Conspiracy theories and narcissists

I’ve never really put the two together until I had a friend come out and say he was a narcissist. He wore it like a badge of honor and after some study of the topic Irealized it explains a lot about him. Stereotyping individuals and putting things into easy to categorize boxes helped him build strawman arguments that end in illogical and odd conclusions. overall he kind of reminds me of Alex Jones… Full of information and jumping from one topic to another to prove only one thing… I’m right about everything. sharing piles of unrelated proofs and trying to connect the dots between only semi-related topics. Again only to say look I’m correct about this ….I’m correct about that ….yet never being able this drill down on any one statement. One thing I notice for sure was an inability to engage in a conversation where we would honestly look at reasons why intelligent people might have a position to the opposite of the one that he held.The inability to see any good in the political opposition’s presidency or political ideology was pretty seriously astounding. Zero empathy and a massive inability to concede that the other side even has good intentions.

We’re not talking narcissistic tendencies here… We’re talking full blown narcissists

Everything I say is right.

Do you know a true narcissist .


Do you know someone who loves conspiracy theories?

I would say that very few narcissists can admit that they are a narcissist, and belief in conspiracy theories isn’t part of that disorder. This text pretty much sums up narcissistic personality disorder:

The word narcissism gets tossed around a lot in our selfie-obsessed, celebrity-driven culture, often to describe someone who seems excessively vain or full of themselves. But in psychological terms, narcissism doesn’t mean self-love—at least not of a genuine sort. It’s more accurate to say that people with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are in love with an idealized, grandiose image of themselves. And they’re in love with this inflated self-image precisely because it allows them to avoid deep feelings of insecurity. But propping up their delusions of grandeur takes a lot of work—and that’s where the dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors come in.

Narcissistic personality disorder involves a pattern of self-centered, arrogant thinking and behavior, a lack of empathy and consideration for other people, and an excessive need for admiration. Others often describe people with NPD as cocky, manipulative, selfish, patronizing, and demanding. This way of thinking and behaving surfaces in every area of the narcissist’s life: from work and friendships to family and love relationships.

People with narcissistic personality disorder are extremely resistant to changing their behavior, even when it’s causing them problems. Their tendency is to turn the blame on to others. What’s more, they are extremely sensitive and react badly to even the slightest criticisms, disagreements, or perceived slights, which they view as personal attacks. For the people in the narcissist’s life, it’s often easier just to go along with their demands to avoid the coldness and rages. However, by understanding more about narcissistic personality disorder, you can spot the narcissists in your life, protect yourself from their power plays, and establish healthier boundaries.

Source: Narcissistic Personality Disorder - HelpGuide.org

I don't know enough about conspiracy theorists to say that there's a direct relation from them to full blown narcissists, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was that connection.

(I'm not a huge fan of either type of people.)

Exactly.

It has also become a fad today for all of these YT channels to pop up and expound on narcissism ad nauseam, for some reason. It’s become a subculture almost, and it’s amazing the cycles of obsession humans get themselves into.

Having “PTSD” is another highly misunderstood and abused notion. Those who have it for real do not ever say they have it. It’s possible, although rare, for a narcissist to acknowledge their narcissism.

I had a fellow who worked under me who definitely had the characteristic lack of empathy of a narcissist. But saving him was his desire to seek approval. He was hiding an ocean of insecurity underneath all of his praise-seeking, which came out when he was ever asked to do something that didn’t involve him getting lavished with compliments. And I had to inform him he couldn’t hide it. People could see the ego clearly, despite his best efforts.

There is a spectrum for all of us, behavior-wise. For some of us, being disagreeable and egotistical is enough to get labeled a narcissist, true or not. As for the lack of empathy, that is (for me, at least) the telltale sign.

Funny that this thread should start now.
I just found a YouTube video with a shrink giving the most coherent explanation about this, and the other two related Psychopath and Sociopath, I’ve heard.
And I do know two people who fit her description of narcissists.
All the Best,
Jeff

Nice video!

Very informative.

Well debating my friend can be hard, and i will admit i have often given up.
Other times with the help of the internet i have gotten him to cave, and accept my argument as the right one.
But i dont think he is a narcissists, other things yes, have these attributes scared other people away, yes, Is he dangerous, not really, if you carry just a little intelligence / skill in relating to people.

