ABSTRACT: Growing concern has been expressed that we have entered a “post-truth” era in which each of us willfully believes whatever we choose, aided and abetted by alternative and social media that spin alternative realities [lies and falsehoods] for boutique consumption. A prime example of the belief in alternative realities is said to be acceptance of “conspiracy theories”––a term that is often used as a pejorative to indict claims of conspiracy that are so obviously absurd that only the unhinged could believe them. The epistemological standard often involved in this indictment, however—the standard of “obvious” falsity—invites subjectivity in its application, because what is obviously false to one person can be common sense to another. This is not just a truism; considerable research suggests that people’s political beliefs, in general, and their acceptance or rejection of conspiracy theories in particular, tends in large part to be determined by partisan, ideological, and other priors. -- Joseph E. Uscinski & Adam M. Enders:
What is a Conspiracy Theory and Why Does it Matter?,
Critical Review: 1-22, 2022
The NPR program 1A broadcast a program yesterday about why most false conspiracy theories, mostly lies, are generally impossible to debunk. The transcript is at that link. The program was built around the toxic effects that decades of MAGA/authoritarian lies and demagoguery had on one family. Two points stand out:
- Diligent, respectful attempts to use facts and sound reasoning to debunk false beliefs and lies that MAGA demagoguery has implanted in believer's minds almost always fails. That's the case, even if some inconvenient facts or reasoning actually sink in and are accepted. The trapped minds simply rationalize their way out of the inconvenience, i.e., cognitive dissonance.
- A leading political scientist who studies the power of demagoguery and false beliefs, professor Joseph Uscinski, University of Miami (published research), asserts that minds trapped in false beliefs and lies cannot accept contradictory facts and reasoning because their identities are threatened too much. Most people's identities are built over decades. Changing that in a short period of time is usually impossible for most people. Changing a mind about one crackpot or blatantly false thing is a hopeless game of whack-a-mole.
A mentally trapped MAGA father confidently made a $10,000 bet with his non-MAGA son that all of these crackpot but fairly common MAGA conspiracy theory predictions would be true by the end of 2024:
1. Obama will be convicted of treason by a court.
2. Biden will be convicted of treason by a court.
3. Nancy Pelosi will be convicted of treason by a court.
4. Bill Clinton would be convicted of treason and murder by a court.
5. Hillary Clinton would be convicted of treason and murder by a court.
6. djt would be reinstated as president without an election and cleared of all charges.
7. Biden would be removed from office.
8. The governor of New York would be removed from office.
9. The mayor of New York would be removed from office.
10. The entire US will come under martial law because of mass rioting and chaos, with the US military having to step in to quell the violence.
Once it turned out that none of the predictions came to pass, the MAGA dad wanted to do another big bet on another round of crackpot MAGA conspiracy theories. MAGA has an endless supply of 'em, hence whack-a-mole. The dad simply rationalized all the failed predictions into irrelevance.
That is the reality that MAGA demagoguery and susceptible minds see and sincerely believe to be true. Those minds cannot be easily changed by anything. Those people's identities are at stake.
An email to the program commented: The Internet was supposed to bring a new age of enlightenment. Its ability to put people in contact with erudite discussion and accurate information was supposed to make us all smarter. Instead, it has allowed the worst of us, the most paranoid, the most angry, the most conspiratorial to coalesce in groups online. While in totality, they remain small in numbers. They feel strong and numerous in their online conglomerates. All this while caring people retreat from the fray because they are wounded by the lack of sincere engagement and the glee with which vitriol and lies are used to further empower the worst.
How common is this degree of deceit and self-delusion among djt voters? That's hard to tell.
A 2020 Pew Research Center study found that 47% of U.S. adults had heard at least a little about QAnon, with 41% of Republicans who were aware of it viewing it as a good thing for the country. This suggests that a significant portion of Republicans are not only aware of but also receptive to false conspiracy theories.
A 2021 article in Persuasion indicated that 72% of Republican voters believed there was serious fraud in the 2020 election, and a significant portion of them had favorable views about crackpot MAGA conspiracy theories, e.g.,
millions of illegal immigrants vote in federal elections. Published data indicates that at least one-third to over half of Republican voters hold views aligned with conspiracy theories, e.g., false belief in widespread election fraud.
MAGA tore that family apart. MAGA is not merely knowingly immoral. It is knowingly evil. Unfortunately, this kind of evil is legal. In my opinion, politicians who spew divisive, evil lies like this are unfit for office and should be impeached and removed from office.
