This week's film is called Conspiracy Rising. It originally aired on the CBC, and so it represents a mainstream media approach to conspiracy theories.
Watch the film and comment below. How would you describe the depictions of conspiracy theorists and their critics in this film? Does one group always get the last word? How would you say conspiracy theories/ists are represented here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAcFXAtG0cQ
Upon watching this documentary, one thing became clear to me: almost ANYTHING can be influenced by a conspiracy theory. As long as a story or news release contains some form of "questionable" evidence, somebody will always strive to try to convince others to not believe the original release. In a way, I agree with conspiracy theorists. As a child, I was taught to never just believe everything I heard or read about, in the news or otherwise. I was encouraged to think for myself and form my own ideas before subscribing to the ideas of my peers. However, I mostly find conspiracy theorists to possess a strain of paranoia and weakness. It was mentioned in this documentary that those who subscribe to conspiracy theories all possess common threads, belonging to minorities, lower-class citizens, members of low-income families, or those who just want to break free from self-constructed segregation. The reason for this, I believe, is that people in these situations are always looking for somebody else to blame for their problems; people do not want to own the situations they are in. Yes, there are reasons to believe that Lee Harvey Oswald did not assassinate JFK on his own, or that a drunk driver was not the only person responsible for Diana's death. This being said, just because there is evidence pointing towards the validation of these theories, it does not persuade me to forget about researching the events and forming my own opinions and theories. In closing, one thing that I can draw from this documentary is that it is paramount to keep an open mind when observing and studying these conspiracy theories before jumping on one bandwagon or another.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this, what really struck me is that conspiracy theories are human nature. Even small acts like reading your daughters diary and talking to your partner about what to do (an example used in the video.). Humans talk and people have opinions, this leads to various ways of thinking, of theories. It makes sense that the bigger the incident, the bigger and louder the theory becomes. Furthermore, I believe that these theories can be a way of coping with a tragedy or a great shock. They are coping mechanisms to try to deal with what happened. Like 9/11: this was a horrific incident, where innocents died and people were left scared and vulnerable. When people are scared and vulnerable they get defensive and search for an explanation which they can cling to. And once they found something, whether it is what is the public explanation or believing that there is a deeper, hidden explanation, they tend to be in denial about anything else that doesn't agree with what they believe and are almost impossible to persuade. A sense of defensiveness is just under the surface, waiting for their belief to be attacked. This all does not mean that there isn't some credibility in what they believe. But it is obviously pretty much impossible to know which is true and which is false. What is evident from this video though, is that you should be skeptical about ANY information that you receive and to have an open mind because anything could be true.
ReplyDeleteThe CBC documentary, Conspiracy Rising provides a seemingly neutral voice on the heavily debated issue of conspiracy theories. The video also explores the patterns and psychology of conspiracy theorists. One thing that stuck out to me was the parallel that could be drawn between the conspiracy theorists and religious groups. Both groups are very dedicated to their views and opinions and have what they believe to be irrefutable proof to support their beliefs. Furthermore, they both have skeptics that also claim to have evidence that proves that the other group’s views are incorrect. The documentary painted conspiracy theorists in a negative light by discussing their unwillingness to change their opinion in the face of evidence that proves the theory is not plausible. The documentary promoted the ideas of the scientific method where nothing is true unless it can be undoubtedly proven with observation and logic. The overall theme of the piece was skepticism and the idea that a person’s opinion should not be static but rather dynamic in response to current information and evidence.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Conspiracy Rising I concluded that this documentary was one sided. I felt that the film was attempting to debunk the theory of conspiracy theory in the first place. Sure they gave some time to introduce the theories in question but quickly drove into ideas about why people believe in the first place. It was almost like they were trying to justify how the actual theories came to be. The statement that minorities, low income, and vulnerable are most at risk to buy into the conspiracy theories seems fascinating in such a way that those categories would probably make up for 80 percent of the population. The critics in the documentary always had the last word here, not allowing the conspiracy theorists to fully explain their findings. In the end the conspiracy theorists are depicted at mere story tellers trying to make sense at time when nothing makes sense
ReplyDeleteMy first comment was deleted when I hit post. Let's try this again.
