We need a team of sociologists and psychologists to round up these "truthers" and see if we can figure out what causes this type of cultish mass delusion. I'm guessing key factors are this modern You-tube age in which everyone thinks his/her voice and opinion matters and has value.
Lonely, disenfranchised people are suddenly finding meaning and purpose to their lives via YouTube and blogging. Just because you can record video of yourself and post it for others to see, doesn't mean what you're saying has any real value. I think people get caught up in the notion that because I have "views" on YouTube that means I must be on to something and therefore important because people are listening to me. They start to lose all perspective on reality and decency and living in this far-fetched Hollywood fantasy world in which secret cabals and governments are organizing against them. That delusion of persecution in itself makes them feel more important, like they're in "the know" and the rest of us mourning the tragedy are just "sheep". They become very arrogant and hostile when confronted because accepting the truth would mean accepting that, for a time, they let themselves become the mental equivalent of a child who believes magic is real and, furthermore, their actions and words crossed the lines of moral decency as they potentially caused additional harm to grieving families (like the Westboro inbreds protesting funerals).
I think some very bright people with great potential arrive at a place in their lives of profound disappointment, feeling that time is running out and their existence has served no real purpose. So they begin aggressively tilting at windmills, and when the we challenge them, they become all the more convinced they're doing something important--they are the star of their own real-life action thriller and men in surveillance vans are watching them.
To accept that no one really cares and Alex Jones is just a huckster con-man playing on their fears and paranoia to sell DVDs, would mean admitting that were fools easily manipulated by someone they trusted. A hard pill to swallow.
Lonely, disenfranchised people are suddenly finding meaning and purpose to their lives via YouTube and blogging. Just because you can record video of yourself and post it for others to see, doesn't mean what you're saying has any real value. I think people get caught up in the notion that because I have "views" on YouTube that means I must be on to something and therefore important because people are listening to me. They start to lose all perspective on reality and decency and living in this far-fetched Hollywood fantasy world in which secret cabals and governments are organizing against them. That delusion of persecution in itself makes them feel more important, like they're in "the know" and the rest of us mourning the tragedy are just "sheep". They become very arrogant and hostile when confronted because accepting the truth would mean accepting that, for a time, they let themselves become the mental equivalent of a child who believes magic is real and, furthermore, their actions and words crossed the lines of moral decency as they potentially caused additional harm to grieving families (like the Westboro inbreds protesting funerals).
I think some very bright people with great potential arrive at a place in their lives of profound disappointment, feeling that time is running out and their existence has served no real purpose. So they begin aggressively tilting at windmills, and when the we challenge them, they become all the more convinced they're doing something important--they are the star of their own real-life action thriller and men in surveillance vans are watching them.
To accept that no one really cares and Alex Jones is just a huckster con-man playing on their fears and paranoia to sell DVDs, would mean admitting that were fools easily manipulated by someone they trusted. A hard pill to swallow.
A "paradigmatic-shifting realization?" Really dude ... what the hell is wrong with you? 
