Why do people believe in nonsense, asks James O'Brien | LBC 

people don't want the truth, they want their bias confirmed

'Truth stands no chance against a fool prepared to believe a Lie' - Mark Twain

Social media algorithms reward engagement, whether positive or negative, and the internet provides a cloak of anonymity. Bet 99.9% of these awful creatures wouldn't dare say this to Nicola's family if they were face to face with them.

A few months ago, I met a friend I hadn’t seen for ten years.. within ten minutes of talking, he told me he was a flat earther, and I thought, “yeah, you always were an idiot”. I don’t think it’s much more complex than that.

The past 6 or 7 years have hardened my opinion that critical thinking needs to be taught in schools as a subject in its own right. Equip kids with a sceptical toolkit that will serve them well their whole lives. The kids aren’t actually the problem, it’s the older generations that have suddenly been introduced to numerous (and unreliable) fountains of information, where there had previously been a few trusted sources, with no real way of determining what they can trust and what they can’t. Trouble is that it’s too late to address it at the source of the problem, we have to ride it out and make sure we have a better prepared population in future.

I'm so addicted to this show. It's seems to be a rare voice of reason.

Nonsense needs no thought or reflection, it stops people looking into the abyss that is their life.

People want to fee like they are part of the chosen few who *really* understand what is happening. It makes them feel special and above the rest of us.

I talk to people in the pub all the time who come up with utter nonsense. They will say something along the lines of "The problem with this country is..." and then spout the latest headlines about some woke issue or other. When I ask them to explain how whatever "woke issue" they mention ruined our economy, they are lost.

James needs to ask himself "why has the media abandoned their traditional position as objective reporters of hard facts?" before asking why people no longer believe the "official line" and are embracing weird "alternative facts".

James presents this situation as if it's some deep mystery, but the answer is actually blindingly simple. A huge number of people simply don't have any ability to think critically or reason things out in logical steps.

I think it's because of social media and the way it delivers information, it can keep throwing people small pieces of information designed to evoke an emotional response and this has a cumulative effect. The reason this is so effective is because most people have no real critical thinking skills. It isn't taught in school, people don't pick it up after. It's easier for people to swallow these simple lines rather than accept complicated issues.

I formed a theory about a decade ago that I called “Distance Abuse”. Basically the further you are from someone (emotionally and physically) the more you feel free to abuse them. Some people will say stuff online to a stranger, that they wouldn’t say in person. And they wouldn’t say it to a friend or colleague. So road rage is explained because you’re in a car, directing abuse at a stranger. If a person cut you off in a supermarket queue you wouldn’t use the same level of attack on them because they’re right there AND you have to stand near them for a couple of minutes. Which explains why online is the worst. Strangers plus distance. It’s a small reason I don’t do Facebook and so on. Mostly because it’s a waste of time, but partly because I have heard other people tell me about horror stories involving acquaintances and posts to their FB page which turns into a flame war. I broke up with a friend about 18 months ago. I couldn’t stand his conspiracy theory mindset (COVID, government, Trump, race, aliens and - for some reason - the price of silver). One day he asked to come over to show me something and I said yes, as long as it wasn’t related to those things. Kind-of joking but kind-of not. He reacted badly and so I said I needed to take a break. Not felt the urge to reconnect. Sad in some ways, but I realised his presence caused me stress and I was glad not to have it in my life.

I've just been talking to some young men who think masculinity is under attack. None of them can really ever give an example that isn't just from online interactions. Simple solution - ignore what's online. Live in reality. Men aren't getting a hard time there.

I’ve asked myself this question since 2016 - I’m now convinced the British public intelligence level or education is at an all time low it’s so depressing we are all being dragged down because of them.

It's far easier to believe a comfortable lie than hard truth

It's fear. They don't want certain things to be true, so they will believe ridiculous things in order to support their belief in a world they are comfortable with. Its our own fault for protecting religious belief against criticism, so this has become codified in our social norms.

People are easy to manipulate if you address their most primal instincts. Fear works quite well. We live in a world so complex that no single person can understand it all. In such an environment, simple answers are king.

Folks have been crazy and its not "those people" its your father, sister, neighbor and co-worker. Here is the what has changed - if you said something crazy at the pub someone told you it was crazy to your face. When you watch or read crazy at home it has time to become real to you and no one is around to tell you its crazy.

I read about the weird stuff on social media and had a look and was astonished to find hundreds of messages even recently saying the body found in the river was planted. This is all part of something going seriously wrong in society. Many people are now addicted to fear, hype and social media and have become part of some bizzare narcissistic drama going on 24/7. Why do people actually believe they know so much they can go round making social media videos about everything. It's utterly mad and distorted. It's in every walk of life now these people pouring digital pollution into the ether.