ReplyDeleteI found myself on both sides of these arguments. The people who are against the conspiracy theories had some valid points. If a person goes into a situation looking to find a conspiracy of some sort, they are likely to be able to create one that makes sense to them. There are times when conspiracy theorists seem to be grabbing at anything that seems to support their view. There are also times when the things that these theories propose are completely preposterous, such as the idea that the Queen and other world leaders are actually lizard people. I wonder what kind of drugs you need to be on to come up with something like that. It is incorrect to claim that everyone in a position of power is associated with a conspiracy of some sort. There are honest politicians (though that may sound like an oxymoron), and there are untrustworthy ones. You cannot throw everyone on the same boat. However there are some very compelling arguments coming from the other side as well. The circumstances surrounding the JFK assassination do truly seem questionable, and the likelihood that a lone person can pull off an assassination of this caliber is hard to believe. There are also questionable things associated with the 9/11 incident. This video seems to be done from an objective point, showing both sides of the argument. This made me realize how important it is for anyone who looks into any form of information given to them from a critical and objective position. It is important to analyze all of the information provided and come to your own conclusions. Like I said earlier, a person who has already decided that a conspiracy exists will only see conspiracy written all over the stories that they look at. One final thought, conspiracies have always existed, and so have questionable circumstances around various events throughout history. The biggest difference between then and now is the way that modern technology and communication has facilitated the widespread sharing of information. Alright that’s all that’s on my mind.
In this documentary I found out that anyone could potentially be a conspiracy theorist. We are all capable of believing something that may not be what the story was told, but evidence that we may think is more accurate. I also thought that the film was one sided because it displayed the negative side of conspiracy theorists and made their believes and evidence out to be inconstant. I also found it interesting that they assumed or thought that typically people that are minorities, have a low income or is a lower class citizen is most likely to be a conspiracy theorist. I agree but disagree with this assumption because a good majority of people in the world can fall under one of those categories, but can agree because sometimes people that have those issues are the people that rebel against society and often blame others and events for there living style, therefore can easily create a theory that goes against what the government or "higher" power people are saying. Or sometimes people want to believe in something bigger because the evidence just doesn't add up. Ex: the man who is determined so find out who really was involved and provoked 9/11 causing his sons murder. The critics in this documentary are always the ones to have the last word because it presents their "power" over the conspiracy theorist. Conspiracy theorists are trying to make sense of the what can potentially be the hidden truth. Overall I personally think that we should be skeptical about anything we hear.
ReplyDeleteHumans are naturally inquisitive and imaginative. So when there is room or cracks within a story we will naturally find a way to fill the in the blanks. I agree with what Michael Shermer said, "Don't believe anything you hear until it is proven true." In this day and age of internet with trolls and hoaxs everywhere you turn it is hard to discern what has actually happened and what is fiction. I personally do not get surprised whenever it is discovered that the government has done something shady or has kept secrets from the populace. Sometimes it might be better not to know these secrets. But, our inquistive minds wont let us, we must always dig deeper to discover hidden details or find the "truth" even if it is right infront of us. However, thinking about conspiracies can be so much fun. It is like watching a tv show/ movie or reading a book. For example, what if people like Alex Jones are actually creations of the leaders and corporations of the world to distract us with these conspiracy theories from the real truth and stories. He says he is not their slave and is devoted to his cause, but is that only because he is being paid to do so?