MCFCinUSA
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terryphelan said:
this is probably a very difficult question to really tie-down.
some interesting observations by people on the subject though in this thread.
I'd point out one thing right here, and that is the Dunning-Kruger effect...
- this relates to people who think they're more competent (and knowledgeable) and those who think they don't know quite as much and are more qualified in their self-assessment of themselves. Note THEMSELVES, not in their assessment of external situations or events! This is the key here.
The irony is the more someone remains convinced of their own 'endowments' the more likely it is that in reality (if they are objectively measured against the rest of the population) there is in fact a greater disparity between how intelligent (for instance) they think they are and how intelligent they actually are (when compared to the rest of the population).
Essentially the more educated people are or the more competent, generally the more humility they exhibit, and the greater self-awareness they have. They are more 'in touch' so to speak, centred, or grounded.
I know it's not easy to pinpoint what the difference is between 9/11 fanatics and Holocaust deniers. People have already pointed out the more likely ethnocentric leanings of the latter group, but there are similarities between people who cannot figure out what most of us with basic common sense and a modicum of intelligence and a grip on reality do understand.
Applying the Dunning-Kruger effect could suggest further conclusions are possible, which might mean I'd rather be in a room with a Holocaust denier than a 9/11 conspiracist, although I reckon I'd prefer to be a million miles away from both.
;o)
As a footnote, anyone who thinks the US gov't or any of it's people had any knowledge of 9/11 beforehand that they deliberately hid or even had an active hand in matters (for whatever reasons - and don't forget the billions of billions of dollars of economic dislocation caused, aside from the heinous loss of life and nature of the atrocity) is an absolute nutter whose sanity I question and would have serious reservations about.