Fueled by the internet, conspiracy theories are having a big moment in America. They're driving online chat room conversations, influencing our politics and adding to the polarization threatening to undermine our democracy.
In my experience it seems more effective to counter conspiracies with laughter and mockery than dismantle it. Which may sound strange since it sounds intuitive to counter a falsehood with truth or reason… But disproving takes far more effort than the original conspiracy theory, and that’s how these things get out of control. But laughing it off, mockery, and general comedy takes less time and still gets the message across to bystanders.
On the flip-side I do agree doing it wrong can send them deeper into the hole because at its core it’s about a sense of community, and everyone has issues with ego and self-esteem clouding better judgment. It’s just the circumstances these people are in, well, it makes them far more vulnerable to grifters preying on their ignorance, lack of time, lack of education, etc.
Definitely! There are some things in society that are harmful to the public, antisocial, breaches of the social contract–such as being unvaccinated, not washing your hands after taking a huge dump, or spreading conspiracies–but which are not illegal or redeemable in tort, things for which public shaming is a just and maybe only remedy.
In my experience it seems more effective to counter conspiracies with laughter and mockery than dismantle it. Which may sound strange since it sounds intuitive to counter a falsehood with truth or reason… But disproving takes far more effort than the original conspiracy theory, and that’s how these things get out of control. But laughing it off, mockery, and general comedy takes less time and still gets the message across to bystanders.
On the flip-side I do agree doing it wrong can send them deeper into the hole because at its core it’s about a sense of community, and everyone has issues with ego and self-esteem clouding better judgment. It’s just the circumstances these people are in, well, it makes them far more vulnerable to grifters preying on their ignorance, lack of time, lack of education, etc.
Definitely! There are some things in society that are harmful to the public, antisocial, breaches of the social contract–such as being unvaccinated, not washing your hands after taking a huge dump, or spreading conspiracies–but which are not illegal or redeemable in tort, things for which public shaming is a just and maybe only remedy.