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> These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there. "Conspiracy theories" are narratives counter to the status
by drewcoo 2y ago
> These days, conspiracy theorists seem to be some of the most open to manipulation folks out there.
"Conspiracy theories" are narratives counter to the status quo.
Arguably more people are "manipulated" into following the status quo.
Thus, I would argue that "conspiracy theorists" may be the least likely folks to be "manipulated."
- bee_rider 2y agoYeah, that’s the default assumption. But nowadays media is so fragmented, bubbled, and algorithmic; you can have a whole YouTube or TikTok ecosystem around building an alternative narrative.
- pessimizer 2y agoA popular theory a few years ago is that people who believe in extremely unlikely and sometimes nonsensical explanations of current events are actually too shrewd. They understand better than most that all of the information they receive is compromised for the benefit of powerful others, but in the desperation for information that isn't mercenary, they turn to random gurus who aren't connected to or knowledgeable about anything. You see that impulse a lot on HN and other forums, when they decry some study as "biased" because the author of the study is well-known to believe that what the study shows is true. For them, the people who initiate studies would ideally be people with no knowledge about or interest in the subject that they are studying. Anything less than that is obviously an intentional manipulation.