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Point of Information: the phrase "conspiracy theorist" was developed and fielded by the CIA as a counterintelligence effort. Among other tactics, they wished t

Point of Information: the phrase "conspiracy theorist" was developed and fielded by the CIA as a counterintelligence effort. Among other tactics, they wished to be able to use the term as a dismissal of anyone who got information about their real operations. This is very well documented, and is common among intel agencies of many countries. It is also well documented, that the CIA and others (KGB etc.), have intentionally spread disinformation, from AIDS to Apollo hoaxes, in the same channel as (limited) legitimate information. This tactic is called "poisoning the well," the limited real info is a "limited hangout." If you put those terms into any search, youll find reams of documents detailing examples. Usually, these are the actions of some foreign service, analysed and released for the public service. When the author began to align obviously false information with more credible things, what he is seeing are these intentional networks of lies that our own services have created. These things are not organic. He identifies common psychological features in these posters, because the intel agencies strongly select based on personality. Also, how many of the accounts he investigated are bots? Was he able to prove that real individual people were doing this? Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Its been debunked already!

JoeSmithson 6y ago
> "Point of Information: the phrase "conspiracy theorist" was developed and fielded by the CIA as a counterintelligence effort." Why do you think this? I had never heard this before, and to be honest it immediately gave off whacko vibes, so I Googled it and found this article that says it is false - https://theconversation.com/theres-a-conspiracy-theory-that-the-cia-invented-the-term-conspiracy-theory-heres-why-132117 https://theconversation.com/theres-a-conspiracy-theory-that-...
- thephyber 6y ago
  I’ve heard it before, but it does sound like a typical conspiracy theory: it could have theoretically happened, but seems too convenient for conspiracy theorists to use to say they are being persecuted by a large body of power.
- ColanR 6y ago
  Original sources work better. Apparently, this where it all came from: https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/26/archives/cable-sought-to-discredit-critics-of-warren-report.html https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytim...
thephyber 6y ago
> When the author began to align obviously false information with more credible things I think there is a terminology problem in this discussion and it will cause lots of us in the comments to chase our tails. I think the credibility word is too subjective to be useful in this discussion. I think most conspiracy accusations are unprovable by most of us (unless we are federal prosecutors) so I assume that both logic conspiracies and fantasy conspiracies must be evaluated with equally few facts. I think the myth that the CIA created/empowered the term “conspiracy theory” has lots of the same symptoms of fantasy conspiracy theories themselves. It apparently empowers the powerful and gives additional persecution claims to those who are labeled “crazy”. The most interesting part of your comment was to get me thinking about the role of bots (and AI in the future) in crafting both hypotheses and researching them. I’m curious if social media bots may give us the tools to effectively test the psychological traits of people who are more likely to adopt theories about less coherent conspiracies.
dehrmann 6y ago
> from AIDS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_INFEKTION https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_INFEKTION tl;dr: the USSR started the conspiracy theory that HIV was created in a US lab.
ColanR 6y ago
You didn't mention a source for your point that the CIA coined the phase 'conspiracy theory'. I found the original source, in the New York Times. [1] (Context: combating suspicion of the CIA's involvement in the Kennedy assassination.) Relevant quotes: > But a C.I.A. document, recently declassified under the Freedom of Information Act, provides a detailed account of at least one instance in which the agency mustered its propaganda machinery to support an issue of far more concern to Americans, and to the C.I.A. itself, than to citizens of other countries. > “Conspiracy theories,” the cable went on, “have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit circulation of such claims in other countries.” > Among the arguments that the agency suggested were that the Warren Commission had conducted “as thorough an investigation as humanly possible, that the charges of the critics are without serious foundation, and that further speculative discussion only plays into the hands of the opposition.” > “Point out also,” the cable directed, “that parts of the conspiracy talk appear to be deliberately generated by Communist propagandists.” > These critics and others, the C.I.A. said, should be depicted as “wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in,” politically or financially “interested” in disproving the commission's conclusion, “hasty or inaccurate in their research, or infatuated with their own theories.” [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/26/archives/cable-sought-to-discredit-critics-of-warren-report.html https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytim...
dennis_jeeves 6y ago
Fully agree with all that you said.

JoeSmithson 6y ago

> "Point of Information: the phrase "conspiracy theorist" was developed and fielded by the CIA as a counterintelligence effort." Why do you think this? I had never heard this before, and to be honest it immediately gave off whacko vibes, so I Googled it and found this article that says it is false - https://theconversation.com/theres-a-conspiracy-theory-that-the-cia-invented-the-term-conspiracy-theory-heres-why-132117 https://theconversation.com/theres-a-conspiracy-theory-that-...

thephyber 6y ago
I’ve heard it before, but it does sound like a typical conspiracy theory: it could have theoretically happened, but seems too convenient for conspiracy theorists to use to say they are being persecuted by a large body of power.
ColanR 6y ago
Original sources work better. Apparently, this where it all came from: https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/26/archives/cable-sought-to-discredit-critics-of-warren-report.html https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytim...

thephyber 6y ago

> When the author began to align obviously false information with more credible things I think there is a terminology problem in this discussion and it will cause lots of us in the comments to chase our tails. I think the credibility word is too subjective to be useful in this discussion. I think most conspiracy accusations are unprovable by most of us (unless we are federal prosecutors) so I assume that both logic conspiracies and fantasy conspiracies must be evaluated with equally few facts. I think the myth that the CIA created/empowered the term “conspiracy theory” has lots of the same symptoms of fantasy conspiracy theories themselves. It apparently empowers the powerful and gives additional persecution claims to those who are labeled “crazy”. The most interesting part of your comment was to get me thinking about the role of bots (and AI in the future) in crafting both hypotheses and researching them. I’m curious if social media bots may give us the tools to effectively test the psychological traits of people who are more likely to adopt theories about less coherent conspiracies.

dehrmann 6y ago

> from AIDS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_INFEKTION https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_INFEKTION tl;dr: the USSR started the conspiracy theory that HIV was created in a US lab.

ColanR 6y ago

You didn't mention a source for your point that the CIA coined the phase 'conspiracy theory'. I found the original source, in the New York Times. [1] (Context: combating suspicion of the CIA's involvement in the Kennedy assassination.) Relevant quotes: > But a C.I.A. document, recently declassified under the Freedom of Information Act, provides a detailed account of at least one instance in which the agency mustered its propaganda machinery to support an issue of far more concern to Americans, and to the C.I.A. itself, than to citizens of other countries. > “Conspiracy theories,” the cable went on, “have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material for countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit circulation of such claims in other countries.” > Among the arguments that the agency suggested were that the Warren Commission had conducted “as thorough an investigation as humanly possible, that the charges of the critics are without serious foundation, and that further speculative discussion only plays into the hands of the opposition.” > “Point out also,” the cable directed, “that parts of the conspiracy talk appear to be deliberately generated by Communist propagandists.” > These critics and others, the C.I.A. said, should be depicted as “wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in,” politically or financially “interested” in disproving the commission's conclusion, “hasty or inaccurate in their research, or infatuated with their own theories.” [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/26/archives/cable-sought-to-discredit-critics-of-warren-report.html https://web.archive.org/web/20191121033812/https://www.nytim...

dennis_jeeves 6y ago

Fully agree with all that you said.