Why do people not believe in conspiracy theories?
Very good question!
A person who is interested in seeking the truth knows that they don't have all the answers but a person who is afraid of the truth tries to halt that process of seeking; 'conspiracy theorists' are on an open, evolving journey of discovery
So the seeker of truth will discard old perceptions as they become redundant but a person who is heavily invested in a particular perception may struggle to let go of it
For example...lets say someone has spent a lot of time, money and effort gaining a qualification in a subject for example sociology where they have been told a version of reality by the people who control that academic course (other regimes in other countries might present a totally different view of reality); their ego might have a lot invested in the perceptions that have been given to them by their course administrators
For example they might feel that their academic qualification is an important part of their identity. They might have built their confidence around the feeling that they have found all the answers through their academic pursuits when really the academic road is a state sanctioned stage managed propaganda fest!
They might have pursued a career through what they have learned and they might have built up their world view from their studies
So their entire identity as they have constructed it might be dependent on maintaining faith in the perceptions of reality that have been served upto them by certain academics (who all have THEIR own agendas)
if their gospel truth is then threatened by new information their ego defences rise up because they feel that an attack on their perception of reality is an attack on their own identity and because they perceive their identity to be themselves they perceive the challenge to their perception of reality to be an attack on their very person
So for those who are bogged down in one academic quagmire and have thereby halted their own progress on the path to truth new views are going to be very threatening indeed...because to assimilate those new truths would mean they have to accept that all that they felt so sure about is in fact dust in the wind
Not many people are comfortable being that vulnerable
[h=1]“Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.” ~ Timothy Leary[/h]