Beats me. Why do you ask?
Why conspiracies are so popular — and what we can do to stop them
- Thread starter berg80
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PeterPilot
Diamond Member
- Jan 17, 2023
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Is it part of our Judeo Christian Heritage? Or have we been conditioned from birth to believe nonsense like Easter Bunnies and Tooth Fairies?
luiza
Diamond Member
Time for Bugger 86 to go .
Our most inciduous Conspiracy Bore needs to retire .
Known for his pretentiousness and pomposity this Mini Mouse has had his time .
Go , Un -American Troll Bot , Go .
Any number of the Trump conspiracies/lies
C_Clayton_Jones
Diamond Member
This started long before Trump.Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, false narratives can be incredibly sticky. Many people insist that the earth is flat, that childhood vaccines cause autism, or that climate change is a hoax, despite ample scientific evidence to the contrary.
“Stories are very powerful,” said Timothy Tangherlini, a UC Berkeley professor in the Department of Scandinavian and the School of Information. “We’re much more comfortable with hearing stories that confirm our beliefs than ones that challenge them.”
Tangherlini sees narratives like these, and the many other conspiracies that are rife in today’s internet culture, as a type of modern-day folklore. As a computational folklorist, he uses AI tools to study how social media networks have accelerated the spread of conspiracies and false beliefs, and what, if anything, we can do to slow them down.
Following an election cycle dominated by conspiracies and hoaxes — from elites controlling the path of hurricanes, to 20 million missing votes for Kamala Harris and immigrants eating people’s pets — Tangherlini’s work is more relevant than ever. Berkeley News spoke with Tangherlini about why conspiratorial thinking has flourished in recent years and how we might spread stories of inclusion and truth that are powerful enough to stem the tide of false belief.
Why conspiracies are so popular — and what we can do to stop them - Berkeley News
UC Berkeley Professor Timothy Tangherlini uses lessons from folklore and AI to understand how social media fuels the spread of conspiracies, and how we can use storytelling tools to stem the tide of misinformation.news.berkeley.edu
How Do You Silence a Conspiracy Theory?
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump loved a conspiracy theory.
He started his political career by stoking the lie that President Obama was not born in the United States. By 2024, he complained, falsely, that noncitizens would vote in the November election and throw the result to Democrats. He declared on a debate stage that immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s pets. He promised to release government files on Sept. 11 and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and told Fox News that “I guess I would” release the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, too.
As president, though, he’s finding that it’s a whole lot easier to start a conspiracy theory than it is to put one to rest.
I'm not so sure calling the true believers "stupid" is going to do the trick. Chalk that comment up to the frustrations of an irritated older man who has lost control of the narrative he helped start.
They could be forgiven for expecting more details. Trump installed two vocal Epstein conspiracy theorists and right-wing media personalities, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, to run the F.B.I. after both men spent years telling their audiences there really was a there there. This spring, Attorney General Pam Bondi promised big revelations about the case that have come to nothing.
trump devotees thought, inexplicably, he could be relied on to tell the unvarnished truth when other politicians wouldn't. That their "anti-establishment" hero was one of them. IOW, he pulled off a Herculean feat of deception.
For decades conservatives have used conspiracy theories, disinformation, and lies as political weapons.
Sometimes it just takes longer for your conspiracy theories to be proven true.
And then there are those such as 'building 7' that are never abandoned completely.
There's evidence that is convincing to many Americans, showing b7 coming down before it came down.
BrokeLoser
Diamond Member
Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, false narratives can be incredibly sticky. Many people insist that the earth is flat, that childhood vaccines cause autism, or that climate change is a hoax, despite ample scientific evidence to the contrary.
“Stories are very powerful,” said Timothy Tangherlini, a UC Berkeley professor in the Department of Scandinavian and the School of Information. “We’re much more comfortable with hearing stories that confirm our beliefs than ones that challenge them.”
