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Important point here: groupthink can be functionally identical to conspiracy, even without explicit communication or coordination. There are a lot of people in

Important point here: groupthink can be functionally identical to conspiracy, even without explicit communication or coordination. There are a lot of people in media who hate Facebook because as a new medium it's killing their own business model. This creates a cognitive bias in which they'll be hyper-aware of anything bad about Facebook and oblivious to anything good, which is reflected in what they write. There are others in tech who have a similar bias. For example, anyone at Google probably hears lots of messages distinguishing between the two and portraying Google as the good twin. Then all of these factions feed on each others' signals that such views are virtuous. The net result is a massive piling-on equivalent to conspiracy, even though there isn't a literal one.

Flenser 8y ago
There's even a term for this, Stand Alone Complex: > Accidental collectivism made up of detached individuals, resembling a highly organized conspiracy and lacking a deliberate origin. The stand alone complex is from Ghost in the Shell. — https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stand%20alone%20complex https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stand%20alon... More here: http://ghostintheshell.wikia.com/wiki/Philosophy http://ghostintheshell.wikia.com/wiki/Philosophy See Also: There Is No Cabal: > There Is No Cabal is a catchphrase used on Usenet. Its common abbreviation, TINC, is used humorously to suggest that people should lighten up and not see a conspiracy around every corner. It is alternatively used as a pseudo-ironic statement, since presumably an insider or someone who knows "the cabal" would inevitably deny that there is a cabal. It was used extensively by members of the backbone cabal. — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_No_Cabal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_No_Cabal
- notacoward 8y ago
  Never heard of Stand Alone Complex. Thanks! I had heard of TINC, having been active on Usenet at the time. I remember it a bit differently, more like "it doesn't matter if there's a cabal" perhaps, but then I probably hung out in different cliques and every one had its own flavor.

Flenser 8y ago

There's even a term for this, Stand Alone Complex: > Accidental collectivism made up of detached individuals, resembling a highly organized conspiracy and lacking a deliberate origin. The stand alone complex is from Ghost in the Shell. — https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stand%20alone%20complex https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stand%20alon... More here: http://ghostintheshell.wikia.com/wiki/Philosophy http://ghostintheshell.wikia.com/wiki/Philosophy See Also: There Is No Cabal: > There Is No Cabal is a catchphrase used on Usenet. Its common abbreviation, TINC, is used humorously to suggest that people should lighten up and not see a conspiracy around every corner. It is alternatively used as a pseudo-ironic statement, since presumably an insider or someone who knows "the cabal" would inevitably deny that there is a cabal. It was used extensively by members of the backbone cabal. — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_No_Cabal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Is_No_Cabal

notacoward 8y ago
Never heard of Stand Alone Complex. Thanks! I had heard of TINC, having been active on Usenet at the time. I remember it a bit differently, more like "it doesn't matter if there's a cabal" perhaps, but then I probably hung out in different cliques and every one had its own flavor.