May 12, 2020
Conspiracy Culture
The Other Pandemic
Right now, as I type this and surely as you read it, conspiracies spread through the digital world and infect the brains of otherwise rational human beings.
And since it takes each sensational story only seconds to share no matter the distance, the infection rate of conspiracy culture is beyond the scope of any virus we’ve ever seen.
COVID-19: One plot to rule them all
It’s May 12th, 2020, in what is now unofficially the year of the bat. Daily life involves arguing on social media over which malevolent organisation started the current pandemic, and for what reasons. A task that, lacking in credible evidence, has mutated quicker than the coronavirus in question into an undertaking in human deduction alone. Think harder, goddammit.
It seems, much like Sauron’s Orc Army, these self-labelled ‘truthers’ have been growing in numbers just out of eyesight waiting for the ultimate conspiracy theory to bring them all together. And, in the current climate, the much sought-after piece has revealed itself. One plot to rule them all: COVID-19.
Life wasn’t always this way, of course. In fact, I don’t know the last time life changed so drastically and so quickly for so many people. But the conspiracy culture that I now spend my days battling didn’t arrive from eastern shores with this new contagion. Instead, it’s been building for years.
Thanks to the internet and the resulting attention economy, radicals that were traditionally marginalised have been given a new voice. Now, their reach is far beyond what it has ever been. But conspiracies have existed for a lot longer than the internet has.
Ancient conspiracies
Disappointingly for conspiracists the title above isn’t about ancient aliens building the world’s pyramids or a time before the moon. Although these certainly are some of the more entertaining and less dangerous theories out there.
Instead, it refers to how long conspiracy theories have circulated.
And while accurately pinpointing when conspiracy theories became a human phenomenon is obviously difficult, two psychologists from the university of Amsterdam done a pretty solid job of weighing up the evidence we do have.
It turns out conspiracy theories likely date back to our hunter-gatherer roots and have their origin in the fact that being suspicious of other groups led to increased safety and security.
Compounded over time and evolution favours the paranoid, but when you fast-forward to the advent of nation states and globalisation, this trend causes inevitable issues.
Modern chaos
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed an upper limit of 150 on the number of people we humans can maintain stable social relationships with. Here, Dunbar defined stable relationships in a way we can all relate, as “the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink if you happened to bump into them in a bar.”
This is obviously an estimate, but it’s an educated one. And it gives us some idea to the size of hunter-gatherer bands, and more importantly the limit to those that land inside our ‘circle of trust.’
With globalisation, however, there are no longer clearly defined boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Instead, we have this melting pot of different races, creeds and cultures, and the evolutionary gift of a naturally suspicious mind.
When looked at in this way, the violent instability that is a defining feature of our global society is sadly much less surprising.
What all of this does help with though, is an understanding that believing in conspiracy theories isn’t just some whacky trait of modern keyboard warriors, but instead a natural part of our evolutionary past.
The problem is, in modern society we needn’t depend on suspicion to survive. We have a system of law and order that means we don’t need to keep watch over our homes at night for an invading band of enemy tribesmen.
And so, much like an evolutionary hangover, the devil makes work for idle minds.
An information contagion
We live in a world where attention is highly coveted. As I write this piece, there is a part of me hoping it is well received. That, too, has become a norm and is often just a healthy desire for success or to have some humble impact on the world.
Throughout modern history, however, this desire for attention and impact can manifest itself in more notorious ways. And for those willing to go the extra mile in search of fame, weaving fantasy fiction into current events is one sure-fire way of garnering a huge amount of attention,
And so, due to the aforementioned hangover of suspicion, all around the world poorly constructed arguments are put forward and swallowed up by helpless victims of misinformation.
And I don’t call them victims lightly. They are victims. And their naturally suspicious minds are fertile ground for an information contagion to take root.
A conspiracy of trust
It doesn’t help that most governments tend to lie. A lot. And this leads to the public not trusting the government in general and fuels this whole mess even more.
Below are some findings from the fascinating Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report for 2019.
Of the respondents:
· 73% are worried about false information or fake news being used as a weapon
· Only 20% believe the system is working for them
· 64% of the UK’s informed public are trusting of the establishment
· Only 43% of the UK’s uninformed public are trusting
(*informed public is defined as being between 25–64, university educated, in the top 25% of household income per age group and those who report media consumption and political engagement.)
There are many more worrying figures in the report, and I’d recommend reading it. There’s another link to it in the references at the bottom.