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTo me it seems this document is one sided showing the conspiracy theorist as insane and even dismisses what they have to say. I understand some are doing it for the attention, or like Alex Jones doing it for a pay check but I don't think it is right to ignore what they as a group have to say. The critics are shown as the more formal,educated people you can trust, and almost laugh at what the conspiracy theorists have to say, even though some of there theories are not even that far-fetched. For example the JFK assassination, is it that far-fetched that there could have been more than one gunman? I think not. The critics don't have the vision to see past the official story. In this film the critics always get the last say. Personally I believe the US government is hiding stuff from the people, but are they going to kill their own people to invade a country for oil like the 9/11 conspiracy theorists say? I sure hope not.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was watching this film, Conspiracy Rising, I noticed how conspiracy theorists were remarked as radical individuals and the critics were highlighted as rational individuals. The bias in the film was evident through how differently conspiracy theorists and critics were represented. Throughout the film the critics were portrayed as the voice of knowledge and integrity. The conspiracy theorists however were showcased as aggressive and illegitimate individuals. For example whenever a conspiracy was introduce, the critics would quickly lay out their facts by suggesting those who conspire or believe in conspiracies have minimum education and wealth. Furthermore by the critics using such “facts” it created an inferior image of those who are conspiracy theorists and those who believe in them. Conspiracy theorists whenever mentioned were shown as irrational individuals from the constant scenes of shouting and aggressive protest that seemed to contain no substance. The number of critics compared to conspiracy theorists allowed for the voice of critics to silence that of the conspiracy theorists. The film never highlighted the evidence that conspiracy theorists have about the conspiracy showcased, it did however extensively use the critics so called evidence to disclaim the conspiracy theories by providing visuals that appeared as evidence. Not always will one side have the last world. For example, if a film sets to be balanced with viewpoints and evidence to support each side then both will share the last word, but if a film fails to showcase each side fairly then a bias will generate and one side will have the last word. In the film one side, critics, did have the last word since the representation and presentation of both sides were not balanced. Although the film contained bias, it still provided a viewpoint that shows the reasons behind why individuals such as the critics, decide not to believe in conspiracy theories.
ReplyDeleteafter watching the conspiracy rising, i do agree with most of the things that they said in the video. the first being people with a reason to hate the government would have an easier time believing the conspiracy that the government was behind 9/11. people who love their government would give you a crazy look lf you were to present this conspiracy to them, because they love and trust their government. another fact that was brought up in the video was that people who come up with these conspiracies will tend to ignore the evidence put out in front of them, these people want to believe that what ever evidence is put out in front of them was planted and won't stop until they hear what they want or see what they want to see.an example was shown with the father that lost his son during 9/11 this man has seen the evidence that the government was not part of it, but he will not stop until he see what he wants. the video also points out that it is important to think for yourself and find out all the information before acting. today the media trys to take our minds off things that matter and they try to make us focus on things with lesser value like celebrities lives, award shows and things like that. we can't act or have a say because we are too distracted and give them power, wish only makes us weaker and gives us fear which holds us back.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs with any documentary there will be a certain bias. However, I didn't feel this documentary fit the criteria. Listening to excerpts of Alex Jones's speeches was comparable to listening to paranoid bigots such as Rush Limbaugh and Hannity & Colmes. I found it interesting that the documentary explained why some may feel the need to question proven events or stories by comparing it to ones neurological desire to be rewarded with a "truth" or at least the perceived knowledge of it. I also found it interesting that the majority of conspiracy theory believers were generally less educated and were lower down on the socio-economic spectrum. Although correlation does not mean causation, if you extrapolate the information that's provided you could make a strong argument that because the majority of conspiracy theorists are less educated they may be more prone/susceptible to believe in conspiracy theories. In summary, if I had to make a choice between a paranoid fringe group or making informed decisions based on evidence and facts, I choose the latter.
