I mean it's classic Orwellianism to make up wild claims so that they seem normal when you do it. It's also called hypernormalization. Say crazy outlandish thing that doesn't exist. Then when it happens no one is surprised. The Big Lie. Etc.
I still remember conspiracy theory that we are ruled by pedophiles....
In early 2000s....
In 2020s this is a well know, properly documented fact.
Casting couch jokes... Were not jokes either...
Mass government surveillance without warrants... Also a know fact ... Now
All of these were "conspiracies"
Lab leak theory was suppressed aggressively, now it is considered viable but we just don't know
Regime propganda appratus can't even keep its narrative straight anymore but sadest part is that with polarization, they don't have to. Normies will larp their team no matter what, like docile dogs
It is disgusting seeing what should adult people behave in such a way. Caring more about politics than people around them
So we really got the rulers we deserve as a body of people.
Nobody outside the NYC Metro North/PATH area who was alive at the time ever talks about this, but the wealthy men nightclub pedophilia (in terms of like 14yos) was an open secret. From 1984-1996-ish there was a whole "Klub Kids" scene where like, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and Donald Trump would all be snorting lines of coke off a 15yo at Studio 54 in 1984 (Netflix did a documentary about a murder by an influencer of that scene several years ago). I literally knew kids who were part of that scene at the time (all the ones I knew became heroin addict homeless goth young adults by the late 90's and I presume are dead by now). Donald Trump was regionally known as the most famous enjoyer of the Klub Kids scene at the time.
What always gets me in a conspiracy thinking spiral is remembering that the people (that were always portrayed as total nutters) talking about the us gov investigating mind control and drugging people were right (mk ultra, etc).
I maintain that "conspiracy theory" should not be a thought stopper. One should not disregard something just because it seems like a classic "conspiracy theory". Most people I discuss stuff like that with just stop thinking after forming the thought "conspiracy theory".
On the other side we see what happens if people "do their own research"...
Not sure if you got hypernormalisation right.
It's when state, population and even opposition play along by their known roles in a common, simplified fake-reality, ignoring a looming collapse, pretending everything is fine because noone can imagine a life outside the predominant system.
Haha, how crazy would that be, right?
I've always said the difference between a true conspiracy theorist and a fucking loon is proof.
There's tons of stuff we know happened and have almost overwhelming proof of but the powers that be for some reason will not prosecute, that's a conspiracy and they might even be part of it.
If you believe that a myriad aliens are pretending to be human and secretly controlling the world and the only immediate proof is that we are becoming more inclusive, you're a fucking loon.
I disagree. Once there’s proof you aren’t a conspiracy theorist, you’re just someone who believes in evidence based reality. I’d argue that it’s evidence and a believable narrative.
At one point you were a complete loon for believing the us government was attempting to do mind control using lsd. Then after the evidence was leaked you were a bit of a conspiracy theorist. Now after it’s been admitted to by the us government you’re a loon if you insist it didn’t happen.
"Conspiracy" assumes the government is functioning in a fundamentally honest manner.
In the 70s, the public was frankly shocked to learn about the Watergate Scandal, because they assumed America operated in a fundamentally honest manner.
After Watergate, the "conspiracy theorist" developed. Because if Watergate is true, what else is going on?
Around that time, AM radio was looking for new programming after the public's music listening transitioned to FM and we got a steady diet of extremist religious programming and Conspiracy-laden talk radio. Shortly after the Fairness Doctrine ended and things really took.off. One of the biggest TV series of the 90s was the X-files.
Anyways, if you have a conspiratorial government (e.g.China), you're not a "conspiracy theorist" to believe in conspiracy. There are very obvious conspiracies at work.
The corruption epidemic the US is now facing (post Citizens United) means we no longer assume we have a fundamentally honest government.
"Conspiracy theorist" is dead. Our government is fundamentally conspiring.
Conspiracy theorists aren't actually truth seekers. They're not out to discover the truth. They want to proclaim the truth and feel like special people who have hidden knowledge so they can feel superior. It's all about their ego, their sense of security, and nothing else.
All of this stuff is out in the open for all to see so the theorist nut jobs don't get to feel special by trying to expose it.
If they were any good at it they'd be employed as journalists and win Pullitzer Prizes for their work. Nixon having his goons break into a hotel to steal information from his opposition is a hell of a "conspiracy theory". But we don't consider it that because Woodward and Bernstein put in the work to find the evidence.
Your typical internet conspiracy theorists are just plain lazy and very susceptible to selection bias. They make up things to fill in the gaps of their theories and refuse to change the made up bits even when they find evidence to the contrary. The general contrarianism of the internet pushes people to think the opposite of establish facts.
In the end it's just a mess of made up shit that conforms to the emotions of the person that made it up. These conspiracy theories are promoted among those with similar feelings. They push way more lies than anyone else.
The good ones are lie finders... The shitty, usually conservative, ones like the post is talking about love to spew their own garbage "truths"... Definitely not truth seekers, just "truth" spewers
On the internet, the first to make an accusation wins. If if the accusation is false, they still win. So even when they actually do the things they falsely accuse others of doing, they've already won the argument on the internet.
"You're just accusing us of doing what you did" is stronger than "You're now doing what you accused us of in the past" when the rhetoric is more important than the facts.
They're tribalists, not idealists. In other words, it's on their side now so they don't mind. I see a lot of people always attacking the double standard aspect, but its not the point. They don't mind double standards, they just want their tribe to win.
You use that seemingly as a means to discredit the site, but if you actually read the article, you'd see that it's very explicit about the speculative nature of its subject. It makes no false claims; it only describes an interesting (if improbable) theory and attempts to explain the rationale behind its inception. Seems above board to me.