What’s most noteworthy for me though, is that there’s a correlation between trust and being informed.
Education as a vaccine
Now this makes perfect sense. Let me demonstrate by way of simple example using a current conspiracy theory.
Recently, short video clips of a Netflix show called My Secret Terrius circulated online with a range of conspiratorial annotations. This was because the clip of the show from 2018 mentioned the following points:
· a coronavirus pandemic
· the virus attacked the respiratory system
· it required an incubation period of 2–14 days
Now let’s consider someone we’ll call Nick. Nick’s just heard the term coronavirus a few months ago in relation to this new virus and has since learnt its effect on the respiratory system and estimated incubation period.
If Nick was sent this video, he would be alarmed. It wouldn’t make sense to him that this was on a TV show, and there would be a gap in his mind between pieces of information that didn’t match up.
If this is presented to Nick alongside a theory that looks to ‘bridge the gap’ in his mind, he could be likely to believe this theory, however far-fetched. This is because our minds are designed in a way to make sense of the world around us, another evolutionary gift that has been vital to our survival.
Nick may then be likely to at least partially accept this theory.
Now let’s consider Kate. Kate’s a nurse and understands a little about viruses. She also knows the following:
· coronaviruses are a group of viruses including SARS and MERS which were first discovered in human form in the 1960s
· these diseases are known to attack the respiratory system
· they generally require incubation periods of 2–14 days
If Kate was sent this video, it’s very unlikely she’d be concerned. She would see there’s nothing on the video that wasn’t already common knowledge in many circles before it was made.
This is a very simple demonstration of how knowledge can play an important role in trust. Our uneducated receiver could buy the associated conspiracy theory hook, line and sinker. Their educated counterpart however wouldn’t see what all the fuss was about.
Now, you may be thinking…
So, what? Is it really so bad if people believe a bunch of innocent conspiracy theories?
I’m glad you asked.
Another evolutionary gift
Evolution has granted us a lot to be grateful for. But not everything has worked out as well as opposable thumbs. Another evolutionary gift that’s generally out of place in our world is our fight or flight mechanism.
This was an exceptionally useful tool in the wild. It allowed a surge in adrenaline so we could quickly evade predators or do battle with our foes.
In our modern society however, life is rife with non-existential threats. Everyday issues such as picking the kids up at 3pm or making sure you email that project off before noon are no doubt important things in our lives, but they don’t truly warrant the surge in adrenaline that they can elicit.
And, when our sympathetic nervous system is triggered by these common issues, it can lead to the increasing levels of stress and anxiety that are prevalent today.
Let’s consider Nick and Kate again.
After receiving the conspiracy theory in their inbox, Kate would probably look at it once and laugh it off.
Nick on the other hand may become quite stressed. His worldview has been challenged and now the world is a scary and dangerous place where malevolent forces are at play. Nick’s fight or flight mechanism could kick in, and his anxiety levels could be raised.
Now multiply this simple scenario by the millions of times these pieces of misinformation get shared and you begin to see the issue.
What’s more, the CDC have reported that stress affects to up to 90% of common illnesses, and the American Psychological Association have linked stress to all six of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.
A little less innocent? I’m just warming up.
Tragedy is real
Terrible things can and do happen in the world. They are right now. And it’s a bitch.
But accepting without credible evidence that such things can be attributed to vast and far-reaching conspiracies causes two problems.
First, it means that wild ideas without reliable evidence become the new norm. As a believer in the scientific method and all it has given us, I find any move away from this both alarming and potentially dangerous for future scientific progress as a whole.
At what point does this trend lead to public health decisions not being science-based, or government policy not relying on rigorous data?
Secondly, and even more worrying, it means that we no longer consider the real issues that lead to these terrible events.
If we believe, without proper scrutiny, that this virus is a biological weapon, we no longer question the socioeconomic issues that led to the pandemic in the first place. We ignore the inequality, hygiene and education issues that are really at the heart of the problem and we then miss the chance to prevent future outbreaks.
This is true of many other conspiracy theories too.
By believing the fantastical, we ignore the bland and boring but devastatingly real injustices that are happening the world over.
We chase ghosts up the stairs when our house is on fire.
Voter turnout in the UK has been dropping since its peak in 1950 at around 84%. Since the turn of the millennium, we’re lucky if we get 2 out of 3 people of those who can vote actually voting.
What’s worrying, is if we look at this alongside the earlier statistic:
· Only 20% believe the system is working for them
Let’s think about that for a second.
