Belief in conspiracies largely depends on political identity

[Independent voter]

I saw a study too that said if you are isolated in life, eg a loner, you are much more likely to believe in conspiracy stories. Your friends, if you had them, would tell you you are nuts otherwise.

[Vyxn]

I found this recent poll done by Yougov pretty interesting. By no means is this surprising at all when it comes to polarization, but the full extent of the beliefs and the polarization thereof was pretty striking to me. When it comes to conspiracies related to the current election:

I'm more amenable to cutting the Democrats some slack on the Russian one - the way the media's reported on this, it's easy to see how someone that's not paying much attention could think the story was that Russia hacked the votes rather than just a party official's email.

If you squint a little, I guess Democrats come off looking slightly better in this poll, but it's still pretty bad.

So you are admitting that the lame stream media indeed creates narratives false narratives to favor the liberal agenda

[HumbleDuck]

We tend to believe in conspiracy theories when we cannot give a rational explanation to the event in question.
Now given that trump supporters statistically are less educated, it's not a shock to see them being, statistically, more involved with conspiracy theories.

[Spectral]

I think Hillary actually running a child sex ring might tip my vote in favor of Trump, leaving me to wonder how the fuck the 17% of Clinton voters managed to justify voting for Clinton, despite believing in that nonsense.

That strikes me as though a non-trivial amount is probably the Lizardman Constant.

I guess there might actually be people that would say, "well, yeah, maybe there's some child rape, but we have to stop Trump!". A sufficiently gullible person could hold both of these thoughts in their head.

Having said that, I thought from the title this was going to be talking about a general tendency to believe in conspiracy theories, but it seems to be about a willingness to believe in theories along party lines. However, belief in what the Russians did or didn't do probably shouldn't be included in such things until this whole thing is resolved, at which point I think a clearer picture of what did or didn't happen will be disseminated. Right now beliefs are likely based in large part on just whatever news on the subject people have heard.

That's fair. The last two questions on 9/11 and vaccines are probably reasonable proxies for the much broader, "how much crazy shit do you believe?" questions. I suspect this may break out along education lines to a pretty significant extent though.

[TZucchini]

So you are admitting that the lame stream media indeed creates narratives false negatives to favor the liberal agenda

Is that English?

[petej0]

That's a good point. There really isn't many conspiracy theories on the left. So trying to just compare Russia hacked the election with illegals voted is a false equivalency and paints a false picture.

You need to compare Russia hacked the election (and whatever other conspiracy theories exist on the left - I can't think of any), with the multitude of those existing on the right. So climate change is a globalist/chinese/etc plot, Obama is a Kenyan Muslim, FEMA camps, spirit cooking, Clinton parkinsons conspiracy, Democrats want to abolish the 2nd amendment, etc, etc, etc. The list is endless on the right, really. Its how the true meme that facts have a liberal bias came about, because so many on the right have rejected reality.

You forgot about Common Core.

On the Left you have (off the top of my head):
The Wage Gap
Mitt Romney never paid taxes
Vaccines cause autism
Levies in New Orleans intentionally blown up to racially cleanse the city
9/11 was an inside job

[Calfredd]

You forgot about Common Core.

On the Left you have (off the top of my head):
The Wage Gap
Mitt Romney never paid taxes
Vaccines cause autism
Levies in New Orleans intentionally blown up to racially cleanse the city
9/11 was an inside job

I would have thought the 9/11 one was a bipartisan conspiracy theory like the vaccines cause autism one.

[BananaHandsB]

I found this recent poll done by Yougov pretty interesting. By no means is this surprising at all when it comes to polarization, but the full extent of the beliefs and the polarization thereof was pretty striking to me. When it comes to conspiracies related to the current election:

I'm more amenable to cutting the Democrats some slack on the Russian one - the way the media's reported on this, it's easy to see how someone that's not paying much attention could think the story was that Russia hacked the votes rather than just a party official's email.

