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Conspiracy theories at one time might have been more along the lines of fantasy entertainment: thinking about secret structures on Mars, alien abductions, UFOs,

Conspiracy theories at one time might have been more along the lines of fantasy entertainment: thinking about secret structures on Mars, alien abductions, UFOs, Loch Ness Monsters, and other stuff like that was a lot of fun even if it was bullshit. But today, I'd characterize conspiracy theories as the last vestiges of escapism and the desperate need for an explanation for why the world is so shitty. In previous generations a man could watch sports or movies or take on some nerdy niche hobby to drown away his pain of being overworked and unhappy about life. Even if doing stuff like watching men throw a ball around and memorizing all of their sports statistics was really dumb, you had something you could do to forget about the world for a few hours from time to time and talk about with the guys while ignoring your mediocre life. But today, you can't even follow sports, watch movies, or even play nerdy games without being drum over the head with some political correctness or real-world politics. There is no escapism from politics possible and the world keeps seeming worse and worse: hence the migration to conspiracy theories as a desperate attempt to stay sane in an insane world.

smackeyacky 4y ago
Sport and politics have always been intertwined. Sportsmen making political gestures is as old as sport itself, far from being just a recent thing. Examples: South African sports boycotts in the 1970s. NFL in 1945 and the breakdown of segregation with the associated controversy vs the more inclusive football leagues in the US. The class divide between rugby league and rugby union over a century ago. The banning of russian sports teams due to rampant drug use in particular sports, vs the propaganda potential of olympic victory, the boycott of the Moscow olympics. The black power salutes at the mexico olympics. If you think taking a knee is some kind of new thing, that is wrong.
- logicalmonster 4y ago
  You bring up a good point that sports (like every arena of life) has always had some political controversies around it, but I'd still maintain that my general point that many things such as sports aren't working as a form of escapism for many people because of an increased political impact still stands. Perhaps the following things are different and more impactful today than in the past in the realm of sports. > We live in a 24/7 media sensationalism society: turning a lot of what should be a minor distraction into things that you can't escape encountering on social media, sports recaps, every game you watch, etc repeatedly until you're just overwhelmed from it. > The distraction isn't so much that players are making their own gestures that are meaningful to them; it's that the leagues are getting involved too such as the NBA writing social justice slogans on the uniforms and court or sports leagues and teams pathetically virtue signaling on every conceivable issue on social media. It's increasingly difficult to follow sports and avoid this part of it. That said, forget sports for a minute and consider that all walks of life are becoming more politicized. You can't play video games without getting immersed in political controversies. You can't follow Hollywood without the same. Where's the escapism? And are people concocting more real world conspiracy theories as a form of coping with this and how shitty the world is becoming? That's my theory until proven otherwise.

smackeyacky 4y ago

Sport and politics have always been intertwined. Sportsmen making political gestures is as old as sport itself, far from being just a recent thing. Examples: South African sports boycotts in the 1970s. NFL in 1945 and the breakdown of segregation with the associated controversy vs the more inclusive football leagues in the US. The class divide between rugby league and rugby union over a century ago. The banning of russian sports teams due to rampant drug use in particular sports, vs the propaganda potential of olympic victory, the boycott of the Moscow olympics. The black power salutes at the mexico olympics. If you think taking a knee is some kind of new thing, that is wrong.

logicalmonster 4y ago
You bring up a good point that sports (like every arena of life) has always had some political controversies around it, but I'd still maintain that my general point that many things such as sports aren't working as a form of escapism for many people because of an increased political impact still stands. Perhaps the following things are different and more impactful today than in the past in the realm of sports. > We live in a 24/7 media sensationalism society: turning a lot of what should be a minor distraction into things that you can't escape encountering on social media, sports recaps, every game you watch, etc repeatedly until you're just overwhelmed from it. > The distraction isn't so much that players are making their own gestures that are meaningful to them; it's that the leagues are getting involved too such as the NBA writing social justice slogans on the uniforms and court or sports leagues and teams pathetically virtue signaling on every conceivable issue on social media. It's increasingly difficult to follow sports and avoid this part of it. That said, forget sports for a minute and consider that all walks of life are becoming more politicized. You can't play video games without getting immersed in political controversies. You can't follow Hollywood without the same. Where's the escapism? And are people concocting more real world conspiracy theories as a form of coping with this and how shitty the world is becoming? That's my theory until proven otherwise.