Are we living in a golden age of conspiracy theories?

[ABikerSailor]

They've existed before the internet, photocopies, various books about the Kennedy assassination, UFOs, etc.

They existed in the 90s and early 2000s in the form of emails.

The thing is now some state entities have figured out that they can weaponize this stuff.

You're right, stuff like that did exist before the internet. However, it's much easier and faster to get them out with the 'net than it is without it.

And could you tell us as a fact it's not true?


.

Probably for most things, because I've been a lot of places, and seen a lot of things, so I'm pretty confident I could figure out if something was true or a conspiracy theory.

You haven't seen anything yet

That is your opinion. Over the course of my life thus far, I have been to 49 different states (only missing Alaska), and have been to 26 different countries. I have seen many different people and learned quite a bit from all those experiences.

 

[Meathead]

Interesting article, worth a read:


Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute

Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute
“Democracy requires a minimum amount of mutual trust among citizens, and conspiracism destroys it.”

Are we living in a golden age of conspiracy theories?

That’s the argument Harvard politics professor Nancy L. Rosenblum makes in her new book, A Lot of People Are Saying. And it’s not merely that conspiracy theories are thriving — they’re also getting more absurd, less substantive, and harder to refute.

In fact, what we’re seeing now, according to Rosenblum and her co-author Russell Muirhead, is more “conspiracism” and less theory. Which is to say, the purpose of conspiracy theories is no longer to explain reality or offer some account of the world; instead, the point is to erode trust in public figures or institutions.

She points to the recent Pizzagate conspiracy as a perfect example. This was a fake news story alleging that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, DC. It was totally fabricated, but it proliferated enough online that a man eventually showed up at the restaurant with an assault rifle and fired at least one shot.

Rosenblum believes this new form of conspiracism amounts to a direct attack on the foundations of liberal democracy and what she calls “knowledge-producing institutions.” As conspiracism takes root in our politics, she says, we lose our capacity to deliberate about the direction of the country. And ultimately, democracy itself becomes impossible.

Maybe you're too young or too ill-informed to remember the aftermath of 9/11.

 

[Natural Citizen]

I'm not gonna give Vox any traffic so I'll just contend that opinions vary.

Here's a nice article from Reader's Digest....

12 Crazy Conspiracy Theories That Actually Turned Out to Be True

 

[Coyote]

Interesting article, worth a read:


Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute

Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute
“Democracy requires a minimum amount of mutual trust among citizens, and conspiracism destroys it.”

Are we living in a golden age of conspiracy theories?

That’s the argument Harvard politics professor Nancy L. Rosenblum makes in her new book, A Lot of People Are Saying. And it’s not merely that conspiracy theories are thriving — they’re also getting more absurd, less substantive, and harder to refute.

In fact, what we’re seeing now, according to Rosenblum and her co-author Russell Muirhead, is more “conspiracism” and less theory. Which is to say, the purpose of conspiracy theories is no longer to explain reality or offer some account of the world; instead, the point is to erode trust in public figures or institutions.

She points to the recent Pizzagate conspiracy as a perfect example. This was a fake news story alleging that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, DC. It was totally fabricated, but it proliferated enough online that a man eventually showed up at the restaurant with an assault rifle and fired at least one shot.

Rosenblum believes this new form of conspiracism amounts to a direct attack on the foundations of liberal democracy and what she calls “knowledge-producing institutions.” As conspiracism takes root in our politics, she says, we lose our capacity to deliberate about the direction of the country. And ultimately, democracy itself becomes impossible.

Maybe you're too young or too ill-informed to remember the aftermath of 9/11.

If you think it has not gotten worse, then you are truly uninformed. Or maybe you just need to pull your head out of your ass and look around.

 

[Meathead]

Interesting article, worth a read:


Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute

Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute
“Democracy requires a minimum amount of mutual trust among citizens, and conspiracism destroys it.”

Are we living in a golden age of conspiracy theories?

That’s the argument Harvard politics professor Nancy L. Rosenblum makes in her new book, A Lot of People Are Saying. And it’s not merely that conspiracy theories are thriving — they’re also getting more absurd, less substantive, and harder to refute.

In fact, what we’re seeing now, according to Rosenblum and her co-author Russell Muirhead, is more “conspiracism” and less theory. Which is to say, the purpose of conspiracy theories is no longer to explain reality or offer some account of the world; instead, the point is to erode trust in public figures or institutions.

She points to the recent Pizzagate conspiracy as a perfect example. This was a fake news story alleging that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, DC. It was totally fabricated, but it proliferated enough online that a man eventually showed up at the restaurant with an assault rifle and fired at least one shot.

