---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Medium <hello@...>
Date: Sat, Aug 26, 2023, 7:19 PM
Subject: What Lurks Beneath Conspiracy Theories?
To: <bazril@...>


[image: Medium Longread. By Douglas Giles, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy,
Elmhurst University.]
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-clicks.com/via/e?ob=7XCj%2FxbzovS%2FucfG3GLbdAcWs2KUVuZAOGfHHpYpdRWhbZ%2BGC65Z2V2LN86%2FluaIVHbvs%2F2hKeJO44iFicbwYUyplkAlZHmqLx4chUbY1pLBgzEaIiAWi8gG7%2Fi0MTZU&h=13f8a4493b265af3a2c3310b85ed6c3102a274e5-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893&l=915701df323d84a9e0ba5563fe031d01ce3849de-80099714>
*Conspiracy theories are part of human culture, and we cannot just dismiss
them.*

Some people, despite all proof to the contrary, believe the moon landings
were faked. Some people, despite all proof to the contrary, believe the
last election was stolen. And those are just two of the many conspiracy
theories that are believed by untold numbers of people.

How can we understand the phenomena of conspiracy theories? Conspiracy
theories conjure up stories about grassy knolls, UFO cover ups, the
Illuminati, and other wild ideas that most people consider to be nonsense.
The people who believe them aren’t all asylum inmates wearing tin foil hats
in fear of government mind control. Conspiracy theories are part of human
culture. We cannot just dismiss them, if for no other reason than we can’t
ignore the damage caused by conspiracy theories. We are seeing the deaths
of thousands of people who believed conspiracy theories about the COVID-19
pandemic.

To ignore or ridicule beliefs in conspiracy theories is to be as
dismissively arrogant as the conspiracy theory believers are about beliefs
other than their own. We don’t have to agree with the conspiracy theories,
but we need to understand what they are, why some people believe them, and
what lurks beneath them.
*A Definition of Conspiracy Theories*

What are conspiracy theories, and why are they so common? First, we need to
define what we are analyzing.

*Conspiracy Theory: A claim that you have figured out a secret that
“normal” people have not.*

There are three components of this definition.

*One:* Conspiracy theories are stories about secret cabals secretly meeting
in secret places to secretly concoct secret plans. And yes, I stress the
secret aspect of these stories. For a story to appeal to those who believe
in conspiracy theories, it has to be about a deep, *dark* secret. By
definition, a conspiracy is a secretive plot, but a conspiracy *theory* is
about some seriously hidden, seriously *dark* skullduggery being brought to
light.

*Two:* A conspiracy theory is a truth claim. This fact is often ignored but
is very important. People believe a conspiracy theory *because* they
believe it is true. No matter how weird beliefs might be, every idea we
hold to be true is a belief we feel we are justified in having
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-clicks.com/via/e?ob=UQO4GGEZ%2BdumOk54DLH%2BkauDosrl9Pv5dkJmLy%2BC0cHto7KBMHm6EkxIchpcgADkUP1uGAblIjHEKI29jY1jHkwytzDdK6uZO%2B0S0dHhllc%3D&h=503324bca55c2b048394a887cdca22dd85c30cfa-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893&l=6ca3b20f3bca6d9477706ddc03e1078ed72a3b95-80099715>.
It is no different for those who believe in conspiracy theories that others
dismiss as wacky nonsense. What makes conspiracy theories different from
other beliefs is that the rules of truth are different. It is more than a
sense of lowering the standards of evidence. Believing a conspiracy theory
comes from thinking differently about reality leading to different beliefs
about what is true. More on that later.

*Three:* Conspiracy theorists, because they believe different truth claims,
think of themselves as different from “normal” people. Conspiracy theorists
have figured out secret *truths* that the rest of us have not. Believers in
a conspiracy theory claim to have “knowledge” about seriously hidden,
seriously dark skullduggery. Their “knowledge” sets them apart from the
masses (that’s you and me) who are “still duped” by the conspiracy.
*The Three Dimensions of a Conspiracy Theory*

Every conspiracy theory has those three components in varying degrees.
There are also three dimensions to every conspiracy theory: paranoia,
arrogance, and cliquishness. — *Read the rest on Medium
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-clicks.com/via/e?ob=7XCj%2FxbzovS%2FucfG3GLbdAcWs2KUVuZAOGfHHpYpdRWhbZ%2BGC65Z2V2LN86%2FluaIVHbvs%2F2hKeJO44iFicbwYUyplkAlZHmqLx4chUbY1pLBgzEaIiAWi8gG7%2Fi0MTZU&h=13f8a4493b265af3a2c3310b85ed6c3102a274e5-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893&l=72c972204ef137c212c0b9a683b4062b2d6c580a-80099716>*
[image: Unlock a world of wisdom: Become a member]
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-clicks.com/via/e?ob=6RFxe9U8GWbGWJXPq5ofURwakKPhT1HhcWTD4hM5vV4%2FpkQRRWWmz2q4kmOyh2dbCFwvpvVnEsZcrfO4aRhQRukyTCURHJdGLgFFg50NZHI%3D&h=cdb4247fde9d15a602be4ee0221bf395009ceb39-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893&l=2c756c0aa821d7bf63d22f9ff19b9a9fe39d61a4-80099717>
Sent by Medium
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-mail.com/via/e?ob=vALZUViIc8VDmz32VsdhAJyhv8ikFz6xi35XP%2BZUYb2UC8ndj3q9dKT1muaY8PCMKdxWfBu6RDmopN08ekjN9KdIQ3s4geR%2BYMCN%2BscxIY8%3D&h=af3a37f5616bf559527961b65be755bb39a0b523-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893>
· 548 Market St, PMB 42061, San Francisco, CA 94104
Unsubscribe
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-mail.com/via/e?ob=2oG22kV86xDBLookkU7fWznSJjS151tMNE81ikiEYeuDE18KKfS3YWraV%2FJ4OJC2ggnHexHZvDsjXGsjgPqnG%2FElgkCVMALkE%2FiBM53ZGuIKvjYiXgXMd30FlN9bAADkOAU8c0tcWPCDiLGG%2BB2ng9QkgDPPudmHVL86vJihn3We%2FVkoZezGhYfa6ZQOl7fyy3CqEdeeue5KCuTSz%2BFGRQ%3D%3D&h=a5b1b4c66ed2e4b915ff08e4b9bc82d8832ba009-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893>
· Help center
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-mail.com/via/e?ob=tA6jJyiSdW9YwgU%2Beaqkl8yAjQxRuoBFnvdWaJHiz0XA2eo3hpA9ZRkRsMPHsqihBc5ulSX%2BbOO6IdJOwvGsIHxUeEs7j7JCZ%2FUJlkUZIV8%3D&h=cbba58c72ccd19bfded405ce1e449d78763cfe66-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893>
· Privacy policy
<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-mail.com/via/e?ob=09KI6tgt3fz69zZy6sOTIF94baLIFQceFQT4oHe1oD9F%2FGHeZ4VYfK3Ez4p%2BSMk7Cr%2Br6Ey3dlGEEpZ6H9nAtEGVuE5Mp%2BMMCOg433cYth4nOONRYSUIpJ5tq8PyMPQ3&h=01e9ba91f104a2c194fe82dd5ea2dab15a7ae189-zp3ii0g5_56626572469893>

<https://medium-a7e301761373.intercom-mail.com/subscriptions/unsubscribe?app_id=zp3ii0g5&conversation_id=56626572469893&user_id=6320d65bb8e3453e3faea63d&source=body>
[image:
intercom]

Attachments

text.html (text/html) 15.0 kB