Why don't people believe what they see with their own eyes ?

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I do find myself feeling amazed and sometimes a bit annoyed by some peoples' far-fetched conspiracy theories. I remember watching a video of Piers Morgan interviewing Alex Jones, an American conspiracy theorist who believes mass shootings are ''staged'', believes that Michelle Obama is a man, that the raid that killed Bin Laden was faked, and that the US government is poisoning the water making male frogs ''gay''. Watching it sometimes made me laugh and made me think ''Is this guy for real?''.

I will say not all conspiracy theories are far-fetched, some I believe were possibly a conspiracy such as the Kennedy assassination but I don't really feel the same about conspiracies around 9-11, the Covid pandemic or the moon landings of 1969. I like to believe the moon landings did happen although some people claim it was done in some darkened studio and made a lot of fake photos. Some which seem absurd to me are theories like David Icke's theory that public figures like the Royal Family are reptilian aliens in human skin suits or that every picture of an eye I see is in some way the eye of Big Brother or some evil secret society watching everybody.

Read about Tyrone Hayes' research into Atrazine. There's substantial truth to the gay frogs thing. The idea that it's intentional is nonsense, but the basic science that Atrazine messes up frogs development is verifiable.

I'm incredibly nearsighted. I've learned through experience that sometimes I literally cannot believe what I see with my own eyes. I see something and I can't see it clearly enough to tell what it is so my brain just guesses. Often wrongly. I've mistaken a lot of logs for alligators, and a lot of branches on the ground for snakes.

As for why people believe conspiracy theories: Dunning-Kruger, gullibility, irrationality, insecurity, fear, ignorance of the historical method.

Add to that the desire for understanding and certainty, the desire for control and security, and the desire to maintain a positive self-image, according to  Psychology Today .

• The desire for understanding and certainty.  Seeking explanations for events is a natural human desire.  We are constantly asking why things happen the way they do.  Why does it have to rain the day I want to go out?  Why did she give me the cold shoulder like that?  Why can’t you understand what I’m trying to tell you?

• The desire for control and security.  People need to feel they are in control of their lives.  For instance, many people feel safer when they are the driver in the car rather than a passenger.  Of course, even the best drivers can get into accidents for reasons beyond their control.

• The desire to maintain a positive self-image.  Research shows that people who feel socially marginalized are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories.  We all have a desire to maintain a positive self-image, which usually comes from the roles we play in life -- our jobs and our relationships with family and friends.  When we know we make a positive difference in the lives of others -- as parent, spouse, friend, teacher or mentor -- we see our own lives as worthwhile, and we feel good about ourselves.

I thought the reptilian thing was a metaphor for some public figures being evil. I 1st heard that in the game Grand Theft Auto V where Trevor refers to Merryweather Security as being reptilian. Merryweather was working with the military & had no government oversight since they were a private agency. When I heard that about real life people after I assumed it was like calling someone the devil because you hate them.

There is logical reasons to assume that the government is watching people. Edward Snowden the whistleblower about unchecked NSA surveillance comes to mind. Also some tech companies allow police to have access to their facial recognition technology. Plus lots of social media & other sites often get hacked & people's info gets out. People hear these real news stories & they start speculating a worst case scenario that may be partly influenced by movies/shows they've seen & heard about. There's lots of controversy about new AI tech because of this.

I've never understand the shock and horror at the idea of government surveillance. It seems to me like common sense intelligence gathering.

If anything given how much illegal activity occurs without anything being caught, much less convicted, it seems like the current levels of surveillance are either poorly directed or grossly inadequate.

Why do other people believe that a blurry blob in a grainy video is proof positive of space aliens among us?

Why do those same people "connect the dots" between unrelated events to "prove" that the Kennedy assassinations were in preemptive retaliation for the death of Princess Diana?

Why do other people believe the voices in their heads are caused by a government conspiracy to use mind-control devices to drive them insane?

Because when the facts are laid out before them, those facts are too restrictive for their fertile imaginations to accept.

For some people it might be a metaphor, but some conspiracy-mongers and their followers literally believe that the elite here on Earth are disguised extra-terrestrials whose natural look would be reptilian. A well-known proponent of this claim is David Icke.

There were a lot of ridiculous coincidences, seeming impossibilities, foretelling of events and unusual blunders that happened in the lead up to 9/11. It is no wonder conspiracy theorists have scrutinized that event.

In regards to the moon landing, there are some anomalies in terms of the videos of the landing that were made and put out at the time, but even if some of the videos were manipulated, that doesn't mean that NASA didn't go to the moon in 1969. There is more evidence to suggest that they did go the moon, versus the camp that says that 'they didn't/it was a fake'.

The reptilian shape-shifter theory is utterly ridiculous and there is no reason to believe any of it.

I'll be funny & answer the thread title directly. People can be deceived by their eyesight. I know someone who admitted they mistook a garbage dumpster off in the distance for being a friend of there's

alex jones is a mentally ill man who learned how to capitalize on his manic/paranoid episodes to the nth degree.. he is who he is in life and on camera for the several hundred Million dollars it's made him in selling advertisements, boner pills & prepper stuff to scared people that he convinces the sky is falling.

Some people believe the stuff he says because they're not that bright and Want to believe Something.. they might otherwise fall victim to some cult leader (see trump), or are anti-authoritarian so if alex tells them "the truth," that "they," have been withholding from them they're keen to eat it up like candy and believe that they now "know the secrets," and are somehow superior for it. This may play on their not-so-bright dim-witted subconscious need to prove to themselves & others that they "Are smart!! !" and they know stuff, too. Sadly, they don't know stuff.. they're just as ignorant as ever. They simply Believe stuff and that's what gets them through their day. Hopefully most of them are harmless and can happily keep to themselves living better lives with their "knowledge," vs. flip s**t and go on the attack against whoever alex paints as their enemy. (school shooting survivors, for example.)

Just a batshit crazy guy preying on simpletons for profit. Wouldn't be so bad if they knew he was nuts and just tuned in for entertainment vs. kidding themselves that they're being enlightened.