That means there are somewhere between 6 and 15 million people who believe the system doesn’t work but won’t bother voting.
Personally, I have relatively sensible and intelligent friends who didn’t vote. Their reason?
“If voting made a difference, they wouldn’t let you do it.”
And if anyone reading checks their own social media feeds around election time they’ll know this is an increasingly common view.
The irony is, that by believing democracy is a smokescreen, the resulting inaction leads to democracy being far less powerful and working for less people.
And since people are looking elsewhere for phantom evil overlords, political backroom deals take place that aren’t fantastical enough for conspiracy theorists to develop large online platforms with, and as such get left unchecked.
And this isn’t the only example.
Self-fulfilling prophecies
Some conspiracy theories are more dangerous than others. Let’s take those concerning the current global coronavirus pandemic.
Online, reports range from China releasing the virus intentionally due to the trade war with America, to Bill Gates releasing it so he can sell vaccines, to there not even being a virus at all and 5G towers are instead causing radiation poisoning.
Now, at first, I enjoyed reading these, as I do any shady work of fiction. But I was quickly brought back to earth when I realised how widely people believe some of these unfounded claims. And the potential consequences.
If people believe 5G is causing radiation poisoning and it’s not actually a virus, then they can stop taking the preventative measures that are literally saving hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.
If people believe Bill Gates is trying to push vaccines that are inherently bad for us, then people may not to get vaccinated when a COVID vaccination is developed. That could be catastrophic with regards to herd immunity.
We’re already seeing measles and whooping cough emerging in western countries decades after they were vanquished specifically due to those who are vetoing vaccinations.
Further than any of this though, if a large number of the public don’t believe this is exactly what it is, a preventable pandemic, then where will the cries for public health policy reform come from?
By believing this is all some master plan whereby evil geniuses play out their maleficent wishes, we could sleepwalk straight into another global pandemic that costs hundreds of thousands of lives.
What if you’re wrong?
Now, at this point, there may be a part of you wondering: well, Terry, what if you’re wrong and it is all one big conspiracy?
I get it. I have those same thoughts. And there’s nothing wrong with them. They remind us that we should question everything.
And I am a firm believer in this lesson of life. Without questioning we will never see progress. But that questioning nature must extend to conspiracy theories too. They must stand up to the same scrutiny as the structures they challenge.
The systems in place that make up our local, national and global society are well documented and studied by countless academics in a range of fields. There is so much evidence that these systems are more or less exactly the way they are supposed to be that there is very little left to the imagination when you look at them in any real detail.
As such, the burden of proof must lie with the challenger theories. And sadly, that is rarely, if ever, the case. And that’s because conspiracies are formed due to emotive drives, not reason.
The why at the centre
Instead of evidence, conspiracy theorists will instead put forward a wide range of claims supporting their narrative, but often these are contradictory or don’t stand up to even the lightest of scrutiny.
One obvious and relatively harmless example is the belief that the Earth is flat.
Those in favour of this theory, dubbed flat-earthers, tend to cling to it with an almost religious fervour. Naturally, they don’t tend to grasp the essential properties of science that we now take for granted, so delving into debate over these is often hopeless. Instead, the better option is to question the purpose of such a far-reaching conspiracy.
A scheme that would have taken tens of thousands of scientists, engineers, aviation specialists and countless others to collude with over the course of history should surely have a solid foundation of why.
This tends to be where many conspiracy theories break down, or quickly become fantasy-fiction. Generally, all roads lead one way: some evil group aim to suppress true knowledge for their own power and gain. The fact this supremely powerful group felt the internet was and is admissible still doesn’t break the flat-earther’s steely façade.
It’s not the purpose of this article, though, to dismantle the paper-thin arguments conspiracy theorists put forward. This is the issue with the disease. It attacks rationality and preys upon emotion, distorting the mind of its host and turning their beliefs into attachments. This is at the point where rationality dies.
If you argue rationally and logically for longer than five minutes, most conspiracy theorists will resort to one of two options:
· Anger or some other reason to end the debate
or
· An increasing number of comments along the lines of “well that will be because {insert current cool name for evil entity here} doesn’t want it to make sense.”
This is a complete move away from open and reasonable debate and instead into a world where logic or reason cannot reach the elusive truther.
21st century skills
Critical thinking is a skill. It lies upon solid foundations of analysis, reason and probability, and it can be taught. But it must be done so purposefully and consciously.