Rosenblum believes this new form of conspiracism amounts to a direct attack on the foundations of liberal democracy and what she calls “knowledge-producing institutions.” As conspiracism takes root in our politics, she says, we lose our capacity to deliberate about the direction of the country. And ultimately, democracy itself becomes impossible.

Maybe you're too young or too ill-informed to remember the aftermath of 9/11.

If you think it has not gotten worse, then you are truly uninformed. Or maybe you just need to pull your head out of your ass and look around.

Yes. It really was Bush and Cheney who orchestrated 9/11, and your head is still where it was then. Just stupid. We;re talking JoeB levels here.

 

[Coyote]

Interesting article, worth a read:


Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute

Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute
“Democracy requires a minimum amount of mutual trust among citizens, and conspiracism destroys it.”

Are we living in a golden age of conspiracy theories?

That’s the argument Harvard politics professor Nancy L. Rosenblum makes in her new book, A Lot of People Are Saying. And it’s not merely that conspiracy theories are thriving — they’re also getting more absurd, less substantive, and harder to refute.

In fact, what we’re seeing now, according to Rosenblum and her co-author Russell Muirhead, is more “conspiracism” and less theory. Which is to say, the purpose of conspiracy theories is no longer to explain reality or offer some account of the world; instead, the point is to erode trust in public figures or institutions.

She points to the recent Pizzagate conspiracy as a perfect example. This was a fake news story alleging that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, DC. It was totally fabricated, but it proliferated enough online that a man eventually showed up at the restaurant with an assault rifle and fired at least one shot.

Rosenblum believes this new form of conspiracism amounts to a direct attack on the foundations of liberal democracy and what she calls “knowledge-producing institutions.” As conspiracism takes root in our politics, she says, we lose our capacity to deliberate about the direction of the country. And ultimately, democracy itself becomes impossible.

Maybe you're too young or too ill-informed to remember the aftermath of 9/11.

If you think it has not gotten worse, then you are truly uninformed. Or maybe you just need to pull your head out of your ass and look around.

Yes. It really was Bush and Cheney who orchestrated 9/11, and your head is still where it was then. Just stupid. We;re talking JoeB levels here.

I don’t think you have a clue. Seriously. None of those conspiracy theories gained mainstream acceptance. Their proponents were marginalized along with the chemtrailers and laughed at by the mainstream. No one took a gun and tried to shoot anyone over it like the pizza place ct. I would think that even YOU would have to acknowledge the growth and influence of social media since 9/11...coming up on 20 years.

 

[sparky]

I'm not gonna give Vox any traffic so I'll just contend that opinions vary.

Here's a nice article from Reader's Digest....

12 Crazy Conspiracy Theories That Actually Turned Out to Be True

I could probably add another dozen NC

But i can't help but ask...are they lying to us.....or are we lying to ourselves

???

~S~

 

[Meathead]

Interesting article, worth a read:


Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute

Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute
“Democracy requires a minimum amount of mutual trust among citizens, and conspiracism destroys it.”

Are we living in a golden age of conspiracy theories?

That’s the argument Harvard politics professor Nancy L. Rosenblum makes in her new book, A Lot of People Are Saying. And it’s not merely that conspiracy theories are thriving — they’re also getting more absurd, less substantive, and harder to refute.

In fact, what we’re seeing now, according to Rosenblum and her co-author Russell Muirhead, is more “conspiracism” and less theory. Which is to say, the purpose of conspiracy theories is no longer to explain reality or offer some account of the world; instead, the point is to erode trust in public figures or institutions.

She points to the recent Pizzagate conspiracy as a perfect example. This was a fake news story alleging that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, DC. It was totally fabricated, but it proliferated enough online that a man eventually showed up at the restaurant with an assault rifle and fired at least one shot.

Rosenblum believes this new form of conspiracism amounts to a direct attack on the foundations of liberal democracy and what she calls “knowledge-producing institutions.” As conspiracism takes root in our politics, she says, we lose our capacity to deliberate about the direction of the country. And ultimately, democracy itself becomes impossible.

Maybe you're too young or too ill-informed to remember the aftermath of 9/11.

If you think it has not gotten worse, then you are truly uninformed. Or maybe you just need to pull your head out of your ass and look around.

Yes. It really was Bush and Cheney who orchestrated 9/11, and your head is still where it was then. Just stupid. We;re talking JoeB levels here.

I don’t think you have a clue. Seriously. None of those conspiracy theories gained mainstream acceptance. Their proponents were marginalized along with the chemtrailers and laughed at by the mainstream. No one took a gun and tried to shoot anyone over it like the pizza place ct. I would think that even YOU would have to acknowledge the growth and influence of social media since 9/11...coming up on 20 years.

There are some dialogues too stupid to be had. This is one of them.