Tangherlini sees narratives like these, and the many other conspiracies that are rife in today’s internet culture, as a type of modern-day folklore. As a computational folklorist, he uses AI tools to study how social media networks have accelerated the spread of conspiracies and false beliefs, and what, if anything, we can do to slow them down.
Following an election cycle dominated by conspiracies and hoaxes — from elites controlling the path of hurricanes, to 20 million missing votes for Kamala Harris and immigrants eating people’s pets — Tangherlini’s work is more relevant than ever. Berkeley News spoke with Tangherlini about why conspiratorial thinking has flourished in recent years and how we might spread stories of inclusion and truth that are powerful enough to stem the tide of false belief.
Why conspiracies are so popular — and what we can do to stop them - Berkeley News
UC Berkeley Professor Timothy Tangherlini uses lessons from folklore and AI to understand how social media fuels the spread of conspiracies, and how we can use storytelling tools to stem the tide of misinformation.
How Do You Silence a Conspiracy Theory?
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump loved a conspiracy theory.
He started his political career by stoking the lie that President Obama was not born in the United States. By 2024, he complained, falsely, that noncitizens would vote in the November election and throw the result to Democrats. He declared on a debate stage that immigrants in Ohio were eating people’s pets. He promised to release government files on Sept. 11 and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and told Fox News that “I guess I would” release the government’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, too.
As president, though, he’s finding that it’s a whole lot easier to start a conspiracy theory than it is to put one to rest.
I'm not so sure calling the true believers "stupid" is going to do the trick. Chalk that comment up to the frustrations of an irritated older man who has lost control of the narrative he helped start.
They could be forgiven for expecting more details. Trump installed two vocal Epstein conspiracy theorists and right-wing media personalities, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, to run the F.B.I. after both men spent years telling their audiences there really was a there there. This spring, Attorney General Pam Bondi promised big revelations about the case that have come to nothing.
trump devotees thought, inexplicably, he could be relied on to tell the unvarnished truth when other politicians wouldn't. That their "anti-establishment" hero was one of them. IOW, he pulled off a Herculean feat of deception.
Remember when that fat disgusting slob and leftist darling Michael Moore rolled out Fahrenheit 911….All libs were conspiracy theorists…hahaha
g5000
Diamond Member
- Nov 26, 2011
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"I want to bleev it, so it must be true!"
What we have today is a complete lack of critical thinking skills.
Critical thinking should be at the top of the list of what needs to be added to the curricula of every school.
Critical thinking is the bane of every asshole who hatches a conspiracy theory.
Like I have been saying, a blowjob in the Oval Office couldn't even be kept a secret.
Here's the thing about conspiracy theories.
The initial phase of a conspiracy theory is amateurish and full of holes. So an additional layer has to be added. Then more holes are exposed, and more layers have to be added. The wider and broader the scope of a conspiracy theory gets, the more eternally silent bad actors are required to be involved to make the bullshit theory cohesive.
At that point, the required number of co-conspirators reaches a critical mass where the odds of someone breaking the silence approaches 100 percent.
Think 9/11 Truthers. The first Truther video was incredibly amateurish and was torn to shreds. So they issued a second video. Then a third revision. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. And so on.
Think chemtrails. Think fake moon landings.
Each would require thousands, if not tens of thousands, of co-conspirators, thus making these myths impossible to believe.
In a true conspiracy like Watergate, we see where just a few dozen conspirators resulted in the whole facade collapsing due to the inability to keep everyone quiet.
And here is where we need to apply Occam's Razor to the Epstein Files.
A) Democrats and Republicans and Biden and Trump and countless members of the Deep Stait and the FBI, and god knows who else, would have to be involved in hiding/concealing/shredding a file with a list of celebrities and politicians who visited Epstein's island or other properties to have sex with kids. Trump had the list the first time he was president and hid it. Biden had the list and hid it. Trump has it again and is hiding it. Now we have a new layer added on by Trump that Obama and Comey and Biden wrote a fake list of pedophiles with his name on it.
or
B) Idiot Pam Bondi lied.
The Epstein Files are a hoax.