But lets just say both him and i, well it would probably be bad for us if we really let the cat out of the bag.
Some years ago i was forced to see a shrink, but had to choose my words wisely in those talks.
Both of us, laugh out loud regarding most conspiracy theories, so these people will not find much comfort with us.

For instance bot of us, we have the solution to ALL of the worlds problems, but most people do not like it when we tell, even if it is very simple.
Telling will prompt most to put on the armchair psychologist attitude give all kind of un-flattering diagnosis, and at best just call us crackpots.

PS…. I have changed jobs a lot :money_mouth_face: Also decades ago i have also had a short successful career as a parasite ( criminal )
BUT ! i do not have any problems, the whole damn world have problems :laughing:

I definitely know some narcissists, all of the Western Media. They even had a little term created for anyone that dared not believe anything they SWORE was right. They called them, “Conspiracy Theorists”. Talk about REAL narcissists, right? :person_facepalming:

So true!

One of my favorite sayings:
“In Hollywood and politics - Once you learn to fake sincerity - you’ve got it made”

All the Best,
Jeff

To the OP;

Sounds like Fake News,
I heard some people are saying……

Awesome point. Now mix that newfound power to convey sincerity on que with… “experts believe” and “there are some reports”, and you pretty much have carte blanche on what is true.

Those are media equivalents to phrases such as “my friend says” and “people are saying”.

Anyway, someone pretty smart once said…

“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

Appealing to opinions of experts in the relevant fields is not the same as appealing to “people are saying” or “my friend says.” That is particularly true when one appeals to scientific study results done by experts in the relevant fields.

I think the op was referring to narcissistic people in general. In common use, that can apply to self-centered people without narcissistic personality disorder. And I think it’s definitely true that many people I encounter who have narcissistic tendencies (even without NPD) have a low ability to feel empathy for other people, and a low motivation to acknowledge and learn about viewpoints or information that don’t coincide with their preconceived notions.

It’s good to be suspicious, and it’s good to look for patterns because you can prevent terrible things from happening. It’s unfortunate that putting forward a theory can get you labeled as a conspiracy theorist and ostracized. To be fair though, if you ignore common sense (chem trails) and observable science (flat earth) then you are bringing that label upon yourself.

In the past some bizarre things have happened without general public awareness so I think it’s good to at least attempt to prove new theories right or wrong.

I have no real opinion on Alex Jones because I haven’t listened to him. I did see a clip where he says, “I’m kinda retarded…” which cracked me up. I know that wasn’t the entire sentence though.

Just to clarify. Are you by chance indirectly making the assertion that “science”, a field that solely relies on funding from the wealthy and governments, somehow CANNOT be bought? That the wealthy and governments simply would never do that? Science and the Industries that rely on it are so far above reproach that the idea that they could possibly be untruthful or fudge science for a laundry list of reasons is just too much for you to fathom? Historically we just don’t have the data or enough instances we can point to to reasonably say that we should still be extremely careful even with what our media INSISTS…is sound or “settled science”?

Pretty sure Gravity is “settled science”

And maybe freezing/boiling point of water.
After that………………You are on your own.
Who paid for the study is the first ? of any analysis.

Whether you like it or not, we still need the media.
Just don’t treat it as Gospel.

My Dad used to tell me;
“Believe little of what you hear and half of what you see”
If he were alive today, he would have to agree that with the convincing Deepfake technology it is now, “Believe nothing of what you see”

I guess you haven’t heard the Buoyant Force crowds arguments yet and how it’s either or, but not both? :nerd_face:

But at least we always have freezing/boiling water points, right? :smiley:

And your Dad sounds like a profoundly smart and reasonable man. I’m sorry to hear we’re talking about him in past tense.

No one who’s bothered to investigate the reality of our collective situation would use the phrase conspiracy theory. The phrase was invented after the JFK assassination to make those questioning the official narrative seem crazy. It was such a highly successful counter-intelligence campaign that mimetic repeaters still use it to this day. The same counter-intelligence tactic is used constantly today, taking many forms, for example “anti-vaxxer,” “extremist,” “far-right,” “flat-earther,” and so on. Armed with such phrases, the average repeater can avoid considering the validity of any particular thing, feeling justified, righteous even, for having brushed it aside.

I think this topic is best closed before it goes off the rails and turns into a major argument.