• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Numbers Of British Believers In 'Conspiracy Theories' Higher Than Formerly Supposed

blessmycottonsocks

blessmycottonsocks

Antediluvian
Joined
Dec 22, 2014
Messages
9,722
Location
Wessex and Mercia
Today's Guardian running an article about the prevalence of conspiracy theories in the UK.
Apparently a quarter in UK believe Covid was a hoax!

Other hot topic conspiracies with lots of supporters are:

The ‘great reset’ theory (The World Economic Forum is a conspiracy to impose a totalitarian world government).

The cost of living crisis (was deliberately engineered by the government to control the public).

The terrorism ‘cover-up’ (Media and government are complicit in covering up information about terrorist attacks).

15-minute cities (a government attempt to surveil people and restrict freedoms).

The ‘great replacement’ theory (white Europeans are being replaced by non-white immigrants).

Social media (YouTube and Facebook primarily) gets the blame for fanning the conspiracy fires.


https://www.theguardian.com/society...-was-a-hoax-poll-on-conspiracy-theories-finds
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
Today's Guardian running an article about the prevalence of conspiracy theories in the UK.
Apparently a quarter in UK believe Covid was a hoax!

Other hot topic conspiracies with lots of supporters are:

The ‘great reset’ theory (The World Economic Forum is a conspiracy to impose a totalitarian world government).

The cost of living crisis (was deliberately engineered by the government to control the public).

The terrorism ‘cover-up’ (Media and government are complicit in covering up information about terrorist attacks).

15-minute cities (a government attempt to surveil people and restrict freedoms).

The ‘great replacement’ theory (white Europeans are being replaced by non-white immigrants).

Social media (YouTube and Facebook primarily) gets the blame for fanning the conspiracy fires.


https://www.theguardian.com/society...-was-a-hoax-poll-on-conspiracy-theories-finds
Click to expand...

Or perhaps this is all a conspiracy to make us believe that UK citizens are disproportionately credulous of conspiracies?
 
I wonder what all those conspiracy theorists are thinking now that we've had our 'test warning' alarm to our phones and yet hundreds of thousands of bank accounts haven't been emptied?

(This was the theory expounded by my manager at work, who was convinced that allowing access to your phone for the alarm would allow 'them' access to your bank accounts, etc). I know work has been done on researching what happens to conspiracy theorists when their conspiracy is revealed to be false - they just move seamlessly on to the next one. But sometimes I just wonder if some of them don't think 'hmm, that's odd.'
 
They don't need to empty your bank account. Even just taking a pound from each would add up to a lot of money.
 
The UK is home to millions more conspiracy theorists than most people realise, with almost a quarter of the population believing Covid-19 was probably or definitely a hoax, polling has revealed.

About a third of the population are convinced that the cost of living crisis is a government plot to control the public, and similar numbers think “15-minute cities” – an attempt to increase walking in neighbourhoods – are a government surveillance ruse, and that the “great replacement theory” – the idea that white people are being replaced by non-white immigrants – is happening.

The findings, on the eve of the first evidence session of the UK’s public inquiry into the pandemic, which killed more than 227,000 people in the UK, come from an April survey by Savanta for King’s College London (KCL) and the BBC...

https://www.theguardian.com/society...-was-a-hoax-poll-on-conspiracy-theories-finds
 
Wait until you see what a lot of people believe about the supernatural, lgbtq+, AI, Sharia law, 9/11, the Holocaust, refugees, politicians, the monarchy, God, and so on.

People are irrational, uneducated, bad at critical thinking, gullible, and prejudiced. I know I am. They also have 24/7 access to the internet and a million types of manipulation and propaganda. I know I do.
 
Xanatic* said:
Would you notice a missing pound?
Click to expand...
I would notice if a single pound had been paid out of my account to an unknown account. Why wouldn't I? Oddly enough I'd be less likely to notice £7.99 being paid out, as I'd assume it was something I'd bought, and I'd only think it was odd when I didn't recognise the name of the payee when going through my accounts to do my tax returns.

If they could take it out without showing any evidence of removal, then I think it would be the bank's problem rather than mine as they would have to have cracked the bank's security and I'm not sure that can be done by accessing an account on the phone.
 
LymeswoldSnork said:
The UK is home to millions more conspiracy theorists than most people realise, with almost a quarter of the population believing Covid-19 was probably or definitely a hoax, polling has revealed.

About a third of the population are convinced that the cost of living crisis is a government plot to control the public, and similar numbers think “15-minute cities” – an attempt to increase walking in neighbourhoods – are a government surveillance ruse, and that the “great replacement theory” – the idea that white people are being replaced by non-white immigrants – is happening.

The findings, on the eve of the first evidence session of the UK’s public inquiry into the pandemic, which killed more than 227,000 people in the UK, come from an April survey by Savanta for King’s College London (KCL) and the BBC...

https://www.theguardian.com/society...-was-a-hoax-poll-on-conspiracy-theories-finds
Click to expand...
Presumably they did a poll and then multiplied up the answers to come up with a quarter of the population? Because nobody asked me. And these sorts of polls are notorious for self-selection, in that most people have no opinion or can't be bothered to answer them, only those who have an axe to grind.
 
Is a 'theorist' now a mere believer in a theory?

I usually reserve that label for those who invest significant time in investigating, propagating and producing such ideas.

Dave down the pub is more of a plonker with an Internet connection.
 
