Dunning-Kruger syndrome is in full bloom, these days. These far-right dolts watch a half hour of Newsmax and suddenly they're experts in medicine and foreign policy.
It's an addiction, much like gambling. Conspiracies chase the next high of being the 'in crowd' and every whacked theory they believe gives them another hit of "I know more than everyone". Dopamine from each twist in the story.
I would argue that you don't need to spend your life studying a field to understand if the information that you are being presented is wrong. Critical thinking skills go a long way with filtering out bad information. That said there is a reasons we now have everything.
Painfully true. A New Hampshire Trump supporter being interviewed, on CNN I think, said he knows Trump won the 2020 election. Interviewer reminds the guy that there is not one bit of evidence to back that up, guy still insists it’s true and he will vote for Trump. Lazy and uninformed, but confident!
I think this can play out stronger for smart/educated people who are convinced that they already know a lot so they are not stupid enough to fall for this in other fields. in short i am an expert at X so surely I know y and z too
its that (though as a librarian/ethnographer I sort of a license to at least temporary drive in different lanes but I am trained to do that :P j/k) But its more the sense of thinking your too smart too educate that you cant fall for this, because your actually right a lot of the time.
I often felt inadequate when booking experts and authors for talk shows earlier in my career. Having to try and speak to them on some imaginary higher level about their work and expertise was nerve wracking. Imposter syndrome I guess.
I’ve felt that in my fields as well, but as I’ve gotten both older, and more sure of my skills and where they fit in the broader picture I’m much more comfortable admitting when something is outside of my range of expertise.
Basically admitting to myself that I’m allowed to not know things.
In addition, having zero drive to try and understand something even on a basic level. Or having the good graces to admit that you don't know everything.
This is often true of conspiracy theory deniers as well, who prefer a simpler narrative and reflexively dismiss evidence of conspiracy that introduces complication.
Yes, what happened on the day is perhaps unknowable at this point, but Oswald's multiple documented intelligence contacts are so in contradiction with the Warren narrative that that information is relegated to conspiracy zone (not sure if you're baiting me)
I disagree that Bugliosi is authoritative on this, but I'm not categorically opposed to Oswald being the shooter either. My point was that opponents of conspiracy theories often throw out inconvenient facts.
And this is powerfully reinforced by the Internet and social media, where you're richly rewarded with likes and followers, when you breathlessly warn about and repeat all the stories of how "they" are manipulating us and telling us cruel lies.
I agree with the sentiment, but it’s not really helpful. Under this definition, how do you distinguish between, say, QAnon and cryptocurrency (a decade ago) or AI (now)? Because there are times where the powers that be expect you to believe in nonsense.
It all depends on what you call conspiracy: It would be interesting to know how you judge others, on what criteria when your news has been censored.
It has always been made known that scientists in every country compete against one another: breakthroughs become conspiracy & theories to discredit
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Better life be controllable than utter chaos.
Basically admitting to myself that I’m allowed to not know things.
(Not that Fox, although...)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Grapes
Just listen to Alex Jones for a few min and it will perfectly encapsulate this.
The guy knows how to bluster, and nothing else. He’s a very ignorant person who disguises it with conspiracy nonsense.
Found via google search, limiting search results to a date range of 01-JAN-1900 until 01-JUN-2015.
Unfortunately though one can't open the cached page.
@eliotjacobson.bsky.social @ketanjoshi.co
It has always been made known that scientists in every country compete against one another: breakthroughs become conspiracy & theories to discredit
~ Bertrand Russell