If you squint a little, I guess Democrats come off looking slightly better in this poll, but it's still pretty bad.

Gee, people affected by confirmation bias. Who would have thought?

[petej0]

I would have thought the 9/11 one was a bipartisan conspiracy theory like the vaccines cause autism one.

Why would you think that? Anti-Vaxers are your typical California liberals. I could see how 9/11 would be bipartisian, but there is a lot of Bush hate for that one so I contribute that to liberals. Why would conservatives attack their own figure head.

[alexw]

You forgot about Common Core.

On the Left you have (off the top of my head):
The Wage Gap
Mitt Romney never paid taxes
Vaccines cause autism
Levies in New Orleans intentionally blown up to racially cleanse the city
9/11 was an inside job

Common core being an indoctrination technique is a right wing conspiracy.
The wage gap, I think you have it correct, but its not a conspiracy. A conspiracy is something that has no basis whatsoever in fact. The wage gap exists but not in the way people think. So its not a conspiracy.
The left never said Mitt Romney never paid taxes, that's a myth. They said he paid less taxes than the average person and used tax shelters to avoid some types of taxes, and that is factually true.
Roughly equal sized groups on both sides believe vaccines cause autism, so its not a left wing conspiracy.
Really??? Are you actually saying significant numbers of people on the left believe that about New Orleans. If so provide your proof.
9-11, you are probably correct on that one.

I have also thought of another left wing conspiracy - GMO's are bad for your health and the data is being hidden.

But again the number of left wing conspiracies is still tiny compared to the multitude on the right.

[Vyxn]

We tend to believe in conspiracy theories when we cannot give a rational explanation to the event in question.
Now given that trump supporters statistically are less educated, it's not a shock to see them being, statistically, more involved with conspiracy theories.

as you buy into the conspiracy theory that Trump voters are less educated then Clinton voters


The voters Clinton really lost—the ones she was targeting and relying on for victory—were college-educated whites. Most polling suggested she would win these voters, but she didn’t, according to exit polls: White men went 63 percent for Trump versus 31 percent for Clinton, and white women went 53-43 percent. Among college-educated whites, only 39 percent of men and 51 percent of women voted for Clinton.

https://newrepublic.com/article/1387...-working-class

[Edge-]

as you buy into the conspiracy theory that Trump voters are less educated then Clinton voters

That's not a conspiracy theory, the data shows that more college grads voted for Clinton than did for Trump: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...der-education/

You're disingenuously citing incomplete statistics to back up your misinformation. Yes, white college educated voters leaned more towards Trump, but overall college educated voters leaned towards Hillary.

[Spectral]

You forgot about Common Core.

On the Left you have (off the top of my head):
The Wage Gap
Mitt Romney never paid taxes
Vaccines cause autism
Levies in New Orleans intentionally blown up to racially cleanse the city
9/11 was an inside job

Both sides also have all sorts of bizarro beliefs about race that are effectively conspiracy theories.

There's a lot of historical misconceptions as well, but they probably don't fit into the conspiracy bucket.

[Orlong]

Which doesnt change the possibility putin really influenced the result by desinformations and propaganda. Or by even supporting or orchestrating the hack of the DNC emails.

The "alt right" movement was born based on Sputnik and RTs desinformation and propaganda. Both kremlin media outlets.

But it was NOT disinformation and propaganda. It was true words right from the mouths of Hillary's campaign manager and confidants. The ONLY thing the Russians did (if it was them) was show us the truth.

[Edge-]

But it was NOT disinformation and propaganda. It was true words right from the mouths of Hillary's campaign manager and confidants. The ONLY thing the Russians did (if it was them) was show us the truth.

You mean like that time Trump literally read Russian propaganda to his cheering, applauding, crowd?

http://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-put...sputnik-508635

[Spectral]

Why would you think that? Anti-Vaxers are your typical California liberals. I could see how 9/11 would be bipartisian, but there is a lot of Bush hate for that one so I contribute that to liberals. Why would conservatives attack their own figure head.

