2 ms·

I remember when Conspiracy Theorists were a handful of wacky funny weirdos who watched too much X-Files. Not so funny anymore, with a significant percentage of

I remember when Conspiracy Theorists were a handful of wacky funny weirdos who watched too much X-Files. Not so funny anymore, with a significant percentage of the population believing all sorts of crazy things they saw on Facebook and YouTube. How can this many people, who went out of their way to be programmed, going to be deprogrammed?

hndownfall 2y ago
[flagged]
tstrimple 2y ago
They aren’t really. They want to believe the crazy shit. At some level it’s comforting for them. They know the real truth others have been trying to keep from them. I saw my father fall down this pipeline, but didn’t understand it at the time. We would listen to things like AM coast to coast with Art Bell on the rare occasions he was home. Even at the time I thought the shows were just fun nonsense and I couldn’t see the other stuff he was listening to constantly as a long haul truck driver warping his brain until he was unrecognizable. Stuff like Art Bell was a gateway drug to more serious conspiracy theorist beliefs. It’s was a nice easy on-ramp for someone who enjoys science fiction to the world of right wing nuttery. I saw the same sort of thing happening on 4chan. I was there for the lols and to be an edgy teen and thought everyone else was there for the same reason. No one took it seriously. Taking it seriously was the only way to “lose”. It was satire. Except for all of those for who it wasn’t.
Bender 2y ago
In my opinion conspiracy theorists are curious people lacking enough data that just like AI will speak too confidently without having the appropriate levels of information. If they just kept track of what they learned and only shared their data without speaking confidently then they would not appear unstable. They should also find a way to share data that makes it easier for proper investigative journalists assuming those still exist to piece it all together without the overly confident assumptions or wild emotions. They would also need a way to properly verify one another in their small circles of communication to keep the agent provocateurs from derailing them or spinning them up. They need a way to stay grounded and reeled back to earth. All it takes is one person with many sock puppet accounts intentionally sounding whacky to throw off a fun and challenging investigation.

hndownfall 2y ago

[flagged]

tstrimple 2y ago

They aren’t really. They want to believe the crazy shit. At some level it’s comforting for them. They know the real truth others have been trying to keep from them. I saw my father fall down this pipeline, but didn’t understand it at the time. We would listen to things like AM coast to coast with Art Bell on the rare occasions he was home. Even at the time I thought the shows were just fun nonsense and I couldn’t see the other stuff he was listening to constantly as a long haul truck driver warping his brain until he was unrecognizable. Stuff like Art Bell was a gateway drug to more serious conspiracy theorist beliefs. It’s was a nice easy on-ramp for someone who enjoys science fiction to the world of right wing nuttery. I saw the same sort of thing happening on 4chan. I was there for the lols and to be an edgy teen and thought everyone else was there for the same reason. No one took it seriously. Taking it seriously was the only way to “lose”. It was satire. Except for all of those for who it wasn’t.

Bender 2y ago

In my opinion conspiracy theorists are curious people lacking enough data that just like AI will speak too confidently without having the appropriate levels of information. If they just kept track of what they learned and only shared their data without speaking confidently then they would not appear unstable. They should also find a way to share data that makes it easier for proper investigative journalists assuming those still exist to piece it all together without the overly confident assumptions or wild emotions. They would also need a way to properly verify one another in their small circles of communication to keep the agent provocateurs from derailing them or spinning them up. They need a way to stay grounded and reeled back to earth. All it takes is one person with many sock puppet accounts intentionally sounding whacky to throw off a fun and challenging investigation.