Page 32 - EM_late_dec_2018_Neat

32 I See Conspiracies

Conspiracy theories:

Here's what drives people
to them, no matter how

wacky

Continued from Page 31

"After 54 years, you say, 'Where’s the deathbed
confession?'" Posner said of the Kennedy
assassination. "Where’s the guilty person with a
guilty conscience who comes out? Where’s the
diary that’s been left by somebody that has now
been unearthed?
"Are there some out there that we never
found out about? I’m sure," Posner said. "But at
the level of assassinating the president of the
United States, with the level of complexity and
the number of people that would have had to
have been involved, for that to have worked?
No."
The long-awaited release this year of of people who actually believe in them has America's 10 most popular
nearly 2,900 previously classified records increased due to social media," said van conspiracy theories
related to the Kennedy assassination also failed Prooijen, adding that people believed in
to produce any evidence of a conspiracy to kill conspiracies in huge numbers long before the
the president. But a few documents remain arrival of Facebook and Twitter. Many unproven conspiracy theories exist
classified, which is more than enough mystery But van Prooijen and Oliver think those with varying degrees of popularity,
to keep the conspiracy theories around the sites, as well as anonymous platforms like frequently related to clandestine government
assassination alive. 4Chan, have increased the number of plans and elaborate murder plots. Conspiracy
conspiracy theories out there and allowed them theories usually deny consensus or cannot be
An act of faith to spread more quickly. proven using the historical or scientific
"It was harder to get conspiracy theories method and are not to be confused with
The absence of evidence never got in the way of to your doorstep 50 years ago than it is now," research concerning verified conspiracies
such as Germany's pretense for invading
a good conspiracy theory. No matter how said Oliver. Poland in World War II.
unlikely a given imagined conspiracy, and no A person who might have been handing
matter how many facts are produced to disprove out fliers on a street corner to get their ideas out Top 10 American Conspiracies theories are:
it, the true believers never budge. in the past might have 200,000 followers on
For example, even when Obama social media today, Oliver said.
1. Secret Group Controlling World
released his birth certificate many "birthers" 2. President Obama Wasn’t Born in the U.S.
were still certain he was not a natural-born So, what's the harm?
and May Be a Secret Muslim
American citizen. The fact that multitudes of 3. The Attacks on 9/11 Were an Inside Job
horrified people witnessed the planes fly into Irrational conspiracy theories can lead people to 4. Lizard People aka “Reptilians” Are
the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, hasn't not vaccinate their children, to deny the Running the World
stopped conspiracy theorists from insisting the scientific evidence of climate change or to 5. JFK Assassination
towers collapsed because of a controlled dismiss mass shootings like the one at Sandy 6. Aliens Are Contacting Us
demolition. Hook Elementary as "false flag" operations
And what do you say to the people who meant to spur gun control. 7. The Moon Landing Was Faked
still aren't convinced we went to the moon or A wildly irrational conspiracy theory 8. FDA is Withholding the Cure for Cancer
9. Chemtrails
that the Earth is flat? that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was 10. The Holocaust Did Not Happen
"I’ve learned that is there no such thing connected to a child-sex ring that was being run
as evidence that persuades a conspiracy out of a Washington pizza shop even led to a Why do people believe in conspiracy
theorist," Posner said. "It’s sort of a psycho- man opening fire in the restaurant with a semi- theories?
religious belief, in part. They just know it’s true automatic rifle. Fortunately, he shot at the First of all, it’s not just a few loners on
even if they can’t quite prove it." ceiling and not the patrons. the internet—prior research indicates that
Van Prooijen also called conspiracy Van Prooijen believes such
theories a "form of belief." conspiratorial thinking can undermine half the American public believes in at least
one conspiracy theory in any given year.
"It doesn’t matter how much evidence to democracy because it sows distrust and leads to
Political scientists Eric Oliver and
the contrary you raise, these hardcore groups perceiving each other as enemies. Thomas Wood, who studied the subject,
conspiracy theories will discredit the source of Oliver does not believe conspiracy defined a conspiracy theory as “an
the evidence," van Prooijen said. "It’s very easy theories have a major impact on politics as explanation that makes reference to hidden,
to dismiss evidence as being part of the much as they are symptomatic of problems with malevolent forces seeking to advance some
conspiracy, being part of the coverup. So it’s the political system. nefarious aim.” A conspiracy theory does not
very hard to disprove a conspiracy theory." "It’s less about the conspiracy theories
themselves and it’s more about kind of the flight have to be untrue, but it is sure to contradict
the usual, popularly-accepted version of the
Is social media making it worse? from reason in political discourse," he said. same event or phenomena.
"American democracy is a product of the
Once a conspiracy theory becomes
Enlightenment, it’s a very explicitly rationalist
Social media is often the scapegoat for many of the accepted explanation, it stops being a
enterprise."
contemporary civilization's ills, but surprisingly conspiracy theory and becomes a fact of
there is not yet evidence it is increasing the history. This certainly is one reason people
And if people reject rationality to embrace what
number of conspiracy theory adherents. continue to believe—they hope their views
they believe over what they can prove, that
"I’m not yet persuaded that the number will eventually be proven right. []
Democratic enterprise could begin to unravel. []