Without being too much of an armchair psychologist it will come down to a number of factors: 1. People enjoy speculating 2. People like thinking they know something other people don't especially if the people who "don't" are in a position of authority 3. People feel more comfortable having an answer to a question rather than just accepting something is unknown There will be many others obviously.

I saw a suggestion somewhere that people are desperate to be and feel ‘different’, that they know something that others don’t. I’ve seen previously sane people totally lose themselves in Q, for example. It’s staggering

Two thoughts: 1. Andy Warhol's " Fifteen minutes of fame ". 2. In my own experience, I have encountered what I call 'Emotional vampires', people who seem to seek out, relish, and 'feed' upon the emotional distress of others.

Haven't we always been like this? In the eighties we had the Sunday Sport for instance. And there have always been conspiracy theories that people get obsessed with. The difference is that now with social media there are more ways to sell the story and for people to access and spread it.

People like you are important! We need a voice. I don't have the strength to fight this idiots any day. Greetings from Gemany. Nice that you are here. ♥

Exactly, people come to social media with a statement that can't be further from the truth and people start believing and reacting to it, giving it more attention... The start of the downfall of society as we know it.

People always thought bizarre things like this. The difference is the evolution from gossip in the pub or over the garden fence to a neighbor to gossip with billions of people. These sort of beliefs couldn't proliferate anywhere near as fast prior to social media. The great thing about social media is everyone has a voice, the bad thing about social media is everyone has a voice. Fringe lunatics can find other fringe lunatics they would never have met prior to social media.

I've talked to a ton Q-Anon Supporters and their reasoning is they want to belong to something bigger than themselves. Even if that something is Nonsense. 🤷🏿

'It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled'. This cuts both ways, and it is unwise to dismiss things out of hand.

Fear is currency. It incites hatred and righteous indignation and a force of libertarian “revolution”. Populism is scary. Thanks so much for your work and insights James.

Unfortunately, social media allows a voice to those who don't deserve it.

Post-truth. What matters isn't the truth, what matters in a statement is the emotional response it evokes.

My wife's an accountant. She spends a surprising amount of time explaining to clients (especially new ones) that she knows more with 30 years training and experience than "what some chap in a pub told me." A milder form of believing strangers without evidence, because one wants to believe that information, I guess.

Thank goodness for James O'Brien to define reality. He thinks for us, so we'll never have to do it for ourselves.

I remember a bloke where I used to work. He would sit at his desk and whistle a tune from time to time and then stop. People would walk passed his desk and they would be whistling the same tune. Later in the day he would whistle another tune and get the same reaction. He thought it was hilarious. He just liked the idea of manipulating people into whistling the same tune. The people who create these false stories like to manipulate people into believing falsehoods purely for the sake of it. They peddle their stories online and then sit back to admire their handiwork and the pathetic reactions of their followers. It doesn’t matter to them the hurt and in some cases the devastation it creates to people who have lost loved ones. What happened to my whistler? He had his front teeth knocked out while playing football and had to wear a denture. He was never the same again.

He's correct here in America the lies and nonsense spreads like wildfire

If people didn't believe in ridiculous things without evidence then religion wouldn't exist.

Reality is complex and changes fast. People like simple answers to everything. Many questions don't have simple answers.

I think it’s always happened. The difference is that it used to be confined to small pockets of society. Now those “small pockets” are all connected via social media.

I met an Aussie in Spain a few yrs back, who complained he had lost his sence of direction, when i told him he was 180 degrees out of normal, he looked puzzled, even more bothered when i told him our midday sun was in the south...

So true. "Bought a ticket to the circus"... went down the rabbit hole and stayed on as clowns. It's dangerous and I don't how it's going to ever be fixed.

Its a reflection of the overall lack of trust people have so they go looking for alternatives.

James! At 72 years of age, having graduated university with an engineering degree 50 years ago! I too am as mystified as yourself! One occurrence during the last 10 years, that's come to me, however, is that of cloud internet gaming and the cult that appears to be consumed by these fantasies? Back in 2012, less than 40% of the population had a smartphone! Access to the internet's cloud was minimal! Just a thought, from an old codger, who's permanently connected to unlimited 5G! 🤔

People have lost the ability to be able to think for themselves anymore social media has destroyed it

Religion! If you can believe in an invisible man in the sky, you can believe in anything.

Folks often believe what they wish to be true and may find comfort from the belief, even if there is no evidence. Religious priests, for example, have been hoodwinking folks for centuries.