 

[Olde Europe]

There are some dialogues too stupid to be had. This is one of them.

Arguably, that's true.

Remember, the thesis is, we're living in a "golden age of conspiracy theories".

Your counter, insults stripped, reads: There were conspiracy theories after 9/11.

Your failure to recognize this isn't even the beginnings of a valid argument doesn't help this dialogue. Your finding the 9/11 truthers outrageous doesn't make 2001/2 a golden age, and neither does it make these days NOT a golden age of conspiracy theories.

So, how would we recognize a golden age of conspiracy theories? Here's what I would propose:

1. Conspiracy theories are spreading faster and wider.

2. It's increasingly difficult to disabuse believers of their delusions.

3. Institutional promulgation of disinformation (including conspiracy theories) grows stronger, reaches a wider audience.

4. Institutions generating counter-arguments (establishing facts) are being undermined, grow weaker, increasingly tend to be not believed.

5. High profile public officials more frequently, and with increasing vigor and success, originate or amplify conspiracy theories.

Now, if many or all of the above could be shown to be true, the "golden age" thesis cannot safely be rejected.

I would call special attention to points 3 and 5. On the former, this is an informative read. The father of the Willie Horton ad is still at it, ratfúcking, slandering, hate-speaking, and conspiracy theorizing. Currently he is in a brawl with FaceShit over "censorship".

On the latter (point 5), in no particular order:

1. The Democrats created an invasion at the southern border in search for new voters, including inviting in thousands of jihadists.

2. The Fed is trying to stifle and destroy my economy.

3. The Dems are trying to 'will' a bad economy to win in 2020.

4. Climate change is a Chinese hoax in order to undermine the U.S. economy.

5. The election is being rigged against me.

6. There was a deep state coup against my presidency.

7. Mueller and his angry Democrats are the spear head of said deep state conspiracy.

... just for starters. I certainly have never seen anything like it before.

 

[Olde Europe]

But i can't help but ask...are they lying to us.....or are we lying to ourselves

Are the two mutually exclusive? A well-crafted conspiracy theory is a lie that helps conspiracy-theory-minded nitwits to lie to themselves.

 

[Meathead]

There are some dialogues too stupid to be had. This is one of them.

Arguably, that's true.

Remember, the thesis is, we're living in a "golden age of conspiracy theories".

Your counter, insults stripped, reads: There were conspiracy theories after 9/11.

Your failure to recognize this isn't even the beginnings of a valid argument doesn't help this dialogue. Your finding the 9/11 truthers outrageous doesn't make 2001/2 a golden age, and neither does it make these days NOT a golden age of conspiracy theories.

So, how would we recognize a golden age of conspiracy theories? Here's what I would propose:

1. Conspiracy theories are spreading faster and wider.

2. It's increasingly difficult to disabuse believers of their delusions.

3. Institutional promulgation of disinformation (including conspiracy theories) grows stronger, reaches a wider audience.

4. Institutions generating counter-arguments (establishing facts) are being undermined, grow weaker, increasingly tend to be not believed.

5. High profile public officials more frequently, and with increasing vigor and success, originate or amplify conspiracy theories.

Now, if many or all of the above could be shown to be true, the "golden age" thesis cannot safely be rejected.

I would call special attention to points 3 and 5. On the former, this is an informative read. The father of the Willie Horton ad is still at it, ratfúcking, slandering, hate-speaking, and conspiracy theorizing. Currently he is in a brawl with FaceShit over "censorship".

On the latter (point 5), in no particular order:

1. The Democrats created an invasion at the southern border in search for new voters, including inviting in thousands of jihadists.

2. The Fed is trying to stifle and destroy my economy.

3. The Dems are trying to 'will' a bad economy to win in 2020.

4. Climate change is a Chinese hoax in order to undermine the U.S. economy.

5. The election is being rigged against me.

6. There was a deep state coup against my presidency.

7. Mueller and his angry Democrats are the spear head of said deep state conspiracy.

... just for starters. I certainly have never seen anything like it before.

Is there a point to this? The conspiracy theories spawned by dingbats after 9/11 have no equal in history in either scale or bizarreness. The CT of the last few years pale in comparison.

 

[Olde Europe]

The conspiracy theories spawned by dingbats after 9/11 have no equal in history in either scale or bizarreness. The CT of the last few years pale in comparison.

As stated before, the level of your outrage about a conspiracy theory doesn't prove a thing, most assuredly not "scale". It just proves you are easily agitated.

(Dis-) Proving there is a "golden age" is a task of a caliber you apparently cannot fathom, and pointing to 9/11, even repeatedly, completely fails even to address the question, much less answers it.

