Why do some people believe in conspiracy theories?

Let me start by saying that until recently, I was actually suffering from 😁
It is vital to be honest about this!!! And I truly believe in chemtrails—they are poisoning us, you only have to look up at the sky! 😍

Now, regarding the Freemasons and those wealthy bankers—they definitely exist.

But that isn't even the point.
One could construct a conspiracy theory for absolutely anything on this planet.
Just consider this: why does a red light at a traffic signal mean stop, while green means go?
It is surely because subliminal messages embedded in green objects dictate what 'aliens' want us to do, whereas red signals something else entirely.

In my view, 🙄

There is simply no logic to it, and it goes on like that forever, in circles... one can invent endless conspiracies for any given thing!

The world, with all its wars and misery, is so repulsive that people simply DO NOT WANT to, cannot believe, that it is all just a result of human stupidity and malice; they simply have to manufacture a narrative in their minds because it would be too terrifying otherwise—they are searching for an excuse for... raw human evil...

While it is true that much is being hidden from us, the modern individual, caught in this whirlwind of stress, tension, daily obligations, and boredom, simply lacks the capacity to process it anymore!
And what is the symptom?

From the ruling bankers (the Masons) and the Satanists, they create a hollow Earth containing an artificial Sun 😂

And what kind of world are we actually living in? I truly do not know, and through our various theories, we fail to pierce the core of how reptiles manipulate us and how the entire Earth is merely an illusion within The Matrix, where humans serve as nothing more than batteries for their malevolent candidate 😁
But listen, I am telling you, I have recovered. I am not exaggerating. 😍

Offtopic,,
Ryan Wood98, you have my eternal devotion. Seriously, your writing style is pure genius...

It sounds like you’re describing a specific manifestation of schizoaffective disorder—those delusions or irrational fixations where someone holds onto beliefs that simply have no basis in reality. It's about false certainties built on nothingness.
The thing about true delusions is that you can't just talk someone out of them. It doesn't matter how much education they have or what their background is; you can't reason with a broken perception of reality.
A patient might be convinced they're being followed, that there's some massive conspiracy against them, or that their phone is being tapped. They might even believe they have this "special" ability to receive messages through the media. Then there’s the idea of ideas of reference—that feeling that everything everyone else does is somehow directed at them, or assigning deep, hidden meaning to totally mundane, everyday occurrences...

Sandra King4 said:Offtopic,,
Ryan Wood98, you have my eternal devotion. Seriously, your writing style is pure genius...

Thank you, I hope you managed to pick up those books 😛🤣

Offtopic:
(I was going to send you a DM, but since you’re the one who kicked this thread off, I figured you’re probably keeping a close eye on it anyway)
Look, Zoltan and Morgan are great, but this part right here absolutely floored me: "Beppo reacted the only way a real soldier can in a situation like that: he told the army, the state, the anthem, and the flag to go straight to hell, tossed his rifle as far as he could, and bolted in the opposite direction."
By the way, is there any way to fix those weird accent marks on your site? They’re driving me crazy.
To be honest, I don't read much—work keeps me way too busy, you know how it is... 🙂—but I am actually going to make an effort to dive into your posts. Hand on heart, I haven't been this captivated by someone's writing style in ages. If I recall correctly, the last time I felt this way was reading Chuck Palahniuk. Ugh, I shouldn't have said that out loud; now you'll get an ego, then comes the ego trip, then the creative block... Anyway, you're definitely worth a read.

And no, I'm not buying the book. I don't buy books. The reason is simple: I move apartments pretty often, and I really can't be bothered hauling around pounds of extra luggage. Plus, the last time I tried, I ended up losing my entire collection of Erica Jong.
But if we ever cross paths, drinks are on me.
Good luck with everything.

Amanda Stewart7 said:It sounds like you’re describing a specific manifestation of schizoaffective disorder—those delusions or irrational fixations where someone holds onto beliefs that simply have no basis in reality. It's about false certainties built on nothingness.
The thing about true delusions is that you can't just talk someone out of them. It doesn't matter how much education they have or what their background is; you can't reason with a broken perception of reality.
A patient might be convinced they're being followed, that there's some massive conspiracy against them, or that their phone is being tapped. They might even believe they have this "special" ability to receive messages through the media. Then there’s the idea of ideas of reference—that feeling that everything everyone else does is somehow directed at them, or assigning deep, hidden meaning to totally mundane, everyday occurrences...

It’s an absolute impossibility. If you even attempt to walk them through the cracks in their logic, they’ll just turn around and accuse you of being one of "them."
😁

In my view, biology is the only way forward. We're talking about chemical intervention—therapy via a prescription bottle.