I've never been so tempted by the idea of deleting any social media, as I am today. The only platform I use, or have used for several years now, is RU-vid, but even this place is teeming with the worst of them.

It fills the vacuum that has been left by hope. Theres not much of that in the UK any more

It’s misdirected cynicism.

If the MSM wasn't in bed with both corporation's and governments maybe people wouldn't look for answers elsewhere.

I know a few people like this and I'm pretty sure it's just about knowing something that other people don't, they think they're just so perceptive that they'll happily ignore proof and still go on gut, they also have a problem with authority, they call everyone a sheep whereas they're awake, they essentially just immediately go left because authority has told them to go right, but they don't realise this makes them as much of a sheep as they think other people are

It worries me how many people think this way,there's no helping them and there's too many of them.

The most outrageous the video the more the algorithm pushes it. The algorithm wants views. Boycott these crazy people. Don't give them views.

A huge portion of the US population and ppl in general believe utter nonsense as a virtue. The more unbelievable, the more faithful you are. Circling that are grifters seeing an easy mark.

There uses to be a time when every village had an idiot. The Internet has allowed them to speak to each other.

Immersing yourself in bonkers conspiracy theories magically absolves you from mundane responsibilities like looking after elderly relatives etc. That's how it works in my family anyway.

Yes indeed, what is the appeal of nonesense. WELL it hides reality. Doing a great job james, thanks

The democratization of the means of communication has led to the birth of the "amateur expert".

As a teacher in Australia I once persuaded a colleague, recently returned from the UK, that in the Northern hemisphere the sun rises in the West and that this was related to water, spiralling down the plug hole, changing direction when you cross the equator. He still teaches Geography. And online you can find a "BBC documentary" about Jesus having lived as a Buddhist monk in Kashmir.

I started down the flat earth rabbit hole, but it turned out I was having a psychotic episode and I required medication. I didn't get that medication until it got much worse, though.

I think part of it comes from the idea of an evil secret state actually being comforting, proof that there is a reason for terrible things happening. The alternative is that no one is really in control, and that a wife and mother of two young children can commit apparent suicide, leaving them on their own.

The issue is that the UK education system is geared towards dumbing down. Critical thinking should be a subject. And while the sheeple are busy discussing trivia the leadership are making the money by fleecing the sheeple ....

It's fear, much more comforting to believe that all the bad that happens in the world is part of some carefully orchestrated master plan of evil doers, rather than acts of random craziness that we have so little control over.

People have always believed nonsense. It's just that now, we have social media.

I have family members like this. Its quite sad and sickening to think I’m related to people that believe complete nonsense.

Has anybody done a study on the correlation between religious beliefs and the ease to believe stories sans evidence and critical thinking?

Clutching their crystals while reading their horoscope

"Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe" - Albert Einstein

This guy is really suffering from denial

The most recent bit of ridiculousness is that the markings on diapers are some sort of pedophilic grooming aid.

I had a 1000 word essay ready, but let's just say this. Extraordinary events, to a lot of people, require extraordinary explanations. A simple explanation for an Extraordinary event is unacceptable to these people, therefore they NEED to make one up. If you search the Internet, for answers, what ever answer you would like, you will find it. As well as a support group to "help" you understand it. And a hashtag.

"Do your own research" the most scary phrase in modern western vernacular.

It’s not new or restricted to the UK. For example, people have been spouting religion for millennia.

Everyone thinks his/her OPINION is truth.. and in their echo chamber it is..

It's about racism. I lived in the south of the US. It's all about race and the war over breeding rights.

The media establishments are ghouls regarding this subject. I've never and never will go on the likes of tiktok

Fear of the unknown...it is easier to make up falsehoods to calm your worst fears - the universe is a random soup of agony and ecstasy - and yet there are moments of such sweet glory, joy and pain...

The desperation to believe extreme BS is largely down to folks feeling hugely powerless, and as a result they are terrified. Add that to a general confusion with modern life due to an increasingly “dumbed down” education system and you have a perfect storm. Social media has found a way of monetising this extreme anxiety and has been amplifying it to maximise profits. 🤷‍♀️

James is clearly being disengious. He understands human nature and completely understands why people are drawn to certain topics. His disregarding of every non-mainstream theory as 'conspiracy' is also disingenuous. You could say he uses the medium of Radio to achieve an almost identical outcome to that of the social media sites he criticises. His listeners are as guilty of anyone else of self affirmation.

