9/11 Conspiracy Theories

From 9/11 terrorist attacks and one of the nation’s most important achievements, the moon landing, to theories about Area 51, conspiracy theories have been spreading throughout society for centuries. How would you personally feel if someone stepped up and revealed the government is pulling our strings and manipulates us as if we were puppets? Many people are in denial with what can possibly be life changing information that is out there, and much of it for the public to see.
Introduction
There are many wild conspiracy theories that are contrived every day. These assumptions can be created by anyone. To some, they are an interesting topic of discussion, while to others, they serve as cold hard evidence to some unsolved mysteries in events that

have occurred and some that are to come. Consider this: 63 percent of registered American voters believe in at least one political conspiracy theory, according to a recent poll conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University. But before we go in depth about these presumptions, let’s discuss what a conspiracy theory is. According to Merriam-Webster a conspiracy theory is a theory that explains an event or situation as the result of a secret plan by usually powerful people or groups. With that being said, there is not one particular person or group producing these ideas. Anyone can come into the light and share their personal beliefs and thoughts in regards to occurrences, accusations, situations and therefore be called a conspiracy theory. One thing to have in mind, these theories are sometimes created to generate doubt and confusion amongst society including governmental activity. The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader knowledge that is often times not discussed on a daily basis and create an open mind while making room for rational thinking. In order to accomplish that, I will describe basic components of conspiracy theories. For example, how they begin, who believes them, who creates them, and most importantly I will also review three of the most popular theories circulating our nation. Upon reading this piece of writing, I hope the reader can come to a better understanding of such ideas and know sometimes the story has two sides.
Who believes these theories, why they do and who creates them?
Do people really believe these theories?

They do, and in disturbingly high numbers. The idea that such beliefs are attained only by a bunch nerdy individuals is a myth. Believers in these ideas cut across gender, age, race, income, educational level, and occupational status. However, group identity is also a factor. African Americans for example, are more inclined to believe that the CIA planted crack cocaine in inner-city neighborhoods, while white Americans are more likely to believe that the government is making secret plans in a harmful act to tax the rich to support welfare and turn the country into a sort of socialist utopia. It is also found that education makes a difference in decreasing conspiratorial thinking: 42 percent of those without a high school diploma are firm in conspiratorial predispositions, compared to 23 percent with postgraduate degrees. Even then, that indicates that more than one in five Americans with postgraduate degrees show interest in these theories. If one really reflects on the statistics, it came come to be quite shocking; let us be aware, other factors are involved in creating a conspiratorial mind. In laboratory experiments, researchers have found that provoking anxiety or loss of control triggers respondents to see unreal patters that produce conspiratorial explanations. What it comes down to is that people have a need or motivation to believe in a particular idea and it is psychologically different from evidence as a conspiracy theory

is immune to confirmation. If a person rejects evidence, or reinterprets the evidence to be affirmation of their idea, or even ignores a large amount of evidence to focus on just one thing, they are probably a conspiracy theorist, also known as a self-sealing nature of reasoning.
Like I mentioned, anyone can create these proposals, but depending on who is actually engaged, evil, fraud, betrayal and perhaps illegal activity can be involved.

People responsible for these theories create a well coordinated plot to manipulate circumstances for the benefit of an elite few while victimizing the innocent. Some conspiracies are small scale, for example, the owner of a bug infested restaurant bribing a health inspector to look the other way, while other conspiracies are much greater. The reason behind each theory serves a different purpose, for instance, some people begin them to create awareness in our society and alert the public of the wicked schemes government. Others begin them to take action and get certain people involved to make a difference. But why exactly do rational people buy into these theories? As Richard Hofstadter wrote in his seminal 1965 book, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” conspiracy theories, especially those involving meddlesome foreigners, are a favorite pastime in this nation. Americans have always had the suspicion that someone is out to get them and believe that not everything that is presented is as it seems or made out to be. But in recent years, it seems that every tragedy comes with a twist to the story thus emphasizing on an ulterior motive, so then everything becomes questionable. While our access to information has vastly improved, one would assume it would have helped decrease such wild speculation. On the

contrary, according to recent scientific research, technology helps spread these theories faster and make them more convincing to the public. Once an individual beings to dig deep in these theories and accept them, it can come to disturb everyday activities. One way that happens is when doubt is integrated, the individual has a difficult time differentiating between true and false and create a sense of paranoia. Some conspiracy thinkers have become extremists in the sense that they live in fear down to everything they eat, see, hear, etc. While many attempt to avoid becoming controlled by a certain group or individual, they fail to notice that by living in panic everyday is controlling itself. As we have learned, anyone can generate these theories for various reasons that involve each individuals/groups interest.
How these theories begin
For a conspiracy theory to get started, there has to be something that a theorist can use, something that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t add up. Usually it can be something small, but depending on the theory, it can vary. The theory does have to start with some sort of discrepancy, but then the theorist has to explain everything that happened. So they have to do a lot of work gathering evidence and looking for alternatives. When they have created an alternative explanation to the situation or event, they must find evidence that supports their new claim, otherwise the theory is not going to hold up and nobody will believe it. After coming up with a complete theory, theorists take time to look at it as a whole. Does it make sense?