It has been my experience. My dad, in fact, sat me down for three hours to determine whether I was in touch with reality over my “conspiracy laden” opinion of 9/11. I found out two hours into our coversation that he hadn’t watched the videos I sent him, because he knows that our system of checks and balances hasn’t failed and that the media would surely have broken this story if it were true. So he didn’t need to look at a video that “one guy” posted on the internet. I had the same reaction from a lot of family. (I’d also recommend this video.) I guarantee you if you watch Improbable Collapse, your mind will change.
Of course, I buried my lead (the videos) with a rather grand proclamation of what I now believe to be true. I think that’s the problem. So called “conspiracy theorists” or even better “truthers” are so overwhelmed by having pierced the veil that they can barely contain themselves. It’s much better, I think to plant a small question in a conventional thinker’s mind and let them figure it out from there.
My other answer is that to reach a conclusion of conspiracy one has to turn their outlook upside down. It’s easier to believe that someone made a mistake, or that they’re dumb, or that there was a coincidence, because we assume that other people try as hard as we do to get it right or at least follow a more forthright agenda that we might not agree with. It is much harder to imagine that, for example, a faction of our government would invent (or perhaps pay) an enemy and the orchestrate mass murder of American citizens for the purpose of advancing a war agenda that would mask the draining the U.S. Treasury. It’s much easier to believe that Osama and his posse slipped into Pakistan through the mountains of Tora Bora because the military made the mistake of surrounding them on three sides and guarding only one of two escape routes (see 9/11 Press for Truth) than to believe that we’re really not in pursuit of Osama because the whole al-Qaeda charade is simply a way to knock off Iraq and get the ball rolling.
“Americans are asking, why do they hate us? They hate what we see right here in this chamber—a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms—our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.” – Dubya
“I can hire half the working class to kill the other half.” – Jay Gould