THE CONCEPTS OF SELECTIVE PERCEPTION, ATTENTION AND RECALL AND HOW THAT RELATES TO CONSPIRACY THEORIES LIKE THE INFAMOUS PAUL McCARTNEY DEATH RUMOR FROM 1969
Have you ever wondered how rumors get started and are perpetuated?
Well, picture how political differences are portrayed by different media outlets. The same event that you may be watching (a political speech for example) can be interpreted in vastly different ways depending on if the media outlet has a conservative or liberal leaning.
Paul Is Dead?
Well, the same type of psychology can be applied to the study of rumor and how those rumors are spread and perpetuated. The Beatles in 1969 became the subject of one of those rumors when a college student claimed that both album visual clues and audio song clues pointed to Paul McCartney passing away in a 1966 car crash.
I can remember vividly in late ’69, being a young teenager and participating in the hunt for so-called clues that would verify this bizarre theory.
Keep in mind that much of this speculation is tied to the concepts of selective perception, attention, and recall. You have a theory or belief that you hold in your mind and then you selectively pay attention to information that backs up or supports your belief. Conversely, you ignore anything that would disprove or discredit the belief you hold. These concepts help to understand why conspiracy theories have become so prevalent in our society as more people decide to pick and choose the information available that supports their preconceived notions and beliefs and they choose to ignore the information that discredits their beliefs.
The Paul Is Dead Rumor
I will use this opportunity with the Paul is dead rumor to hopefully demonstrate how selective perception operates in the finding of so-called clues.
Someone came up with the idea of holding a strait-edged mirror to the Sgt Pepper drum on the cover of the album (see photo above). By doing so they were able to look in the mirror and see the message I ONE I X HE DIE with an arrow pointing up to the blue-clad, Paul. The I ONE I was said to represent the total of the other three Beatles-3. and the X was said to represent X-ing the 4th individual out of the picture. You can see how many see this as being outlandish and far-fetched.
However, if you have your mind set on believing the theory, you seek out things such as this to support the theory and you ignore things that may dispute the theory. People that supported this rumor would seek out photos of Paul where he did not conform in some way with the other Beatles like the out-of-step Paul on the Abbey Road cover photo.
However, photos of the other three Beatles non-conforming would be ignored or not addressed as they would not be applicable to the rumor in question.
Here is another photo used by the Paul is Dead theorists (above). The picture on the left is a banquet scene from the Magical Mystery Tour booklet. This scene supposedly does not appear in the movie. The theorists in their typical bizarre antics, turned the photo to the side and were able to see a skull giving support to the Beatles providing death imagery in their albums.
These images represent only a few of the many so-called clues discovered to prove the rumor!
Truth?
I do not believe in this rumor but I have to admit it was somewhat eerie to spend time with friends to see if we could find another clue to support the rumor back in 1969, as young kids. Hopefully, when you now see a conspiracy theory proposed, that you take a look at the full picture and examine the total amount of information being provided and what is being disclosed, and what is not. That can help us get a far more accurate picture of what constitutes the TRUTH!!!
The Last Laugh?
To bring a smile to your face after this discussion, the end result of this rumor was that record sales for the Abbey Road LP and all of the post-66 Beatles albums soared, as people fall prey to the notion of discovering another hidden Beatles message. The laugh turned out to be on all of us either directly or indirectly! I am sure John Paul, George, and Ringo all enjoyed their trips to the bank that summer!!!
What was your favorite “Paul Is Dead” clue? Let me know in the comments below.
Buzz