ReplyDeleteThis film broadcasts a very one side argument towards the particular conspiracy theories displayed throughout this movie. The conspiracy theorists are portrayed as crazy and illogical thinkers. Although the film touches on the fact that conspiracy theories, in a sense, are around us in our everyday world it doesn’t supersede the negative spin this film has given. The conspiracy theorists are seen as outspoken protesters or over the top radio broadcasters; whereas on the other hand the critics towards these issues are intellectual and scholarly university professors. This results in an unbalanced and bias stance on conspiracy theories. At the beginning of the film they used the JFK assassination as one example. This in itself would not appear to be that abnormal of an idea; however, by grouping this in with other issues such as area 51 or that our world leaders may be disguised at alien lizards it discredits any of the other less radical theories. By looping them all into one group it proves they believe all theories to be irrelevant and untrue. Its making a statement that if you believe in the JFK or 9/11 theories you might as well believe in alien lizards. In many cases the government gets the last word by globally posting their recollection of the events; however, that does hinder any individual from believing or advocating their own ideas and thoughts. What you choose to believe is your own choice.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the documentary, Conspiracy Rising, I came to the conclusion that it was one sided. In the film the critics get the last word because the film was all one sided and didn’t look into the facts of the conspiracy theorists. To me it seemed the documentary was portraying the conspiracy theorist as insane, drastic thinkers. In the film the critics are shown as well educated more formal individuals. The film did touch on some conspiracy theories that could very well be true: one in particular being the JFK assassination. It is not that unlikely to believe that there could have been more than one gunman. One theory that could be a little far-fetched is the theory of area 51. The critics in the film grouped the JFK assassination with all the other theories such as area 51 and the theory that our world leaders may be disguised as aliens. This proves that the critics and other people believe all conspiracy theories are illogical, however some of them are very illogical. This being said not all the theories are irrelevant and some may be true they just need more evidence to support. The critics believe that conspiracy theorists are not looking at all the facts and believe they are ignoring the ones they don’t want to believe. This film is a one sided and only shows the critics viewpoints.
ReplyDeleteThe film, Conspiracy Rising, makes an admirable attempt of delving into the topic and psychology of popular conspiracy theories. While discussing various conspiracies that have fascinated a portion of the population, Conspiracy Rising presents several sides of the arguments for and against the particular theories. Rather than debating the validity of claims asserted by the guests, the films narrative tends to focus on the psychology behind theories, the theorists, the critics, and the effect they can have on society as a whole. The film decently walks the line of depicting the theorists positions as fair and accurate while also pointing out the absence of facts and logical flaws made in their claims. Most of the guests who were critical of certain conspiracy theories came off as intelligent and articulate, while many of the theorists were portrayed as biased or non-credible because of their perceived lack of intelligence. This can be observed as an unfair bias, but it is needed because a lot of the psychology behind conspiracy theories are rooted in fear and paranoia, thus explaining the narrow-minded ramblings by many of the theorists. Overall, Conspiracy Rising does an acceptable job of navigating the ever changing waters of conspiracy theories, those who so strongly believe in them, and the influence they have in our society, whether legitimate or not.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the conspiracy rising, the first thing that struck my mind was the way the conspiracy theorists were described. The image shown was degrading and defective. It also clearly stated that conspiracies can rise from anything whether a question or a answer or an event or an incident. According to me as a non-conspiracy believer (also the result of the test in the video) some of the theories are bizarre. such as the idea that the Queen and other world leaders are actually lizard people.(REPTILIANS). The video also brought in many incidents such as 9/11, assassination of John Kennedy, death of Princess Diana and area 51 and theories such as princess Diana was murdered as she had to her boyfriend's father that Prince Charles had planned to kill her in a car accident and that what actually happened. many Americans believe in this conspiracy theory. Another conspiracy theory that aliens are future humans and they come to visit us from the future in Area 51 everyday and government has kept this hidden from people. But overall, when conspiracy theorists are asked for evidence to prove their theories they always blame the government and individuals at higher hierarchy , for hiding away the evidence. Moreover I believe that conspiracies are confusing and to play with human mind.
