What actually happened on 9/11?

Introduction

This week, I saw a Dutch theater presentation on Youtube called ‘KomPlott’, which was about conspiracy theories linked with the attacks of 9/11. The presenter George van Houts tried to answer different questions that were raised after the attacks, and explained different reasons why we should question what happened on 9/11. After watching this 2-hour presentation, I caught myself believing what he was saying, even though somewhere in the back of my head I knew this is a conspiracy theory. It made me question: why am I still sensitive towards a conspiracy theory like this, even though I know it is not validated information? For this reason, I would like to discuss in my blog why many people believe in conspiracy theories, and what the consequences are. Are you ready to find out the truth?

Finding out the truth

Recently, conspiracy theories receive a lot more attention than in the past. Especially since the Internet became a mass medium, boundaries between the fringe and the mainstream erode (Barkun, 2016). This made it possible for computers and networked communication to make information better accessible, including conspiracy theories (Caplan & Boyd, 2016). Moreover, people nowadays are being more skeptical about the authorities (Barkun, 2016). 

For these reasons, it is important to know what conspiracy theories mean exactly. According to Barkun (2016), conspiracy theories are modes of thinking that give the impression that events are interrelated with each other. To put it in other words, conspiracy theorists believe that (elite) groups hold back important information without most people being aware of it. Conspiracy theorists claim to have special access to this special knowledge or ‘the truth’ (Barkun, 2016).

Collapse or explosion?

But first, what kind of conspiracy theories about the attacks on 9/11 do people believe? Let’s look at an example, which was presented in the theater presentation of “KomPlott”. According to George van Houts, this example specifically raised questions about how the Twin Towers collapsed. In the image below you see how the North Building of the twin towers collapsed.

Source: Foreign Policy Journal (2013)

In the presentation, George brings up a physics teacher named David Chandler. According to Chandler, if a building such as the North Tower (of the twin towers) would collapse, it should collapse vertically because of gravity. However, in the case of the North Tower, it collapsed in the shape of a flower (see image). To put it in other words, it looks like the building has collapsed from the inside out, and according to George and Chandler, that would be impossible if ‘only’ a plain drilled into the building. Based on this theory, a lot of people thought that the building must have had placed explosives inside the towers, making them believe that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job (Simensen, 2011).

In contrast to this, Simensen (2011), published a study that explains why the World Trade Center collapsed. According to Simensen (2011), ”the molten aluminum streamed down to the lower floors and came into contact with water from the sprinkler system, which caused devastating explosions” (p. 45). So you would think a study like this puts down the fuss about this specific theory right? Why is this not the case though?

Who beliefs in conspiracy theories anyway?

When looking at conspiracy theories about the attacks on 9/11, we could ask ourselves: who are the people that believe in those conspiracy theories? A study by Stempel, Hargrove, and Stempel (2007), investigated media use and the belief in three conspiracy theories about the attacks of 9/11. It was found that members of less powerful groups (e.g. racial minorities), consumers with low levels of media involvement, and consumers of less legitimate media were more likely to believe at least one of the conspiracies that were presented. On the other hand, consumers of legitimate media (e.g. daily newspapers) were less likely to believe at least one of the conspiracies that were presented.

The reason behind believing in conspiracy theories

But why are people still sensitive towards conspiracy theories, for example about 9/11, even though they may know the information is not validated by official institutions? Read and Do (2015), indicated several reasons which could explain why people tend to accept conspiracy theories. One of those reasons is that people who are in a situation that is out of their control (such as the attacks on 9/11), tend to find patterns and causal relationships that do not exist. This is also related to confirmation bias, which means that people tend to embrace information that supports what they believe in, whereas they would reject information that does not embrace their beliefs (Chamber, 2017).

Conclusion

I think we could argue that it is extremely difficult for common people to know which information that is presented on the Internet or social media, is validated or truthful. Especially in the digital revolution that we are in, more and more information is presented without gatekeepers being able to set boundaries between validated and falsified information (Barkun, 2016). Furthermore, based on my own experience, it is very easy to look up information that confirms conspiracy theories about 9/11, whereas it is quite difficult to find scientific literature that falsifies information that conspiracy theorists distribute online. So why is there so much information available about conspiracy theories, but not about scientific, and validated research?

I’m not sure if we can still stop the evolution of the distribution of conspiracy theories, but the least we can do is helping those people who are sensitive towards believing in conspiracy theories. If we could teach more people the difference between validated and falsified information, and what the value is of validated information, maybe – even some people – would be less sensitive towards believing in conspiracy theories. Therefore, I would like to argue that we should create more awareness about the danger of conspiracy theories, and the difference between validated and falsified information. If we could already make a difference for some people, I feel like it would be at least a step in the right direction. What do you think?

Reference list:

Barkun, M. (2016). Conspiracy theories as stigmatized knowledge. Diogenes, 1-7

Caplan, R., & Boyd, D. (2016). Mediation, automation, power. Paper written for workshop Who controls the public sphere in an era of algorithms?, Data & Society, New York

Chambers, C. (2017). The 7 deadly sins of psychology. A manifesto for reforming the culture of scientific practice (Chapter 1: The sin of bias). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press

KomPlot Voorstelling | George van Houts. (2019, April 9). [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmd9e0aMkGk

Read, K. W., & Do, T. C. (2015). Why do some people believe in conspiracy theories?. Scientific American Mind.

Ryan, K. (2013, September 7). Why the NIST Report on the World Trade Center Towers is False. Retrieved from https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/09/07/why-the-nist-report-on-the-world-trade-center-towers-is-false/

Simensen, C. J. (2011). Why the World Trade Center collapsed. Aluminium International Today, 23(3), 45.

Stempel, C., Hargrove, T., & Stempel III, G. H. (2007). Media use, social structure, and belief in 9/11 conspiracy theories. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 84(2), 353-372.