A respectable firm like Savanta will likely be using representative samples of the UK population in terms of age, sex, race and political affiliation and—as you say—scale up.

If the samples are of the same size as standard political polls, one in twenty such samples will fall outside the margin or error ('an outlier').

Apart from the stats, you really need to look at the specific questions asked and the order in which they are presented to see whether there's anything dodgy going on.

Edit: sample sizes seem too small on key questions to me: 350-500 UK adults for some headline findings (see link in article).

 
Last edited:
Details attached.
 

Attachments

  • conspiracy-belief-among-the-uk-public.pdf
    626.6 KB · Views: 19
LymeswoldSnork said:
The UK is home to millions more conspiracy theorists than most people realise, with almost a quarter of the population believing Covid-19 was probably or definitely a hoax, polling has revealed.

About a third of the population are convinced that the cost of living crisis is a government plot to control the public, and similar numbers think “15-minute cities” – an attempt to increase walking in neighbourhoods – are a government surveillance ruse, and that the “great replacement theory” – the idea that white people are being replaced by non-white immigrants – is happening.

The findings, on the eve of the first evidence session of the UK’s public inquiry into the pandemic, which killed more than 227,000 people in the UK, come from an April survey by Savanta for King’s College London (KCL) and the BBC...

https://www.theguardian.com/society...-was-a-hoax-poll-on-conspiracy-theories-finds
Click to expand...

As mentioned elsewhere, 25% out of a smallish poll (2,274) isn't conclusive and should not be extrapolated into anything meaningful for the UK's 70 million citizens.
Some of the conspiracies have been discussed individually here (notably the WHO and 15-minute cities) and it's probably a healthy sign that citizens are concerned about possible mission creep, but that doesn't mean the conspiratorial fear is the intended goal of such projects.
Once again, it all boils down to how much you feel you can trust the government.
 
Looking around my little town in just the last few years I can see major changes happening, and they are certainly nothing that I was consulted on or voted for -
Not just occurring in the UK, and the United States is much larger and, I would presume, therefore has even more going on.
Listening to others speaking on this subject, I see two groups: those watching closely and realizing what is happening, and others who simply choose to go along with things and have no real thoughts on it, it is what it is.
And it's not being a 'conspiracy theorist', these major changes are happening right in front of us, and much too quickly.
 
Ronnie Jersey said:
I see two groups: those watching closely and realizing what is happening, and others who simply choose to go along with things and have no real thoughts on it, it is what it is.
And it's not being a 'conspiracy theorist', these major changes are happening right in front of us, and much too quickly.
Click to expand...

What about those people who look at everything, as in eternal vigilance, and then come to the conclusion that it's all/mostly what is techically called a load of old bobbins*?

Reasoned thought and exploration has ground rules. It's helpful not to reduce complex matters to soundbite simplicity. It's also helpful not to label the group you don't identify with as

simply choose to go along with things and have no real thoughts on it
Click to expand...

People out themselves and their positions very easily. It's one of the joys of this place that we manage a high proprortion of cogent and apposite posts. **

* originally had a much pithier phrase but in deference to the fragility of this place I changed it. Don't want to cause a fit of the vapours and have to apply sal volatile!

** Not @Trevp666 and @Swifty They are Forces of Nature and Know No Rules! :itslove:
 
gordonrutter said:
THEM.
Click to expand...

Am I the only person that thinks this word doesn't look like a real word when it's written in upper case - but more like the name of a planet in some shit sci-fi novel.

Hold on...maybe THEM is actually where the They live? And the Theys are just trying to distract us with all this talk about the THEM until they've concluded their millennia long conflict with the These and the Those.

It's all starting to make sense to me now.
 
Spookdaddy said:
Am I the only person that thinks this word doesn't look like a real word when it's written in upper case - but more like the name of a planet in some shit sci-fi novel.

Hold on...maybe THEM is actually where the They live? And the Theys are just trying to distract us with all this talk about the THEM until they've concluded their millennia long conflict with the These and the Those.

It's all starting to make sense to me now.
Click to expand...
I just thought that Gordon was shouting. As usual.
 
Theres been a lot on BBC R4 about Totnes being home to a lot of conspiracy theorists being based there, bit of a hub apparently. Do we have any board members from Totnes? can they enlighten us about this?

I used to know Totnes quite well- pleasant sort of battiness in the air but generally had a relaxed slightly hippyish vibe.Not an obvious place for hard line conspiracy theories to flourish.

I'm up in Bath where we have a different sort of eccentricity, conspiracies here tend to revolve around the Lib dems and bent planning officers now the MOD have moved out.
 
As mentioned on the other thread, it could conceivably be a conspiracy to ridicule those UK citizens who dare question the government's motives.
The Guardian, which is my go-to newspaper and which published this report, was recently singing the praises of 15-minute cities, so I wouldn't put it past them to do a hatchet job on anyone who fears mission creep with this initiative.
 
There's a good reason why so many people believe in conspiracies, and it's because there have been actual conspiracies.
And lots of the conspiracy theories look like they might be viable, if you use logic and reasoning to join the dots together.
Also... there's that saying... 'just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean that they're not out to get you'.
 
Also labelling something as a conspiracy theory means that it will never be researched or looked into by 'the masses' because it's a conspiracy theory. It's a good way for the establishment to make sure that which they don't want exposed doesn't get exposed.

Or..... it might in fact be just a load of twaddle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top