ReplyDeleteAs I watched this video I tried to open my mind on both sides of the subject and how it directly relates to me and the society we live in. This video opened up some familiar ideas about the topic but also posted many questions and uncertainty. In a society that rely on technology such as the internet, it is difficult to sift through the facts & evidence to uncover the truth about the events happening around us. As a result, people tend to agree or believe in conspiracy theories that give them answers to the unknown so that they can hold them accountable. Critics such as the guy from Popular Mechanics described this situation as: (theorists) "believe in anything they read as long as the already agree to it," Which is also supported by the 'confirmation biased' phenomenon where people tend to believe first and look at the evidence after or ignore the evidence all together. Such ideas threaten the validity of some of these conspiracy theories. The video also touches upon the idea that theorists view mainstream media as a part of government manipulation. There is no question that conspiracies does and did occur which plants a seed of doubt in peoples mind that the government shouldn't be trusted. Conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones blow up this idea and exaggerate it almost to create a force that has deep distrust in the government. In the video, he was depicted as an extremists lunatic that hates the American government, a lunatic almost, that threaten democracy altogether. Conspiracy Theorists are put in a bad light as a group of individuals that not only defy the government but a group of close minded individuals that are hungry to uncover the answers they seem fit rather than the truth. Healthy debate is essential in society in the growth of ideas and solutions but a strong distrust in government fueled by conspiracy theories threaten the stableness of society. If the people do not trust their government, who can they trust? It is up to us to think critically and open our minds to ideas to uncover the truth and stop believing what we read about in the internet.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Conspiracy Rising, I found myself on the sides of both parties depending on the conspiracy. Some conspiracies are a lot more believable than others. I felt that some of the conspiracy believers had relatively strong reasons for believing or wanting to believe in the conspiracy and could provide information that made sense. Whether this information was factual was for the critics to decide. In this light I felt like the documentary demonstrated theorists with emotional connections to the theory, like family relation, to almost disprove the accuracy of the claim. The critics were also the ones who generally had the last word. Each theory seemed to be presented with the supporting ideas on how/why it was true, and then the critics came in to refute their claims. For the most part the conspiracy theorists were depicted as emotional and a little delusional. There was one lady claiming that the aliens and the cover-ups in area 51 were true because her daddy was there, and he’s not a liar. This example demonstrates the idea that an emotional attachment or exposure to a theory can form a person’s opinions to be certain way. For this reason, I believe we should be skeptical and critically think about what we hear.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this documentary, I found that it was completely one sided. Throughout the film they briefly discuss different conspiracies and then bring in more information to discredit the theories. In the film they depict conspiracy believers to be ethnic minorities, people who are disconnected from mainstream politics and have a low income.They then discredit the theories by using highly educated people to prove them wrong. If it is in our human nature, like the film says they are, shouldn't everyone be susceptible to conspiracy theories not just people who have a low income, are ethnic or aren't involved in main stream politics? In this film they give the highly educated people the last word.
ReplyDeleteThis documentary carried some very interesting points and knowledge towards the idea of conspiracy theories. I found its inclusion of why people are perceptive to notions of conspiracy theory extremely interesting, and also very useful in determining the credibility of peoples ideas. I did, however, find the video to be slightly bias. If it were to have incorporated justifications of both historically accepted versions of events, and its associated conspiracy theories i believe it would have been more effective. The video was also slightly out of date, a more recent video may have been more useful. However, Conspiracy Rising was a very interesting documentary that provided a good look at the history of conspiracy theory.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the documentary A Conspiracy Rising, I can honestly say I could not quite grasp the idea of where such “theories” erupted from. I guess it is human nature to panic when we do not understand what is going on around us and when the answers provided to us do not really make any sense. So, we as humans begin to come up with “answers” or "theories" for all our “unanswered” questions. In the documentary, such people also known as conspiracy theorists were depicted as radical individuals. They were portrayed as being a little insane, withdrawn from society and not very educated; For this very reason, I found the documentary to be a little bias. It was bias in my opinion because the theorists never really had the last say and were immediately judged. I am in no way a conspiracy theorist; however, some of the ideas that they came up with made a lot more sense than of those who were not. For instance a good example was in the 9-11 incident in 2001. Being a non-conspiracy theorist I would think what the “majority” of the population would think, obviously political conflicts caused the destruction of the famous Two Towers. However; some of the ideas that were brought up by the conspiracy theorists of how the individuals in the White House and the President knew it was going to happen was a bit scary - and of course caught my attention. Moreover, because these theories catch my attention and will ALWAYS catch my attention, does not mean I believe them. I personally chose not to believe such ideas because I find that it will raise a whole set of new questions that will NEVER be answered, and thus just cause me to go crazy trying to find the answers.
