Like many of you, I have been confounded by the pervasive tendency to see the world through a “conspiracy lens.” It seems to be both broad and deep across American society and beyond, and growing more twisted and bizarre as the months go by. Why is that?
So if you have a NYTimes subscription you can read the full article, Why Conspiracy Theories Are So Addictive Right Now. But since most aren’t able to view NYT, I’ve done a little “progressive summarization” in Roam Research to at least take my highlights (the quotes right of the blue sidebar) and my 8 short summations above in bold font. Pressed for time: read the numbered take-aways.
You’ll have different take-homes from the full article, or the pulled paragraphs below. Let me know what I’ve missed that you would have highlighted, and what other take-home I can add to my list here.
Conspiracies thrive when vacuums loom unfilled
“Conspiracy theorists love a vacuum,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a professor of history at the University of California, Davis, who has studied the history of conspiracy theories. “If they’re not getting answers, they’re going to come up with their own.”
Selling the SIZZLE easier than selling the steak
Some of what’s happening is related to the dynamics of social media platforms, which favor bold, engaging claims over dry and careful ones. But there seems to be something else happening, too — a force that is pulling us all toward conspiracy theories these days, no matter our political persuasion.
We are all our own gatekeepers for "information"
Social media, and the internet more broadly, has eroded the authority of longstanding mass-media gatekeepers — like the newspaper you’re reading right now — and replaced it with “vital communities” of digital insurgents who are united around shared interests.
Everything is REAL if it's REAL for me.
Every group creates its own evidentiary standards, and processes information in its own way. There is no “consensus reality” they can all agree on because the idea of a single, shared reality was an artifact of the 20th century, when most people got information from a handful of big mainstream sources.
The Merchants of Doubt Get the Word Out
Uncertainty always breeds distrust, and in the age of social media, he said, authority is held by people who can effectively get their message out — even if those messages are false or misleading.
If you read it on the Internet, it's true.
“Dissemination is validation,” he said. “If you can concoct something that travels on the web, then you’re on the same plane as any expert in the world.”
There is no longer a single TRUTH despite Daniel Patrick Moynihan's wisdom that: you are entitled to your own OPINION. You are NOT entitled to your own TRUTH.
—We are all now islands of information that fits what we already believe---"confirmation bias."
There’s simply too much information now, traveling over too many channels, for people on any side to be satisfied with a single, straightforward answer to any question. The internet — and the erosion of authority it has enabled — has made conspiracy theorists of us all.
This fragmentation of FACT is upon us, and not going anywhere after Nov 3.
“This is not Trump,” Mr. Gurri said. “This is structural, and even if Trump loses in November, it’s going to continue.”
Part of it is because truth is sometimes like the elephant being described by a group of blind people. There are so many different aspects to focus on.
Seems like #8 is the kicker here. Trump losing in November doesn't fix this and it could make it worse. These folks live in such an information bubble that it's inconceivable to them that Trump could lose next month. If he does lose. it'll have to be a conspiracy in their minds.