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| Sunstein, right, and his wife, Samantha Power, who is now on the National Security Council, with their new boss. |
Abstract: "Many millions of people hold conspiracy theories; they believe that powerful people have worked together in order to withhold the truth about some important practice or some terrible event. A recent example is the belief, widespread in some parts of the world, that the attacks of 9/11 were carried out not by Al Qaeda, but by Israel or the United States. Those who subscribe to conspiracy theories may create serious risks, including risks of violence, and the existence of such theories raises significant challenges for policy and law. The first challenge is to understand the mechanisms by which conspiracy theories prosper; the second challenge is to understand how such theories might be undermined. Such theories typically spread as a result of identifiable cognitive blunders, operating in conjunction with informational and reputational influences. A distinctive feature of conspiracy theories is their self-sealing quality. Conspiracy theorists are not likely to be persuaded by an attempt to dispel their theories; they may even characterize that very attempt as further proof of the conspiracy. Because those who hold conspiracy theories typically suffer from a crippled epistemology, in accordance with which it is rational to hold such theories, the best response consists in cognitive infiltration of extremist groups. Various policy dilemmas, such as the question whether it is better for government to rebut conspiracy theories or to ignore them, are explored in this light."
Cass Sustrein
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
4 comments:
in my Keanu Reeves voice "Whooaah"
Brother Sharif!
Maaaaan
Aint that some shyte?
I don't think many cats can appreciate the Orwellian fanaticism which consumes the technocratic class which currently lords over the US.
Which of course means, conspiracy theories have become mainstream now, no longer merely the realm of tin-foil hatted conspiracy nuts living in their parents' basements.
The beauty of the internet is that much in the same way the government can disseminate it's propaganda, now regular people can pull back the curtain and expose a lot of what those in charge don't want you to see. And sure, while many of these are more of the ranting and raving not to be taken seriously variety, many others have clear research and concise evidence they can point to that backs up their claims. Even on Rhymes With Snitch, a mindless gossip blog, I can't help but notice that sometimes when a celebrity loses a family member under questionable circumstances, people in the comments start looking deeper into it, questioning whether or not it's blood sacrifice related. Or when a celeb uses a hand gesture in a photo, someone always pops up to point out it's "illuminated" roots. (My weekly mind-fuck; the "A-ok" hand gesture is meant to represent the triple-6's. Well damn...)
So what you think, DV, is this a precursor to thought crime, and policing people's thoughts/actions? Anyone else feel like we're reaching the point where dems aren't even pretending to be distinct from repubs anymore? Sure, it's always been a facade, but one that they at least took enough care to maintain in front of us. Now it's like they don't give a damn anymore. Have we reached a point of no return where it doesn't really matter one way or the other what we think of our leaders, and it's time to get down or lay down?
All of this is straight professional wrestling. Remember: Vince McMahon was there first!
Back in the 80's and early 90's, the "heels" and the "baby faces" would make sure that if they were in public, they didn't even talk to each other, other than to scowl if they were at the same bar, so as to keep up the appearances. When asked whether wrestling was "fake" the wrestlers would always get indignant and threaten to beat the shit out of somebody. Of course, the working out was real, many of the injuries were real, the blood (self inflicted via palmed razor blades) was real, but the opponents were all on the same side. Come the mid-to-late 90's, when it was no longer possible to keep up the pretense of professional wrestling being unstaged, VInce McMahon changed the marketing and started calling it "sports entertainment" and the fakeness of it all was openly admitted. Far from making people less interested in watching wrestling, it made the WWF/WWE even MORE popular, as it let the fans feel like they were "in the know" and also attracted a new fanbase of know-it-all hipsters who now got to comment on the plotlines and the scripts. Despite knowing it's fake, the fans still get sucked in to the drama, they still watch, they still pay for it. They still keep the Spectacle alive.
That same shit is now coming to pass in the political world. Does knowing it is all staged, despite real back-stabbings, murders, wars, and thefts--that the leaders are acting out roles--theater of the real--does that make you less likely to get sucked in, pay money, give time and energy to keeping the Spectacle alive?
That's the big question.
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