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Independent thinker
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Posting anti-Trump threads every day only shows that you don't have anything of value to contribute ........... again.
- Sep 16, 2012
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pknopp
Diamond Member
- Jul 22, 2019
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You dont doctor a video, trot out statements that you have the lists in hand and then claim there is nothing there.
If there is a conspiracy, it's flamed by the one now condemning it.
You're a prime example Q-NUT.
Mac1958
Diamond Member
The problem is the receptive audience. They create the demand.
There are people who think Qanon is real, that pro wrestling is real, that the earth is flat, that Donald Trump is wonderful, brilliant, strong, honest, moral. I'm not sure how, but believing that stuff satisfies something in them.
They are manipulable and susceptible to flawed information. And when a juicy conspiracy theory comes along that fits and tickles their disordered worldview, they're all in. They fully believe it immediately and without question.
This particular group is now greatly empowered. To (once again) quote another poster, Trump took one look at the talk radio crowd and said, "THIS is gonna be EASY".
There are people who think Qanon is real, that pro wrestling is real, that the earth is flat, that Donald Trump is wonderful, brilliant, strong, honest, moral. I'm not sure how, but believing that stuff satisfies something in them.
They are manipulable and susceptible to flawed information. And when a juicy conspiracy theory comes along that fits and tickles their disordered worldview, they're all in. They fully believe it immediately and without question.
This particular group is now greatly empowered. To (once again) quote another poster, Trump took one look at the talk radio crowd and said, "THIS is gonna be EASY".
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Trump shares barrage of QAnon content and other ...
NBC News
https://www.nbcnews.com › politics › donald-trump › t...
Aug 30, 2022 — Former President Donald Trump spent Tuesday morning posting inflammatory messages on social media, including many explicitly promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.
In one, he reposted the QAnon slogan — “Where We Go One We Go All.” In another, he re-posted a 2017 message from “Q” that’s critical of the intelligence community.
The QAnon conspiracy theory was built around Q, an anonymous account that posts periodically on 8kun, often with vague or symbolic language that is then interpreted by followers.
The account claims to document a secret battle being waged by Trump against the Democratic Party, which followers of the theory contend is run by satanic, child-eating cannibals who run a pedophile ring filled with celebrities and political elites who have been covertly running the United States government for decades.
Trump shares social media posts with QAnon phrases and ...
AP News
https://apnews.com › article › trump-social-media-cons...
Aug 28, 2024 — Donald Trump shared more than a dozen posts on his social media network that call for the trial or jailing of his foes, including House lawmakers who investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol, special counsel Jack Smith and others, along with images that reference the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Trump reposted a doctored image that was made to look like President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in orange prison jumpsuits, among other political figures, and a lewd post about Harris and Clinton that referenced a sex act. One post seemed to suggest former President Barack Obama should be tried in a military court.
Turns out the "Deep State", Trump always talking about was HIM.
Like I've stated for years.
luiza
Diamond Member
Troll Bot Bugger 86 is one of that breed who try to discredit all Questioners , and , in doing so, become the most extreme of Conspiracy Theorists themselves .
Bugger 86 and his ilk almost have a clinically based negative reaction to any narrative which does not fit in with the official / establishment or Main Stream ones.
As usual it reflects Cognitive Rigidity --- a character weakness ---though in this instance the weekly pocket money might be at risk
the watcher
Diamond Member
"Conspiracy theories" exist to fill the void where the narrative isn't supported by the facts. Like someone said, when 2 buildings fall within their own footprint, and another one just falls out of sympathetic stress. Stuff like that. What alternative is there? Coincidence theories? It also speaks loudly of the current lack of trust in this government and is supported by its history.
Nah dembot, I never believed those hoaxes
Haha what doctored video?
Trump said they’d make the file public
Attorney General Pamela Bondi Releases First Phase of Declassified Epstein Files
Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), declassified and publicly released files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his sexual exploitation of over 250 underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida, among other...
They did
OODA_Loop
Account Terminated
Y2K
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