For sure! I’ve read some studies along that line as well. There are a lot of folks who are more afraid that there is nobody in charge than they are that there’s an evil monster in charge. A lot of conspiracy thinking seems to come from this place. They’d rather there really was an Illuminati or whatever pulling strings, even if said group is bad.
6 Likes
I think that’s true, but I don’t think it’s the only factor at play… I think the desire to want to be in that place of “knowing” some “secret knowledge” (or occult knowledge) plays a role here as well. It fits in with what Elizabeth Grace Hale argued about an “outsider” identity and the American white middle class.
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-nation-of-outsiders-9780199314584?cc=us&lang=en&
I can understand that impulse, because it is scary… but we can also point to how mass movements can be forces for good in such a landscape…
And of course there ARE actual conspiracies out there… it’s just that they usually come out eventually and they are rarely as all encompassing as some made-up bogey men like the Illuminati or whatever. And they are generally connected to the ruling class, not to some oppressed minority.
7 Likes
I’d agree that’s definitely a big factor. It was just the specific factor of there being good reason to distrust/avoid mainstream medicine that I hadn’t twigged to before.
Thanks for the book rec, I’ll try to remember to add it to the reading pile, looks very interesting.
5 Likes
I agree it’s an interesting angle to this. It really highlights the various ways in which our shitty healthcare system impacts other aspects of our lives in ways we might not think about.
It’s a good one!
5 Likes
Alt-med is often a reaction to dissatisfaction with mainstream medicine, even if the person is otherwise a science-believer. As healthcare systems get strained, doctors overworked, and diseases more complicated, people are often left feeling abandoned and ignored by the system. They might then go to a chiropractor or acupuncturist just because that person will sit with them and listen for 30 mins, even if the actual medical intervention they’re using is nonsense, and even if the patient knows it probably is. There’s even a measurable therapeutic benefit to this, known as the Office Visit Effect (I think it has other names as well). People do feel better even if the doctor (or “doctor”) does nothing but sit with you for a while.
All this to say, reasons for denial of science and rationality are complex and ever-changing. We’re all emotionally wounded animals at the end of the day, doing our best to get along.
6 Likes
7 Likes
Oh no! Carrie caught COVID at this year’s Conscious Life expo (fully vaxed and all, I am assuming masked, but did not say on the episode).
She’s ok.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