The linked polling shows a higher rate of vaccine-autism belief among Trump voters. I'm not super surprised by this, to be honest. I've heard from the hippie fringe, but I've also heard from the lunatic, "vaccines are a government conspiracy!" fringe. These are the same people that get upset about the census.

[Pipboi]

I think it probably relies on ignorance more than anything, and ignorant people tend to gravitate towards conservatism in my experience. I also know a handful of intelligent, critical thinking conservatives, but most of them that I know tend to believe some pretty outlandish things, including conspiracies.

[alexw]

Why would you think that? Anti-Vaxers are your typical California liberals. I could see how 9/11 would be bipartisian, but there is a lot of Bush hate for that one so I contribute that to liberals. Why would conservatives attack their own figure head.

This is false. Its a bipartisan thing with somewhat more republicans being anti-vaxxers.

http://www.fiercepharma.com/infectio...ation-politics

[TZucchini]

as you buy into the conspiracy theory that Trump voters are less educated then Clinton voters


The voters Clinton really lost—the ones she was targeting and relying on for victory—were college-educated whites. Most polling suggested she would win these voters, but she didn’t, according to exit polls: White men went 63 percent for Trump versus 31 percent for Clinton, and white women went 53-43 percent. Among college-educated whites, only 39 percent of men and 51 percent of women voted for Clinton.

https://newrepublic.com/article/1387...-working-class

I like how you talk about "educated voters", then provide statistics for only white people. Smart.

- - - Updated - - -

But it was NOT disinformation and propaganda. It was true words right from the mouths of Hillary's campaign manager and confidants. The ONLY thing the Russians did (if it was them) was show us the truth.

How can you be certain that the emails weren't doctored at all? I NEED TO SEE THE PROOF!

[petej0]

Common core being an indoctrination technique is a right wing conspiracy.

Which is what I said.

The wage gap, I think you have it correct, but its not a conspiracy. A conspiracy is something that has no basis whatsoever in fact. The wage gap exists but not in the way people think. So its not a conspiracy.

Its a conspiracy in that there is a massive conspiracy among male bosses to under pay woman by 24%.

The left never said Mitt Romney never paid taxes, that's a myth. They said he paid less taxes than the average person and used tax shelters to avoid some types of taxes, and that is factually true.

Harry Reid said Mitt Romney had not paid taxes over the last decade and the left ran with it during his campaign against Obama.'
Technically not a conspiracy, but I threw it in for shits and giggles

Roughly equal sized groups on both sides believe vaccines cause autism, so its not a left wing conspiracy.

If we had number we could debate this further. However the figure head for this movement and others that I have seen have been liberals.

Really??? Are you actually saying significant numbers of people on the left believe that about New Orleans. If so provide your proof.

What constitutes significant? Regardless, there is no limit on how many need to believe it to be considered conspiracy. How many people actually believe pizza-gate. Hell, I never heard of it until that dude walked into the pizza shop and caused trouble. How many people actually believe of a clinton body double. The right wing media reports it all the time, but I never heard any one say, "oh well she has a body double."

9-11, you are probably correct on that one.

I cant fathom how anyone could believe in that.

I have also thought of another left wing conspiracy - GMO's are bad for your health and the data is being hidden.

Ahhh..yes, forgot about that one. Anti-vaxers are a subset of this group in my eyes. An anti-vaxer is against GMO's, but being against GMO's does not make you an Anti-vaxer.

But again the number of left wing conspiracies is still tiny compared to the multitude on the right.

That may be true, but lets not pretend that the right hold a monopoly on conspiracy theories. Also there are MANY MANY that span political ideologies. From aliens & JFK, to Tupac still being alive. So it has nothing to do with Conservatives being "Uneducated" and liberals being "educated".