One of the most important factors at play is confirmation bias. To investigate the truth of an idea, you must attempt to disprove it. If you fail to, then it may be truth. Sadly, most people fundamentally misunderstand how the scientific method works and instead look for 'evidence' that confirms their suspicions. The algorithms are happy to oblige, which generates false positives.

As a teacher, I've encountered this phenomena my whole career. There's just some kind of emotional appeal to freakish bizarre stories (true or not), and you combine that with this cynicism so many have now about anything...government, big business, media, religion, institutions in general...lots of people deep down inside know all of this is nonsense, but its a way of '"protesting" or venting anger. They believe 'x' no matter how freakish it is because by professing a belief in 'x' they're "sticking it to"....the government or whatever.

Some people should have developed better critical thinking skills by putting some effort into studying - most have a difficult time swallowing the reality that in life you can do everything correctly, by the book, with integrity and still come up short. Viewing yourself as a failure can fire up one’s primal instincts; like looking for patterns, either real or perceived. The desire to believe fills the void when factual explanations are too foreign, complex, and depressing.

Thank you for vocalising what I've been wondering about for quite some time now. Including the question how on earth it is possible that the masses vote against their own interest and elect the Tories in the UK and the GOP in America, not mention Putin, Erdohan etc. etc. who lie to them when they open their mouth and rob the country blind.

Flat earthers are my personal favourites.

There is only ever one reason for people believing nonsense and that is an inability to think critically. Critical thinking classes should be part of the curriculum. There is no 'desire to believe', merely an inability to know better.

Being privy to information that is not available to the general public, empowers some people, making them feel special. Key word 'feel'. Being observable in either statistics (numbers rise) online or people sending messages of the same content revealing a shared 'secret', appears to verify or vindicate this sense of the 'special'. This in turn fuels an ongoing cycle of feedback, based on certainty that if attention & sense of superior insight were suddenly lost, they would cease to be 'special'. In other words, using forms of anxiety as a motivation for input. I bet cows don't have this problem.

People spout nonsense based upon the belief that they can fool fools and it will give them attention. They have no interest in the truth.

Social media has it all to answer for. Sad state of affairs.

It's because we lived for 80 years believing things would get better and after 15 years of crisis after crisis everyone is panicking and doesn't know how to deal with it. The world we knew no longer exists. Everyone looking for someone to blame and let's face it, it isn't the fault of the man on the street.

It starts with the “ I know something you don’t “

It's like some people never got over the fact that their parents lied to them about Santa and they want to be that kid in school who spilled the beans.

It gives them something to talk about, and a sense of superiority, of being 'in the know'. That's true of lots of things that aren't conspiracy theories as well - for example, people like to 'know' about fashion for the same reasons, although what is fashionable is just made up by fashion houses and then propagated through the media - there is no objectivity to it. You can say the same about wanting to 'know' what celebrities are doing (much of celebrity news is speculation and gossip), or people who have opinions about football, etc, with no solid basis to what they're saying. A lot of what we consider 'thinking' is just repeating what we've heard from others. Conspiracy theories are the same, except the thing being repeated is intentionally counterfactual, which is also what makes it exciting. The stupider, the better. So these theories will probably keep getting more and more extreme, so they can remain exciting and edgy for their consumers.

I wonder sometimes if it’s because,as humans, we cannot accept that our life and circumstances are all there is, and then we die. We need something more than our circumstances? And then there are those who look to make money off of that ? This is my thoughts on needing to believe something, no matter what it may be.

The nonsense is usually based around either alleviating people's fear or inciting hatred toward people they are already predisposed to hating (or both). It's unfortunate but it works.

i would'nt pay any mind to anything people say tiktok, one of the worst corners of the internet

We've allowed years of downmarket education for the masses. Capitalism cannot function with an educated population so the ruling classes have made sure there is an uneducated minion class. There's also the Dunning Cruger effect etc. If I was PM then critical thinking is the NO.1 subject I'd push onto schools , even a GSCE subject along with English,Maths and the other important things

The problem with a conspiracy theory is people who belive one tend to belive them all.

They tried to turn "Total Recall" into a real-life story. 1. AI 2. Computer technology 3. Vacations on Mars 4 insert science fiction plot here

A lot of people where never engaged in any political discourse. Or any discourse. They were happily living their lives, reading their “sunday paper” and carried on. But suddenly they are able if not invited or even forced to start giving their opinion. People who never had an opinion or even knew how to engage in a conversation.

If you can huddle in a corner ( metaphorically or physically) talking conspiracies with someone equally deluded, it makes you both feel feel smarter and better informed than you clearly are. I’d say a large number of these people wear wolf fleeces and consider kidnapping their own daughter for attention. I’m being judgmental but you know I’m right.