ReplyDeleteIt is in our human nature to develop certain thoughts and ideas beyond the normality of our society. I found it interesting how this film depicts certain conspiracy theories and how they are essentially viewed. Based on Conspiring Rising alone, these theories have been shut down and are seen as human paranoia. They say it is fair for the average human to develop thoughts and ideas in society that are not yet proven, however it is not fair to identify everything as a negative action and not trust anything that is happening in the world around us. Personally, it is a touchy subject to expand upon as my beliefs have been lead both ways. There is no such thing as "the last word" in a conspiracy world. As soon as the government or other individuals provide evidence disapproving their theories, conspiracists will always go the extra mile to prove their point. As citizens of our society, we have been given so many opportunities such as the internet, conspiracy documentaries, the news, etc, to gain certain theories and connect the dots. Essentially, this film gives a firm representation that conspiracy theorists are taking things too far in our society and creating a whole new world that does not exist. These journalists and authors believe that it is all built upon imagination and they are pin pointing certain groups (ethnic individuals, low income earners, people disconnected to politics, etc..) to provide evidence that these theories will never be answered or proven.
ReplyDeleteAs a result of watching this documentary it has come to my attention that the depictions the critics have about conspiracy theorists is that they are seen as individuals who don’t explore to find evidence but instead ignore evidence. They also argue that human beings are prewired to believe what they are told. Dopamine is released when the brain recognizes patterns, which acts as a reward system for the individual. From my point of view I think the conspiracy theorists are displayed as individuals who are more on the stubborn side of things and believe what they want to believe. Their critics however are shown as people who question why the conspirators are questioning things in the first place. Many psychological phenomena’s such as the confirmation bias and flash bulb memories sometimes are linked with why individuals can be naturally conspiracy theorists. Another notion is that individuals who believe in conspiracies are often afraid or paranoid. Due to this being a large-scale media outlet’s documentary I feel that this has a bias to conspiracy theorists as a result gives the critics’ the last word. In my opinion as humans we are naturally born believing in conspiracies but the media around us fabricates and moulds our understanding and thoughts about events. In psychology the term is similar to the notion of Nature vs. Nurture. From my standing I’m one to question anything that doesn’t sit right or could have several explanations. I find it fascinating to question events and things around me. This allows me to think more 3 dimensionally rather than linearly.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching this film, I have viewed several conspiracy videos, as well as done research on conspiracy theories that either caught my interest or seemed the most credible. With that, I can admit that I am a conspiracy theorist. In the beginning of the film, I found that the conspiracy theorists and narrators were stating their case and arguments on categories such as 9/11 or the death of Princess Diana which further made the viewer question what really went on and if there is a sinister plot for each event. However, as the film continued, I noticed that the narrator steered the viewer’s mind in a different direction; not only did the narrator question how susceptible the viewer was, but also tried to instill the idea that believing in conspiracy theories is “human nature”. In other words, humans are “programmed” to believe in these things because we want to find pattern, we want to believe that the cause is equal to the event and because evidence comes second to our assumptions. In my opinion, although this may be true, I still firmly believe that the events that have occurred resulted in the deep politics that are involved - that there is a larger story that is being covered up. I have also noticed that the film mentions what groups of people are more likely to be believers - ethnic minorities, low incomers and people who are disconnected from mainstream politics. Since most people do not want to stray from the norm and want to be included in society at large, the film makes the viewer not want to be a conspiracy believer. The film also mentions how humans ignore the evidence or don’t have enough evidence to prove their theory correct. Considering all of this, it is evident that the film is rather bias and one sided- they make conspiracy believers and theorists seem naive and oblivious - and that with the lack of evidence, all conspiracies are invalid. Due to this film coming from a large media production, it is clear that the narrators and critics had the last word.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the film, the Conspiracy Rising, what really stuck in my mind was that all of the big events such as the 9/11 attacks, the new world order, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the death of Princess Diana, all have conspiracy theory behind them. As I was watching the film, I noticed that the narrator is bias in narrating the evidences about conspiracy theories. The narrator is criticizing that all conspiracy theories are not true and that they lack valid evidences. Also, According to the film, It is only natural for humans (which the narrator of the film stated specific groups of people who believes in conspiracy) to look and seek evidences specially if it has a big impact in their lives, that's why they just innocently believes in some useless conspiracy theories that are clearly invalid. To sum it up, it is very clear that the narrator of the film is one of the critics of conspiracy just based on how bias this film is and how the narrator focused on the negative side of conspiracy. In my own opinion, Conspiracy theories might not be satisfied with the official story that the media production provides us because they maybe know what really happened or it could be that they only want their beliefs to influence the mind of the people - and that, we don't know.