Our education systems teach subject matter. Subject matter is great, it’s useful and it expands our kids’ holistic understanding of the world. But it’s simply no longer sufficient without additional skills that are suited to the age in which we live.
We spend our days being bombarded with information. Estimates say around 34 gigabytes of info every single day. Without vigilant assessment techniques we can easily become overwhelmed, or worse, succumb to dangerous biases.
Let’s use a realistic hypothetical situation to show how this can happen.
Say you’ve got no strong opinions about whether abortion should be legal, because you don’t have children and you’ve never thought about the topic in much depth. But the election is coming up, and it’s likely to become a big debate used to distinguish between two political candidates. You know you should become more informed on this topic.
The online data-driven algorithms work their magic and you begin seeing articles around abortion, from both a pro-choice and pro-life perspective. You read what you have time to and begin forming a strong opinion in one direction. This informs your vote and stays with you for years to come.
Sound harmless? Well, it could be.
But if the source of the information that you read that swayed your decision was based on made-up science, unverified human accounts and was done so to manipulate you into your bias, would you still say this was harmless? Probably not.
This is what is happening all over the world now. People are being influenced by lies and allowing those same lies to shape their opinions on a range of important matters.
Because Facebook said so
You can’t open a door without letting in a draft. This disease of data spreads through our information highways and into our homes every single day. There is no avoiding it entirely, other than digital seclusion.
And while there is definitely an argument for that, at least in short spells, it’s unlikely the majority of us can give up our social media accounts, email addresses and networking apps forever.
The usual social media platforms obviously play a large part here, but they can’t shoulder the bulk of the blame. They are simply a medium through which this spreads.
Additionally, censorship runs contradictory to the freedom of speech upon which democracy is built. Even the most minor amendments that erode this freedom must be done so extremely carefully and as a last resort.
There is of course an argument for social media platforms to do something, and the main players are beginning to take heed and tag fake news accordingly, but that only adds fuel to the fire. The maxim goes like this: if they’re suppressing it, they don’t want you to know the truth. Because posts only get censored to stop the spreading of truth, silly.
The real issue at the heart of the matter is in our collective inability to think critically. And, much like this problem here, the more we focus elsewhere on tricks and gimmicks like censorship, the more we avoid dealing with the problem at the core.
Fighting back
So, what can we do?
Well, we have the infrastructure set up already to begin making a change. It’s the same one that’s used to spread this misinformation.
What gives this virus strength, is also the chink in its armour: our interconnectedness.
The battle won’t be won overnight. But for the sake of our shared future, it’s one of the most important battles there is, simply because it impacts all others.
And everyone can play their part.
Don’t share
If you see something online, don’t share it until you’re sure you trust the source of the information.
This doesn’t mean if you trust the person sharing it, though. Just because you trust your mate doesn’t mean that outrageous post he’s just shared around immigration is necessarily true.
The source is where the original post comes from. And if there isn’t a source, this is often a red flag for misinformation.
You can google the information quite easily and check it against the following fact checking sites:
Simply type the claim in to either site for a detailed report as to whether there’s any credibility behind it.
Additionally, if the source is from a mainstream media outlet, you can verify that outlet against the following media bias checker that details the outlet’s inherent bias as well as the level of factual reporting present.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com
Question
If the claim being made is first hand, and you feel confident enough to do so, ask where the information comes from.
If the person telling you can’t point you in the right direction, this can be another red flag signalling false information.
If this is being shared online for a group of people, and again you feel able to do so, question the source of the information in the comments.
The idea here is to make challenging the credibility of information the norm and not the exception. Evidence should always stand up to scrutiny, not run from it.
Discuss
Discussion is one of the oldest and healthiest forms of sharpening our critical thinking skills. There’s so much we can learn by questioning, challenging and debating the points on any topic.
As above though, if people are unwilling to engage in healthy and open debate this can often mean that their knowledge is limited on the subject.
Of course, some people just avoid debate for personal reasons, so always be respectful of that. Arguments and a poor attitude can further alienate those people we’re trying to bring back into the fold, so always speak respectfully and remember the emotional nature of the topic.
We can work together and ensure the age of information becomes the age of wisdom, or we can allow a lack of critical thinking the steer us towards division, fearmongering and the death of truth.
The choice is ours, collectively.
The Edelman Trust Report: https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2019-03/2019_Edelman_Trust_Barometer_Global_Report.pdf?utm_source=website&utm_medium=global_report&utm_campaign=downloads
