After the horrible attack on the World Trade center on September 11, 2001, people began to analyze footage of the incident and make speculations about the “truth” behind 9/11. Conspiracy theories arose as people were seeking for a reason behind this attack. It seems totally absurd that people would believe that our own government planned an attack that devastated all of America, but according to Professor Quassim Cassam, a philosopher from the University of Warwick, out of 16,000 people less than half of those people believe that the attacks were done by the terrorist group known as al-Qaeda. We may put into question; why do so many people allow themselves to believe that there is a truth behind the truth? There is no simple answer to this …show more content…
Because millions of Americans were affected by the tragic event leaving them in a state of shock, fear, and helplessness, the fear drives people to believes in conspiracy theories. Paul Whalen who is a scientist at Dartmouth College, studies the amygdala, which is an almond-shaped area of the brain that decodes emotions, determines possible threat, stores fear memories, explains that when we experience something we don’t have control over like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the amygdala then” jump-starts” the part of our brain that is responsible for processing information and looking for patterns or explanations so it can assess any threats and to plan the next step. With this, we can see how people would be quick to believe what they are …show more content…
Researchers say that this is due to the fact that people have “feelings of political powerlessness.” They believe that the government is such a powerful force that it would leave the regular people defenseless if they were actually conspiring. Because of this, people tend to blame and create conspiracy theories to make the people who are most powerful seem like they are at fault. When applied to 9/11, we can see use this information to understand how someone would be able to come to wondering if the government were behind the attacks. This falls back under Jan-Willem van Prooijen’s research that was mentioned, who found that people who believe conspiracy theories are those who feel that they lack control in their lives. These two studies tie into each other because feeling powerless is a feeling that usually is a primary reaction to feeling a lack of control over the things happening in your
But studies have shown that that conspiracy theory was in anyway true. One of the other theories state that the Russians were behind the assassination. Since there was tension between the two countries. Theorist believe that Oswald was acting
• There are reports that the September 11 attacks killed 2,996 people and injured more than 6,000 Americans. These deaths included 265 that were on four aircraft, 2,606 deaths just within the World Trade Center and surrounding areas, and the Pentagon had 125 deaths. These deaths weren’t necessary if the government was behind this evil intention just to bring Americans together for support of a war against another nation.
The Naysayer Those skeptical of Lara Millman’s article likely fall victim to conspiracy theories themselves due to mistrust of their government and media. Conspiracy theories provide explanations for government actions that the public can not comprehend. It is easy for individuals to fall victim to proportionality bias, which is the belief that big events require big causes. Sometimes it is difficult for people to accept events as they are, such as the fact that the twin towers were destroyed during 911 by hijackers with box cutters – they want a more complex reason, which leads to the conspiracies.
Sometimes these things can be so small that we cannot notice it. Our unconsciousness can be altered by this and can ultimately affect our perception of the world and our actions. It’s crazy to think that if the 9/11 conspiracy is true, what will we do now? What will the
When looking at conspiracy theories, it is important to find out who would be most likely to believe the theory and why they have that belief. For this assignment, I will be looking into the 9/11 conspiracy theory through the lens of a Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theory episode. I will be looking at what types of people believe this theory, why they hold that belief, and use my knowledge from class to explain why people might not be persuaded by the episode. The 9/11 episode of Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory was most intriguing to me because I was living in New York at the time of 9/11.
Americans were devastated by this tragedy. People were shocked that such a tragic event could take place and immediately had to find a place to push the blame. This blame got placed on the United States Government. Society buys into the Sandy Hook conspiracy theory because of the mindset on
The events that occurred on September, 11, 2001 were among the most catastrophic events in American history. The events of the day were summarized as 19 militants associated with the terror group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out targeted attacks in the United States. Out of the four planes, two of them were flown into the World Trade Center in New York, a third one into the Pentagon in Washington and the fourth one crashing off course into a field. The attacks resulted in the deaths of over 3000 people and the beginning of a soon to come American counter terrorism policy and the subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Although there are a lot of conspiracy theories around the real motives and players behind the attack,
The main one is many people believe that the children and families are paid actors because there was no bodies being shown. Many theorists believe that the children never existed. One parent has been trying to prove that their son was real but people think otherwise. A few smaller theories include that there were two killers instead of one and people claiming to see two men leave the scene suspiciously (Sandy Hook massacre). Some reports are also trying to convince people that this attack was planned and not spur of the moment (Stanglin).
Nearly the whole country watched in horror on the morning of September 11, 2001. As the planes crashed and the towers burned, many thought it simply wasn’t true. They believed that it was impossible that someone could hate America that much. It was true, and it left lasting effects on Americans everywhere. Al-Qaeda had carried out a plan so horrific that it killed nearly three thousand people.
The attacks of September 11, 2001 on our country was one of the most tragic and deadly days in our history. It brought a country together and the American strength of freedom and unity became a battle cry. After the dust had cleared, the questions came about that asked, how could this have happened? Were there not security and intelligence infrastructures and policies in place?
Because of this, Americans began to live in a state of paranoia. They worried that their homeland might become victim to another terrorist attack. Americans questioned everyone and everything, specifically Muslims. Many people assumed that just because the terrorists in the 9/11 attacks were Muslim, that every Muslim must be a terrorist. Muslims, or anyone slightly perceived to be Muslim, were hated and feared.
What Happened 2. Conspiracy Theories II. What Happened A. According to the Washington Post 9/11 was a terrorist attack on the US, which the 9/11 commission concluded al-Qaeda, a global militant Islamist organization formed in the late 80s, was responsible. Nineteen terrorists, split into four groups each containing a trained pilot, embarked on a suicide mission to hijack one commercial jet and fly and crash them into US landmarks.
All of these events demonstrated that al-Qaeda could carry out terrifying attacks thousands of miles away from its base in Afghanistan. Al- qaeda’s leaders did not care about their gruesome actions. In their minds, God was on their side so they could do no wrong. Many people to this day still question our government about the 9/11 attacks and why someone did not take action before it got to this point.
It is almost sixteen years since that fear was imposed on us and the age of terror began in earnest. From the moment the Twin Towers fell, 9/11 was seen as a watershed, a historical turning point of grand and irreversible proportions. With the acrid smoke still swirling above ground zero, the mantras repeated constantly were that 9/11 had ?changed everything that nothing would ever be the same.? By now we see those mantras for what they were: natural, perhaps inevitable, exaggerations in the face of
Main point: My belief in conspiracy theories follows the research I do to support these beliefs, and how my beliefs are linked to my everyday thinking. Body Paragraph 1: Conspiracy Theory ideology Usually when a big event happens such as a terrorist attack, natural disasters, or even theories about celebrity conspiracy theories they are compelling with the amount of facts, and ideas that revolve around a theory. We try to connect one unexplainable event into a theory that our mind could connect the dots to and give us a new form of thinking to ease our mind. I could stay up hours reading and watching videos of conspiracy theories because its an ideology that is so interesting that it gives me new ideas to believe. For example, one conspiracy theory alone can make my mind