this:
A new article in Scientific American tries to figure that out. Michael Shermer outlines in his “Skeptic” column four traits of those who believe:
patternicity, or a tendency to find meaningful patterns in random noise;
agenticity, or the bent to believe the world is controlled by invisible intentional agent;
confirmation bias, or the seeking and finding of confirmatory evidence for what we already believe;
hindsight bias, or tailoring after-the-fact explanations to what we already know happened.
Note: For those of us beating our heads against the wall trying to convince Shamu that what he says is fact, isn't really fact, confirmation bias is what keeps him from accepting any evidence to the contrary that his beliefs are what really happened. This is why I've asked him several times if it really matters what videos or photos we provide. It doesn't, even though he continues to ask for such evidence. His mind is made up and NOTHING will change it.
http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/four-reasons-why-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories/762/
And then this one from Wiki:
According to some psychologists, a person who believes in one conspiracy theory tends to believe in others; a person who does not believe in one conspiracy theory tends not to believe another.[25] This may be caused by differences in the information upon which parties rely in formulating their conclusions.
Psychologists believe that the search for meaning is common in conspiracism and the development of conspiracy theories, and may be powerful enough alone to lead to the first formulating of the idea. Once cognized, confirmation bias and avoidance of cognitive dissonance may reinforce the belief. In a context where a conspiracy theory has become popular within a social group, communal reinforcement may equally play a part. Some research carried out at the University of Kent, UK suggests people may be influenced by conspiracy theories without being aware that their attitudes have changed. After reading popular conspiracy theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, participants in this study correctly estimated how much their peers' attitudes had changed, but significantly underestimated how much their own attitudes had changed to become more in favor of the conspiracy theories. The authors conclude that conspiracy theories may therefore have a 'hidden power' to influence people's beliefs.
Humanistic psychologists argue that even if the cabal behind the conspiracy is almost always perceived as hostile there is, often, still an element of reassurance in it, for conspiracy theorists, in part because it is more consoling to think that complications and upheavals in human affairs, at least, are created by human beings rather than factors beyond human control. Belief in such a cabal is a device for reassuring oneself that certain occurrences are not random, but ordered by a human intelligence. This renders such occurrences comprehensible and potentially controllable. If a cabal can be implicated in a sequence of events, there is always the hope, however tenuous, of being able to break the cabal's power - or joining it and exercising some of that power oneself. Finally, belief in the power of such a cabal is an implicit assertion of human dignity - an often unconscious but necessary affirmation that man is not totally helpless, but is responsible, at least in some measure, for his own destiny.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory