How to deal with an intelligent conspiracy theorist friend?

[Apocalypso Now!]

http://ask.metafilter.com/86613/How-to-d...ist-friend

[Easy Skanking]

Reading those comments is like listening to puritans pontificating about psychedelic substances that they have never tried.

[h3rm35]

(01-03-2010 12:04 PM)Apocalypso Now! Wrote:  http://ask.metafilter.com/86613/How-to-d...ist-friend

really interesting stuff there... while some of the people on that topic are just plain ignorant sheeple, or flat out liars (the guy who says they found his friend's DNA at the scene... what a load of sh*t...) There seem to be some "intelligent conspiracy theorists" there, trying to get her to realize how whacked out SHE actually is...

the quick clinging by many respondents to the phrase: "It strongly offends my own sense of reality" means that they understand that this "friend" who's done "hundreds of hours of research" is actually getting through (even if the respondents don't claim to believe it was an inside job,) but some distorted sense of patriotism or innability to believe the outright truth that we're all a bunch of f*cking slaves gets in the way... I love how she gives her friend credit for the research on prozac down the page... It's almost as if she's begging for someone to allow her to believe her friend...

I'd really like to meet her friend...

I particularly appreciated this response:

Quote:It strongly offends my own sense of reality.

Quote:Sounds as though she might be doing you a favor. Maybe consider it in that light. I mean, what is the basis for your certainty? Consensus? The position you take is understandable, but from a logical perspective it is fundamentally unreasonable, regardless of this issue. You scoff, you refuse to evaluate (potential) evidence, you have pre-judged, you seek to find persuasive material after forming your opinion.

Alternatively, you could try a compassionate approach. As a meticulous, careful person, she might prefer to avoid bigger, more disturbing issues. Maybe this obsession is a coping mechanism for a larger uneasiness with the state of the world that she perceives but is not able to address. Instead, she marks off one small corner of recent history and gnaws at it: a terrible event, shoddy news reporting, confusion, grief, corruption, coincidence, spectacle, a totally inadequate official explanation--it's got everything to keep her mind off other things.

Failing that, you can acknowledge those things that are persuasive in her theory--the holes in the consensus view--without agreeing to her speculations about actors and motives. It sounds to me as though the two of you are bright enough to frustrate the hell out of each other. Having people like that in your life is good. So don't get entrenched, let your reasonableness be an example.
posted by Phred182 at 10:52 PM on March 19, 2008 [3 favorites]