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This is an interesting look at how fake conspiracies with just enough fact mixed in can have a tremendous influence in politics: Where Conspiracy Reigns
For thinking 'believers' there is enough of a narrative for networks of conspiracy to have at least some internal logic, provided that the person can justify closing off their mind to anything that might challenge or contradict this narrative through a broader context or just relevant data. The whole 'fake news' trope provides a convenient cover for people to do this by simply dismissing anything that doesn't fit the conspiracy narrative, meaning they can dismiss rational analysis out of hand without even reading it.
Other than that there seems to be a visceral appeal, a more basic comparison with things that are or seem good or bad in themselves, without any thought to context beyond the immediate, along the lines of riots are bad, someone from BLM said something about this or that bad thing, so it's all bad vs Trump said some stuff that sounds like it aligns with things I agree with, therefore he is all good. This then channels into a self-reinforcing loop that divides people into 'bad' groups who need to be dealt with by the perceived 'good' groups. This kind of emotional level stuff is more insidious I think, because they only way anyone can get out of that way of looking at the world is if they make a genuine, concerted effort to educate themselves on the broader historical and social contexts and to absorb and understand perspectives they instinctively don't like, based on their own presuppositions about the world. That's a big challenge, and requires the ability and willingness to question one's own basic perceptions as well as learning to put personal experience and gut feelings into the much broader social context beyond the narrow worldview these kind of conspiracy narratives thrive in.
I think the reality is that this kind of thinking isn't going to go away. I wonder if conspiracy theorists do sometimes experience some uneasiness that perhaps it doesn't all quite add up, but it seems pretty clear that if that does happen then the effects of groupthink and the salting of most conspiracy type ideas with just enough fact to support the fiction, and the actual real-life riots and so on that appear to validate it all are enough to stop most people from following that thread to a wider and more comprehensive understanding of current events, particularly in the US where the TV news continually pushes people not to think beyond the immediate. What does all that mean for the US now? A Trump win in November will inevitably lead to an exponential escalation of the current unrest and conflict going on over there, and increasingly aggressive measures will be easy to justify in a country where many people are unwilling to look beyond the confines of the 'alternative facts' universe. People a decade or more from now will look back and question how things got so out of hand, as they inevitably will under Trump, but that consideration isn't going to alter many people's thinking in the present. It's hard to think of any way that it might end well, the only possible way out of such a mess seems to be for people to take the individual responsibility to engage seriously with real information and discussion of it, conspiracy thinking can only exist within a limited frame of reference so people could make there own way out of that, but there seems to be little appetite for that among people who buy into this stuff, which makes it seem like it is just going to continue feeding on itself.
This is an interesting look at how fake conspiracies with just enough fact mixed in can have a tremendous influence in politics: Where Conspiracy Reigns
For thinking 'believers' there is enough of a narrative for networks of conspiracy to have at least some internal logic, provided that the person can justify closing off their mind to anything that might challenge or contradict this narrative through a broader context or just relevant data. The whole 'fake news' trope provides a convenient cover for people to do this by simply dismissing anything that doesn't fit the conspiracy narrative, meaning they can dismiss rational analysis out of hand without even reading it.
Other than that there seems to be a visceral appeal, a more basic comparison with things that are or seem good or bad in themselves, without any thought to context beyond the immediate, along the lines of riots are bad, someone from BLM said something about this or that bad thing, so it's all bad vs Trump said some stuff that sounds like it aligns with things I agree with, therefore he is all good. This then channels into a self-reinforcing loop that divides people into 'bad' groups who need to be dealt with by the perceived 'good' groups. This kind of emotional level stuff is more insidious I think, because they only way anyone can get out of that way of looking at the world is if they make a genuine, concerted effort to educate themselves on the broader historical and social contexts and to absorb and understand perspectives they instinctively don't like, based on their own presuppositions about the world. That's a big challenge, and requires the ability and willingness to question one's own basic perceptions as well as learning to put personal experience and gut feelings into the much broader social context beyond the narrow worldview these kind of conspiracy narratives thrive in.
I think the reality is that this kind of thinking isn't going to go away. I wonder if conspiracy theorists do sometimes experience some uneasiness that perhaps it doesn't all quite add up, but it seems pretty clear that if that does happen then the effects of groupthink and the salting of most conspiracy type ideas with just enough fact to support the fiction, and the actual real-life riots and so on that appear to validate it all are enough to stop most people from following that thread to a wider and more comprehensive understanding of current events, particularly in the US where the TV news continually pushes people not to think beyond the immediate. What does all that mean for the US now? A Trump win in November will inevitably lead to an exponential escalation of the current unrest and conflict going on over there, and increasingly aggressive measures will be easy to justify in a country where many people are unwilling to look beyond the confines of the 'alternative facts' universe. People a decade or more from now will look back and question how things got so out of hand, as they inevitably will under Trump, but that consideration isn't going to alter many people's thinking in the present. It's hard to think of any way that it might end well, the only possible way out of such a mess seems to be for people to take the individual responsibility to engage seriously with real information and discussion of it, conspiracy thinking can only exist within a limited frame of reference so people could make there own way out of that, but there seems to be little appetite for that among people who buy into this stuff, which makes it seem like it is just going to continue feeding on itself.
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