Why conspiracies are so popular — and what we can do to stop them

What can WE do about it

In this very forum, Russia collusion posts remained upstairs while threads that turned out to be true were moved to the conspiracy section.

With that in mind, the question isn't what we can do to combat it, but why aren't we doing so?
 
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.
how we can use storytelling tools to stem the tide of misinformation..
TRANSLATION: "when no one is buying the science storytelling is the default position"

Just as I told you yesterday, these folks are professional hucksters, they will just find another way to get at the money, and you have just posted the new way.
 
TRANSLATION: "when no one is buying the science storytelling is the default position"
Like I said yesterday, these folks will just find another way to get at the money, you have just posted the new way.
Speaking of "getting at the money", its what democrats know how to do.

 
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.


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.

Was that from The Fascist Handbook?
 
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.


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.

Other Conspiracies:

Safe and Effective
Covid-19 came from a bat in the wet market and definitely not from the Wuhan Institute for Coronavirus Research
If you get the Vax you can't get or spread Covid
 

Why conspiracies are so popular​


Our 86 year old obsessive inventing another Topic as an excuse to bash Saint Donny .

Second rate Troll Bots like Bugger hate others criticising them .
They hate them so much that they want to put a halt to intelligent people exploring ideas and asking good questions .
It's berg the old style and poor man's Dictator .
 
Poor SeaSwab.............

Was Donald Trump recruited by the KGB under codename ' ...

View attachment 1146017
France 24
https://www.france24.com › ... › Shows › Truth or Fake
Mar 5, 2025 — The rumour that Donald Trump was a Soviet spy that went by the name “Agent Krasnov” has been spreading online since February, after a former KGB agent posted on Facebook.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Oh wait, you're serious? Let me laugh harder.

AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaa
:auiqs.jpg::hyper::boobies::777::badgrin::rofl::laugh::lol::clap::laugh2::eusa_dance::rock::21:
 
Poor SeaSwab.............

Was Donald Trump recruited by the KGB under codename ' ...

View attachment 1146017
France 24
https://www.france24.com › ... › Shows › Truth or Fake
Mar 5, 2025 — The rumour that Donald Trump was a Soviet spy that went by the name “Agent Krasnov” has been spreading online since February, after a former KGB agent posted on Facebook.
It's sad, that dembots have to go to tabloid shows called Truth or Fake, in France to try and come up with a conspiracy, and you wonder why you have a 19 percent approval? I guess this is what happens when American dembot propganda shows are canceled because nobody watches them
 
It's sad, that dembots have to go to tabloid shows called Truth or Fake, in France to try and come up with a conspiracy, and you wonder why you have a 19 percent approval? I guess this is what happens when American dembot propganda shows are canceled because nobody watches them

Poor Q-NUTS................

Trump Bars U.S. Reporters From Meeting With Russian ...​

1754570375541.webp
NPR
https://www.npr.org › 2017/05/11 › trump-bars-u-s-rep...
May 11, 2017 — U.S. reporters were shut out of Wednesday's meetings between President Trump, the secretary of state and the Russian foreign minster.
 
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.


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.
And these dolts bought it hook line and sinker

Trump himself was the result of the GOP lying to its base and manipulating them for votes for decades

When they finally figured that out, their reaction was Trump… who lied even worse

But they’re so used to being lied to , it just doesn’t matter to them
 
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15th post
Since when did we allow reporters into private meetings with foreign heads of state?

Interview to Tucker Carlson​

1754570852455.webp
YouTube · kremlin
2.8M+ views · 1 year ago
Vladimir Putin answered questions from Tucker Carlson, a journalist and founder of Tucker Carlson Network.
 
The ultimate irony is that Soviet RUSSIA scrambled your eggs long ago......:eusa_whistle:
Poor SeaSwab.

1754570987019.webp



Aeroflot – Russian Airlines: buy air tickets online, book and ...​

1754571046228.webp
Aeroflot
https://www.aeroflot.ru › us-en
Aeroflot official website: buy air tickets online. Up-to-date flight schedules and air ticket prices.
 

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