I know this subject has been touched on by many…..and since I try to be a little FYI I thought once more could not hurt.
We are surrounded these days by conspiracy theories….it seems like there are new ones every week….but how do we tell if they are true or false?
I am so glad you asked.
This is just a little help in deciding what is true and what is false (not that too many will actually use this to find out)….but a clarification is needed now more than ever for there are too many that have wrong-minded ideas.
The extreme consequences of unfounded conspiratorial beliefs could be seen on the staircases of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and in the self-immolation of a protestor outside the courthouse holding the latest Trump trial.
But if hidden forces really are at work in the world, how is someone to know what’s really going on?
That’s where my research comes in; I’m a social psychologist who studies misleading narratives. Here are some ways to vet a claim you’ve seen or heard.
Step 1: Seek out the evidence
Real conspiracies have been confirmed because there was evidence. For instance, in the allegations dating back to the 1990s that tobacco companies knew cigarettes were dangerous and kept that information secret to make money, scientific studies showed problematic links between tobacco and cancer. Court cases unearthed corporate documents with internal memos showing what executives knew and when. Investigative journalists revealed efforts to hide that information. Doctors explained the effects on their patients. Internal whistleblowers sounded the alarm.
But unfounded conspiracy theories reveal their lack of evidence and substitute instead several elements that should be red flags for skeptics:
Dismissing traditional sources of evidence, claiming they are in on the plot.
Claiming that missing information is because someone is hiding it, even though it’s common that not all facts are known completely for some time after an event.
Attacking apparent inconsistencies as evidence of lies.
Overinterpreting ambiguity as evidence: A flying object may be unidentified – but that’s different from identifying it as an alien spaceship.
Using anecdotes – especially vaguely attributed ones – in place of evidence, such as “people are saying” such-and-such or “my cousin’s friend experienced” something.
Attributing knowledge to secret messages that only a select few can grasp – rather than evidence that’s plain and clear to all.
https://www.iflscience.com/how-to-tell-if-a-conspiracy-theory-is-probably-false-74168
This is probably a waste of time for most people will believe a lie as long as it feeds their idiocy.
Just look at the comments on current events to see what I am talking about.
Be Smart!
Learn Stuff!
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I keep banging away at trying to find the original CONTEXT of a given issue. Just blathering things like “The border has been thrown open.” That doesn’t even make sense. There’s border people in place carrying out existing entry policy. Now, you can argue that the policy sucks.. but it makes no sense that “the border is thrown open”.
Here’s another one. “Shredding” the Constitution. Seems to be we have a vibrant judicial system in this country. Seems to me the average American can exercise their rights.
Here’s a popular one with MAGA-ists, “crime is at an all time high”. I just checked a couple fact check sources that according to accepted law enforcement figures violent crime is currently at a 50 year all time low. I am not suggesting who or what get’s any particular credit for that given it’s largely a social problem not under any president’s control. In fact, that’s anoth issue.. we tend to assign the President having far more power to “fix” current social ills with simple declarations. Yet those declarations themselves can be challenged in court using our Constitution.
We need more education in school regarding civics and social studies because few people have any idea how government works.
I could not agree more…..more education….civics exam should be given to every person running for office. chuq
You’re absolutely right, of course. We badly need better education about how the government actually works. People seem to forget that it is Congress that runs the country, not the president. Congress makes the laws, Congress writes the budget, Congress allocates the money, not the president. He’s little more than a glorified administrator.
People think I’m nuts when I keep trying to find out what the other sides to a story are.
I think that makes you brilliant….we need more people that want to know the whole story. chuq
Thanks.
You are very welcome chuq
It is good advice however.
People need to stop blindly following stupid….a chore I know but it will help this country. chuq
People are so addicted to blindly following stupid at this point, I doubt there will ever be a recovery.
It is looking pretty grim chuq
Someone joked that it’s like everyone on “Gilligan’s Island” listened only to the Millionair and not the Scientist! Or as they say: “who you gonna believe? Me, or your own lyin’ eyes?”
Ignorance breeds stupidity. chuq
I have mellowed on conspiracy theories, but I tend to estimate how much I agree with a particular one by how concerned a government is with trying to cover up public knowledge of events. Case in point for me, the JFK assassination. The ‘one-shooter’ theory has never convinced me. Then the Warren Commission left me with just as many questions. (And the death of Lady Diana, that report was full of holes)
Best wishes, Pete.
The Lady Di thing still has me wondering…..chuq
My guess is that she was pregnant with Dodi’s child, and that was never going to be allowed to go full-term. Ex-Princess with a child fathered by an Egyptian? I doubt the UK establishment would ever let that happen.
That seems to be the view here as well chuq