Thu06Sep - KENT - Psychology Conference

[QuitTheirClogs]

The findings (regarding why people believe conspiracy theories) will be presented at the 2007 British Psychological Society (Social Psychology Section) conference at the University of Kent on 6 September and will be published in the Journal of Social Psychology later this year.

http://pressesc.com/news/1223/29082007/diana-conspiracies-subconscious ly-persuading-people

See also:
http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2007/05/psychiatrists-and-psychol ogists.html

[xmasdale]

The implication behind all this must be that believing in conspiracy theories is a psychological disorder because there are never any conspiracies. If there are never any conspiracies, why do we have laws against conspiracy?

[spiv]

Will they be discussing the 911 Commission conspiracy theory at this Psychological Society's meeting?

[TonyGosling]

If this is a disinfo conference what is it doing here?

[QuitTheirClogs]

[Skeptic]

Excellent opportunity to do some leafletting/ DVDing.

I have a lot of psychologists/iatrists/therapists in my family and most of them know next to nothing about geopolitics. It is on that basis that they are prepared to accept that a conspiracy theory is false (trust) and thereby pursue why someone might be drawn to believe it.

As I always point out there is a missing premise.

It is argued that people believe in these theories because they have little faith in government or they are seeking some way to rationalise the world.

The missing premise is that the theories are incorrect. This is taken on the basis of, as I said before, trust.

Surely trying to refute an empirical (a posteriori) argument that relies on facts about the world on the basis of (a priori) psychology is ridiculous.

It will be great to get some information out to those who attend this conference.