 

[Meathead]

The conspiracy theories spawned by dingbats after 9/11 have no equal in history in either scale or bizarreness. The CT of the last few years pale in comparison.

As stated before, the level of your outrage about a conspiracy theory doesn't prove a thing, most assuredly not "scale". It just proves you are easily agitated.

(Dis-) Proving there is a "golden age" is a task of a caliber you apparently cannot fathom, and pointing to 9/11, even repeatedly, completely fails even to address the question, much less answers it.

WTF are you talking about? I was not the OP.

As I said before, there are some dialogues which are pointless. Happens on the internet not infrequently.

 

[sparky]

But i can't help but ask...are they lying to us.....or are we lying to ourselves

Are the two mutually exclusive? A well-crafted conspiracy theory is a lie that helps conspiracy-theory-minded nitwits to lie to themselves.

the best of them are in plain sight, the 'elephant in the room'

jhmo....

~S~

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Interesting article, worth a read:


Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute

Why conspiracy theories are getting more absurd and harder to refute
“Democracy requires a minimum amount of mutual trust among citizens, and conspiracism destroys it.”

Are we living in a golden age of conspiracy theories?

That’s the argument Harvard politics professor Nancy L. Rosenblum makes in her new book, A Lot of People Are Saying. And it’s not merely that conspiracy theories are thriving — they’re also getting more absurd, less substantive, and harder to refute.

In fact, what we’re seeing now, according to Rosenblum and her co-author Russell Muirhead, is more “conspiracism” and less theory. Which is to say, the purpose of conspiracy theories is no longer to explain reality or offer some account of the world; instead, the point is to erode trust in public figures or institutions.

She points to the recent Pizzagate conspiracy as a perfect example. This was a fake news story alleging that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring in the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, DC. It was totally fabricated, but it proliferated enough online that a man eventually showed up at the restaurant with an assault rifle and fired at least one shot.

Rosenblum believes this new form of conspiracism amounts to a direct attack on the foundations of liberal democracy and what she calls “knowledge-producing institutions.” As conspiracism takes root in our politics, she says, we lose our capacity to deliberate about the direction of the country. And ultimately, democracy itself becomes impossible.

Maybe you're too young or too ill-informed to remember the aftermath of 9/11.

If you think it has not gotten worse, then you are truly uninformed. Or maybe you just need to pull your head out of your ass and look around.

Yes. It really was Bush and Cheney who orchestrated 9/11, and your head is still where it was then. Just stupid. We;re talking JoeB levels here.

I don’t think you have a clue. Seriously. None of those conspiracy theories gained mainstream acceptance. Their proponents were marginalized along with the chemtrailers and laughed at by the mainstream. No one took a gun and tried to shoot anyone over it like the pizza place ct. I would think that even YOU would have to acknowledge the growth and influence of social media since 9/11...coming up on 20 years.

with a name like MEATHEAD,of course he doesnt have a clue.

INCREDIBLY.,He is still brainwashed over the lies and propaganda of the corporate media and our corrupt school system that reagan was one of the greatest presidents ever.

people who STILL after all these years who still think that are incapable of critical thiniking,they cant come to terms with reality their hero was a mass murderer and took a shit on the constitution worse than any president before then,even worse than Nixon which was an INCREDIBLE feat the kind of atrocities he committed as president and i am not talking about watergate which pales in camparison to his crimes he committed against humanity that Reagan ALSO was guilty for.

If you think it has not gotten worse, then you are truly uninformed. Or maybe you just need to pull your head out of your ass and look around.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Ever been called a “conspiracy theorist”? Ever wonder where that term came from?

In 1976 the New York Times obtained a document they requested via the Freedom of Information Act.

This document was a C.I.A. Dispatch labeled “psych” for “psychological operations” that was distributed in 1967, indicating they coined the phrase “conspiracy theory” and “conspiracy theorists” to attack anyone who challenged the official narrative from the Warren Commission. It also has a CS indicated on it, which stands for “clandestine services” unit.

I remember hearing Kennedy wanted to abolish them

~S~

yep,who can forget his speech he made after the CIA lied and with held details to him about the invasion knowing full well the way they had it planned the invasion would fail. who can forget the famous statement he made afterwards that he would split the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the four winds? that got back to the CIA and they made sure he was not around to follow through on that.

same as how it was well known back then and been proven now that after he got reelected,he was going to pull troops out of vietnam,its also true that after he got reelected,he was going to follow through on his plans to abolish the CIA as well.

He was the last GREAT president we had, a patriot who faught for and looked out for the america people. the country has gone downhill and been a mess ever since then.

He was on the verge of returning us to the constitution of the united states where the PEOPLE had control over the government instead of all these corporations that do now that run it.

there will never be another president anything like him again.