"Since I started the meds, they've vanished from my sight. I think I've finally become too boring for them to bother with." 😂

Sandra King4 said:Offtopic:
(I was going to send you a DM, but since you’re the one who kicked this thread off, I figured you’re probably keeping a close eye on it anyway)
Look, Zoltan and Morgan are great, but this part right here absolutely floored me: "Beppo reacted the only way a real soldier can in a situation like that: he told the army, the state, the anthem, and the flag to go straight to hell, tossed his rifle as far as he could, and bolted in the opposite direction."
By the way, is there any way to fix those weird accent marks on your site? They’re driving me crazy.
To be honest, I don't read much—work keeps me way too busy, you know how it is... 🙂—but I am actually going to make an effort to dive into your posts. Hand on heart, I haven't been this captivated by someone's writing style in ages. If I recall correctly, the last time I felt this way was reading Chuck Palahniuk. Ugh, I shouldn't have said that out loud; now you'll get an ego, then comes the ego trip, then the creative block... Anyway, you're definitely worth a read.

And no, I'm not buying the book. I don't buy books. The reason is simple: I move apartments pretty often, and I really can't be bothered hauling around pounds of extra luggage. Plus, the last time I tried, I ended up losing my entire collection of Erica Jong.
But if we ever cross paths, drinks are on me.
Good luck with everything.

Well, thank you so much for the kind words... as for the website, I suppose I just forget it even exists 😂 I believe the site is about six years old, and the whole situation involving Morgan has been going on for at least ten. When I originally set the page up, those specific accented characters worked fine... perhaps some technical standards have shifted since then? 🤷

I'm really not sure... I just took a look, and it seems those characters aren't rendering correctly. I imagine I could probably resolve it, but I don't quite recall my login credentials for that site anymore 🤣

Haha, this happens to me all the time. I’ve got several email accounts sitting there that I can’t even get into anymore. Honestly, there are moments when I feel like my password for everything is just going to be "password"...

Ryan Wood98 said:I have stepped away from my professional field for a little while, so I am reaching out to my colleagues for some guidance.

I have been noticing a specific symptom appearing quite frequently in people lately, and I am somewhat unsure whether I should classify it under paranoid schizophrenia or if it perhaps falls into a different category altogether.

Specifically, I am referring to a tendency toward believing in various conspiracies.

It seems to involve individuals who are prone to accepting almost any vague claim they encounter in a book or online, provided that the information suggests we are victims of some sort of global conspiracy.

The pathology often becomes apparent because the individual doesn't just subscribe to a single theory, but rather accepts them all en masse.

Examples within this category might include: secret societies controlling the world, extraterrestrials managing certain governments, human-reptilian hybrids living deep underground, the so-called chemtrails supposedly poisoning us, clandestine military experiments like DARPA, conspiracies by dishonest historians seeking to hide alternative truths about human evolution, or various apocalyptic scenarios foretold by ancient civilizations, and so on.

How would we go about diagnosing this, colleagues?

Sacreus? Cocaine?

When it comes to diagnosing sch paranoid, even professional teams often hesitate to jump straight to schizophrenia. Even when suspicion arises, there is a tendency to label it as "psychosis acuta" instead. One must be cautious...

It is important to recognize that there are several distinct types of paranoid states:
1. Paranoid personality
2. Acute paranoia
3. Reactive paranoia
4. Paranoia
5. Paranoid sch
6. Paraphrenia
7. Paranoid presentation in organic brain disorders—chronic brain syndrome
8. Paranoid state in acute organic brain psychosis, etc.
So, when a presentation like what you described appears, the etiology can vary significantly.
Regarding your question on how to diagnose these people: I would suggest that an incredible number of people exhibit these tendencies without actually having schizophrenia.
Humans have always had a tendency toward mysticism; it’s part of our nature. What we are seeing is often just a delusion or a deliberate distortion of reality.
Consider a second example: I knew someone who always viewed himself as brilliant—highly educated, certainly—but he was perpetually drawn to fringe science. It acted like a magnet for him. If you tried to suggest that a patient's visual disturbances were merely hallucinations, he would take offense immediately; it would genuinely provoke his anger.
The takeaway: His schizoid character constantly steered him toward metaphysical themes and abstractions, which provided him with a sense of satisfaction. His interpretations were simply a reflection of his inherent inclinations.
One might categorize this as "schizoid character"—consult the ICD-10 or DSM-4 for specifics.
A second example involves an inferiority complex being compensated for through intellectual grandstanding. For instance, the type who insists, "You know nothing, you have no clue, *I* am the one who knows," jumping from the Freemasons to Area 51 in a single breath.

Usually, those who actually possess professional experience in intelligence, espionage, or similar fields remain silent. They are quite composed. It is those who claim to know everything who talk the most.

Ryan Wood98 said:Jel'da, it does lean toward paranoia, I suppose. 🤷

And I think there might be a certain loss of touch with reality happening here as well.

To be honest, maybe I fall into that category myself.

If you lack a sharp sense of logic, intuition, or the ability to read subtle cues—like when diagnosing patients, for instance—you aren't going to be a good diagnostician.
You have to operate under the mindset of "considering every single possibility." That happens to be the hallmark of a paranoid personality.

Chess players, psychologists, mathematicians, detectives, lawyers, intelligence officers, scientists... you get the idea. They all fit this mold.

I'm not talking about actual paranoiacs here, just people with paranoid traits...

There’s a certain kind of paranoia lurking inside all of us... just waiting for its moment to strike. 😁

slypuma17 said:There’s a certain kind of paranoia lurking inside all of us... just waiting for its moment to strike. 😁

😁