天美传媒

For Some, the Truth is Out There

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Posted on January 22, 2016

Alice Jackson

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It鈥檚 all returning Sunday night. The eerie music. The darkness pierced by flashlights. FBI Agent Fox Mulder searching for his abducted sister. And, Agent Scully, the FBI scientist assigned to keep Mulder legitimate while he hunts for truth behind an endless list of conspiracy theories such as UFOs, black helicopters, Men in Black, etc.

If you weren鈥檛 a fan of 鈥淭he X-Files鈥� television show, which ran for more than 200 episodes during the 1990s and early 2000s, the bigger question is 鈥淲hy do some people in the most advanced society in the history of the world still believe in or even find conspiracy theories interesting?鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for some people to believe that only one person can do something so awful that changes the course of history, such as the assassinations of President John Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King,鈥� said Dr. James Aucoin, chair of communication at the 天美传媒. 鈥淭hese events were so overwhelming that some people can鈥檛 be satisfied with the simple and truthful explanation, so believing a huge conspiracy caused it makes more sense to them.鈥�

Aucoin explained that many of the intricate conspiracy theories are much harder to believe.

鈥淪ome of these conspiracy theories are so involved and include so many people supposedly cooperating to make the conspiracy work that there is no way it could happen without someone talking at some point,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he very fact of believing them is impossible for most rational-thinking people.鈥�

Aucoin said while the news media, television and movies have promoted the idea of 鈥渂ig, bad Orwellian government,鈥� the federal government has also contributed to conspiracy theories.

鈥淥ver time, citizens have learned that the government does lie to protect itself, such as was the case with Vietnam, and it stirs up fear,鈥� said Aucoin, who teaches ethics classes. 鈥淎 lie, even if it鈥檚 supposedly for a good reason, erodes trust, and I think that opens the way for some conspiracy theories.鈥�

Dr. Doug Marshall, associate professor of sociology and assistant director of the University Honors Program, believes for some conspiracy theorists it鈥檚 all about being an insider.

鈥淪ince the recession in 2008, I think a lot of people were hurt to the point they feel there are forces that worked against them. Some of those people explore reasons why these things happen, and they get into some really bizarre theories that the general public doesn鈥檛 know,鈥� Marshall said. 鈥淪uddenly, these people believe themselves to know more about something than other people do, and this so-called knowledge becomes a status boost for them.鈥�

Marshall said humans essentially are 鈥渃reatures that want things to make sense.鈥� Hence, when things don鈥檛 make sense, many people create a truth that makes sense for them.

Marshall said the Internet has also contributed to the number of conspiracy theorists because there鈥檚 so much information available without a filter.

鈥淥nce if you held idiosyncratic beliefs, you had no support for them, so you most likely began doubting it,鈥� Marshall said. 鈥淏ut with the Internet, you can always find someone who thinks like you do, and when that happens, suddenly, what the group believes is true. The Internet is often a breeding ground for conspiracy theories.鈥�

Aucoin and Marshall said conspiracy theories fail to meet the factual test of academic or scientific investigation.

鈥淎cademicians are trained when they look at documents to not take the facts out of context and not just search for what you want to prove,鈥� Aucoin said. 鈥淔irst, you find evidence. Then, you find conclusions. I think a lot of people not trained as researchers have preconceived notions, and they go out and find the evidence to support what they suspect. That is what creates conspiracy theories.鈥�

 

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