Why do some people believe in conspiracy theories?

[Tom Scully]

https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin-aktuell/50-jahre-jfk-berlin/article117393868/Schon-zur-Nazi-Zeit-besuchte-John-F-Kennedy-Berlin.html
Forrestal, center foreground, young JFK, right background.

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/10/12/issue.html


To this day, there is no satisfactory explanation taking into account all of the actual evidence....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Forrestal#Death
...Death....The official Navy review board, which completed hearings on May 31, waited until October 11, 1949, to release only a brief summary of its findings. The announcement, as reported on page 15 of the October 12 New York Times, stated only that Forrestal had died from his fall from the window. It did not say what might have caused the fall, nor did it make any mention of a bathrobe sash cord that had first been reported as tied around his neck. According to the full report,[30] which was not released by the Department of the Navy until April 2004:...

[John Iacoletti]

In the meantime, I'll pencil you in as a #5.   Every such person believes they know the real facts. 

As do you.

[Colin Crow]

So after 50 plus years we should have conclusive evidence of a conspiracy.  Excellent!  I await the NY Times report confirming and setting forth the facts.  In the meantime, I'll pencil you in as a #5.   Every such person believes they know the real facts.  There are no greater true believers than the most outlandish conspiracy theorists because reaching such erroneous conclusions is not just a matter of faith but the dismissal of any facts contrary to their beliefs.

Project Sunshine says hi.....

[Richard Smith]

There is an important reason that I touched upon that further explains conspiracy theories.  If you entertain baseless fantasies, like a JFK conspiracy or little green men visiting from Mars, you must have an explanation for why you can never prove it.  And so there must be a conspiracy to explain away the lack of proof.  It is like a seesaw.  You can't entertain a baseless fantasy without a corresponding explanation for your inability to provide proof of your theory.  So the conspiracy theory is a product of necessity that can be cited to avoid ever proving anything. 

[Colin Crow]

Of course you are only aware of those conspiracies that have been revealed.....the truly successful ones have not come to light yet. 

Therefore your reasoning can only be based subset of all conspiracies.

[Walt Cakebread]

There is an important reason that I touched upon that further explains conspiracy theories.  If you entertain baseless fantasies, like a JFK conspiracy or little green men visiting from Mars, you must have an explanation for why you can never prove it.  And so there must be a conspiracy to explain away the lack of proof.  It is like a seesaw.  You can't entertain a baseless fantasy without a corresponding explanation for your inability to provide proof of your theory.  So the conspiracy theory is a product of necessity that can be cited to avoid ever proving anything.

Mr "Smith".....Since you've brought up the subject of baseless fantasies....I believe it's important to remind you that your entire case is based on fantastic THEORIES.

One of the theories within the fantastic tale is the THEORY that Lee Oswald dashed past the elevator gates on the sixth floor and hastily dropped the rifle behind a row of boxes at the top of the stairs.  There are in fact photos that depict a rifle jammed between boxes of books and it is about THREE  feet from the partition on the east side of the stairs.    However.... Detective Robert Studebaker drew a map that depicted where the various pieces of evidence ( the spent shells and the carcano) were located when they were discovered.   Studebaker's map clearly shows that the rifle was discovered lying on the floor EIGHT FEET  from the partition on the east side of the stairs.   That's FIVE feet further south than the location of the rifle in the official in situ photos.     

Even a elementary school kid can understand that no man could have dashed through that aisle at the top of the stairs and carefully hid the rifle beneath boxes of books that were over FIVE feet away and at least thee foot down .....   But apparently YOU Mr "Smith"  do believe that FANTASY ......

Now tell us again about believing in ridiculous fantasies.....

[Walt Cakebread]

Of course you are only aware of those conspiracies that have been revealed.....the truly successful ones have not come to light yet. 

Therefore your reasoning can only be based subset of all conspiracies.

The best place to hide something is:....in plain sight.     And that's exactly what we have seen in this case....Merely changing the captioning of a photo  can deceive the viewer.....   The Back Yard Photo ( CE 133A) is a superb example.....   That photo was displayed like giant FBI "wanted" poster on the cover of LIFE magazine in February of 1964.   It was captioned ...  Lee Harvey Oswald with the guns he used to kill President Kennedy and officer J.D. Tippit.

That BY photo was created to convey a lie....The photo depicted Lee Oswald as a heavily armed communist revolutionary.... But just as with a carnival gag photo which might show a person in jail the photo was a FAKE.    Because Lee was actually a US government agent, who was attempting to deceive Castro's agents and lead them to believe that Lee Oswald was a true supporter of the revolution.   If Lee Oswald had been successful in completing the hoax at General Walkers house in April of 63 the BY photo would have been published with the caption... Lee Harvey Oswald shown with the rifle with which he attempted to shoot Genera Walker

Viewers who saw LIFE magazine with the caption Lee Harvey Oswald with the guns he used to kill President Kennedy and officer J.D. Tippit.   were duped into believing they were seeing a true photo of the assassin, because they had been bombarded with lies and false and confusing stories about the murder( it was always referred to the more acceptable "assassination") of President Kennedy.  Some alert Americans knew that they were being fed a huge lie but were unable to make themselves heard above the US government approved tale, and when the LIFE magazine burst into the public view they threw up their hands, and cried "Fake". 

And they were right, but not in the sense that some nefarious photo altering expert created the photo.....( in fact it is a very amateurish attempt to create a carnival fake)  Some researchers tried to prove the BY photo was a fake that had been created to incriminate Lee Oswald.  If they had merely changed the caption to the caption that would have accompanied the photo if Lee had been successful at Walker's in April.  Lee Harvey Oswald shown with the rifle with which he attempted to shoot Genera Walker    They may have realized that it was lee Oswald himself who had created the carnival gag photo.   

There are a couple of aspects of the BY photo (CE 133A) that clearly show that the photo was "retouched" ( altered ).  The most glaringly obvious is the addition of what appears to be a sling or carry strap to the photo.   Apparently Lee added that carrying strap to make the rifle appear a bit more like a guerrilla's rifle....But it is so amateurish that it looks ridiculous..... and yet when most folks view the photo they don't see the obvious...It's hidden in plain sight.       

[Bill Chapman]

There is an important reason that I touched upon that further explains conspiracy theories.  If you entertain baseless fantasies, like a JFK conspiracy or little green men visiting from Mars, you must have an explanation for why you can never prove it.  And so there must be a conspiracy to explain away the lack of proof.  It is like a seesaw.  You can't entertain a baseless fantasy without a corresponding explanation for your inability to provide proof of your theory.  So the conspiracy theory is a product of necessity that can be cited to avoid ever proving anything.

THEY (the conspirators) are a relatively small group, but powerful and corrupt. They are evil, or at least selfish, acting in their own interest and against the public interest. They have great foresight, patience, and deviousness. Nevertheless, they are not all-powerful or even that smart, really, since WE have figured them out

WE are a small, dedicated group of freedom fighters and freethinkers. We are soldiers, rebels in the fight for good against evil.

YOU are clueless. Why can't you see what's going on here? (Conspiracy theorists place most people in this group.)

THEY have hidden or destroyed all the evidence that would implicate them and have manufactured false evidence that exculpates them.

YOU are close-minded. In fact, you are probably one of THEM.

http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/thinking/conspiracy.html