Escaping The Conspiracy Mind Trap

 

Admittedly I do a terrible job of covering one facet of the world of conspiracy theories - the hope that there are stories out there of those who finally figured out that what they were involved in is a sham.  Other critical information I follow is heavily skewed towards busting on the fallacies and reporting on when things go seriously wrong.  It seems like every day there’s somebody new openly seeking help because they decided that they were desperate enough to seek alternatives to common sense and logical reasoning, and now they are losing their home because they put belief in sovereign citizen pseudo law arguments.  So much so that they donate money to a cult leader instead of paying their bills.

The above is a snippet from a lengthy post from someone describing some key points that at least at times I try to reinforce.  And yes, it’s not me.  I have access to the source material and can, if needed, verify it’s a piece of work from someone else.

What good would knowing that do me in my everyday life? 

There are and will forever be lots of things wrong in the world.  Complaining about them and getting to the point where you are knowingly or unknowingly are manufacturing fake evidence to support your point of view doesn’t solve them.  And it does nothing to improve your attitude on how to help make the world a better place or at least struggle to cope with what’s going on around you.

The author of that is somebody who somehow, one day figured this out.  The writing is not conspiracy style writing which is often…gibberish.  The sentences are structured properly and the post in its entirety makes me think, “Hmmm, smart guy.  How did he ever get into conspiracy thinking in the first place.”  And that is one of the traps where conspiracy thinking perpetuates.  The “how could anybody be dumb enough to fall for that?” thinking outside the conspiracists.  There are a lot, billions even, of people that are not you.  And it’s impossible to know what background they emerged from that makes them act the way the do.

Unless they share some of the background.  And/or something resembling correct information with what’s really going on.  There’s a big focus in the conspiracy theorist world to project that you are doing your own research while you are actually just parroting the large volume of material that tries to throw shade on something resembling correct information.  This person, as I did decades ago, dismissed unproven, magical thinking that lead to my agnosticism.  Is there a God?  Actually, I don’t care.  I find the framework they operate in to be needlessly complicated.  Science does a lot better job of explaining what’s going on.  And I can still read a book or watch a movie for entertainment value instead of assuming there is a hidden message that if only I were a bit smarter I’d be able to figure it out.  And I’m a happier person for that.

One of the points I speculate on that I believe enough to aggressively defend my opinion on - there’s more impact when the right answer is discovered by actual independent research than by force feeding.  People don’t truly “wake up” by being forced to wear masks for a pandemic, or whatever.  They need to understand the reason behind it, to the point they voluntarily do it.  Mask wearing chosen on purpose as a topic that is truly debatable - I don’t know if that part of the Covid response was worthwhile or not.  I didn’t enjoy wearing it.  But there are a lot of things to be said about putting the fire out that is burning your house now before worrying about whether it was started by arson or an electrical short.  Or for that matter, whether the virus originated in a lab or zoonotically.

The world needs more powerful stories like those of this other author.  Of how conspiracy thinking is a dead end.  Whether he knows it or not, he’s thinking scientifically.  The scientific method of building on past knowledge.  Dismissing what doesn’t work.  Keeping what does work and tweaking it when new information comes along.  And sharing for peer review.  Whatever worked for him just might resonate with others and help them recognize the difference between short term conspiracy thinking and long term coping with the ugliness surrounding us.

In the meantime, I’ll keep operating busting on the grifting.  These are not particularly enlightening messages, but they are a starting point for awareness on how someone else’s fundraising efforts via magical thinking are likely not in your best interest.  So finishing off here with my Yelp review of the other content in the screenshot.

5 stars out of 5.  Will return for another visit.  Would share a beer with if at the same bar.