Ex conspiracy theorist explains to James O'Brien how he stopped believing
7 July 2020, 13:47
Ex conspiracy theorist explains to James O'Brien how he stopped believing
This ex conspiracy theorist told James O'Brien how he went down the rabbit hole of believing alternative theories and then how he "saw the light."
Caller Wayne said he first got into conspiracy theories when someone sent him videos of renowned conspiracist Alex Jones.
He said the theories filled little gaps in his knowledge with entertaining alternatives.
"Then you fall down these rabbit-holes and start finding people like David Icke and I ended up watching an eight hour David Icke show...[where] he's talking about Saturn being a transmitter," Wayne said, referring to the radical conspiracist and former footballer who famously proposed that shape-shifting reptilian aliens control the Earth, posing as political figures.
"It is a case of you know something other people don't know and when you're in the know and you meet someone who is in the know you have this sort of kinship," he said.
"It becomes a belief system and that's the problem, once something becomes a belief, logic and reason goes out the window."
He told James that what you are fundamentally doing when challenging a conspiracy theorist is you're "attacking their identity" as it becomes entrenched within your psyche.
When watching Alex Jones on his channel InfoWars, Wayne suddenly realised it was all untrue; Jones has a scientist that appears to promote brain-enhancing supplements and the small print said it was not approved by the FDA.
James pointed out if he was further down the rabbit hole that would have "been a marketing ploy, of course it's not approved by the FDA they don't want you to have it."
Wayne told James he also took issue with Alex Jones showing deference to President Trump after warning his followers about the deep state and claiming to be severely anti-government.
Wayne said, "Alex Jones has got a shtick. He's very good at it and Trump has emulated that."
"[Jones] was convincing people there was a paedophile ring in a pizzeria and someone turned up with a rifle and there was no basement, there was a solid floor," he said, emphasising that once it becomes religious people will commit without question.
James surmised it is a sense of cultish reward that only the enlightened can get.
