[ExI] Fascist America, in 10 Easy Steps

[Lee Corbin]

Jeff writes

> So many seemingly intelligent, seemingly normal folks have fallen for
> the "911 Truth" hoohah.  Incredible! So, I've returned to the question
> "What in the human animal makes this "brain/behavioral disease"
> possible?"   My jumping-off-point is tribalism and the peer
> pressure/echo chamber of the mob, but I want more substance.  I would
> like to hear from the EP folk

The only thing I know of that tribalism contributes to people
believing strange things is that having an enemy ("them") lends
credence to malicious intent. This is actually quite justifiable in
EP terms. For when there *is* a malicious element in the 
environment, indeed it often is the cause of tribulation. (To
refer to an earlier thread, this is why having a co-worker 
zap you once a day with a rubber band behind the ear is
more threatening and dangerous than a headache.)

But I think that *rationality* is a stronger cause of what you
are calling a "brain/behavioral disease"!  Take something unlike
the 9-11 responsibility that we all here can agree on for an
example. What would cause people to endorse the notion
that the 1969 trip to Luna was a "moon hoax"? 

You will find if you talk to people who believe that it was a hoax
that they, just like Kennedy Assassination buffs, have long chains
of intricate reasoning that they use to bolster their view.  I have
two claims about this:

1. the long chains of reasoning were not the prior causes. Indeed,
    often it could be a conscious or unconscious suspicion that 
    certain pre-established enemies ( i.e. "the commies", "the 
    government", whoever) that probably were behind whatever-bad-
    it-was. And it could even be your tribalism that is contributing here.
2. without the left-hemisphere being able to pump out a lot of 
    rational sentences to back up the suspicion, doubt would creep
    in and calm the person down.

Therefore I submit that when people believe things that seem really
peculiar and stupid to you, the chances are good that (in many cases
at least) blame should rest on unbridled rationalization.

Lee