ReplyDelete"Upon watching the film i found it very interesting that they gave points from both sides. But i ultimately believe the film was more bias towards the individuals that believe in conspiracy's.Even though the film claims that only a third of the people believe the 9/11 was an inside job i do believe it would be more.I also found it extremely interesting to learn that our brains actually make us jump to conclusions that might not be true due to the nature of the way our brains have developed. I think that in the film conspiracy theories are depicted as clever individuals who the government wants to keep quiet that being said i do not fully agree with that depiction because a lot of this film is just opinions of individuals and there stories but not a lot of proven evidence is shown to prove this theories that some may call crazy, if maybe they had more solid prove and showed the public then people would begin to understand that maybe the government isn't always truthful. Like the one individual said that some people believed that a missile hit the pentagon and not a plane but in order for people to believe that they have to ignore solid evidence like the parts of the plane that was found after and the DNA tests they did to find out who was on the plane. In conclusion i think that conspiracy theorist always get the last word but the last words might not be useful if they have no evidence and without that their theories are just theories and will remain so until they show some rock hard evidence to prove their claims." Robin Doad
ReplyDeleteUpon watching this short film, it took me into the world of conspiracy theorists and exactly what they stand for. Of course there are people who will flag these people as absurd, but with a worldwide tragedy such as 9/11 or the JFK assassination, people need to understand that with the millions of people who heard about it, there are obviously going to be speculation, especially if people weren't there to see first-hand what happened on those particular days. I also believe that with such famous and well known people like Princess Diana or JFK, people have more of a tendency to refuse to believe the actual simplicity of the situation. It always seems like there is so much left unsaid, and the questions behind what happen remain endless. People who take it upon themselves to assume different scenarios, or try and answer questions, is just the human nature of the event. I feel like there isn't enough evidence to support that these events did take place in the matter they have explained, and there isn't enough evidence to prove that they didn't happen in the matter they explained. Which leaves some of the world on the fence as to what is true, what is false, and what is unknown. With the freedom of speech in our country and to believe what we want, I don't necessarily think that these theories do as much harm as they just provoke thought and curiosity, which is essential to have. I also think it is natural for people who have been lied to by authorities (like the government or police forces, etc.) or kept secrets from to always question the authorities. Even little lies can make you wonder how big of lies they are capable of.
ReplyDeleteJordan Walker
This short film really opened my eyes to the world of conspiracy theory. While it did not change my mind about any of the large global events mentioned throughout the documentary (JFK, Roswell, 911), it did really change the way i view conspiracy theorists. The way the assorted speakers talked about how it is not insanity or a gross mistrust of the government that leads to conspiracy, but instead a symptom of the human condition was truly fascinating. Particularly the section where they described how it was the human brains nature to find patterns and apply reason to them really hit a note for me. I recently read a book called the believing brain where the author described this overall theory, however I did not apply this to overall conspiracy. In general this has made me ask the question, where should i chose to put my faith if it may simply be my brain fooling me?
ReplyDeleteThat i don't really know.
Evan Whitney