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Conspiracy theorists aren't gullible. Alice in Wonderland/Walt Disney
On June 28 2001, the notorious conspiracy writer and broadcaster Milton William Cooper gave a broadcast from his hilltop Arizona studio. “Can you believe what you’re seeing on CNN today, ladies and gentlemen?” he asked.
Wasn’t it strange, he suggested, that after the CIA had failed for years to find Osama bin Laden, somehow a regular camera crew had found his secret hideout and conducted an interview? Bin Laden was a US intelligence asset, Cooper asserted, and something was now afoot. “I’m telling you to be prepared for a major attack!” he declared.
This attack, Cooper asserted, would be blamed on bin Laden. Two and a half months later, two planes flew into the Twin Towers. On that day, Cooper made a number of further predictions: the US would respond with bombs, somewhere or other; and shortly after that, new laws would impose draconian restrictions on the rights of American citizens.
Cooper later made one further forecast: “They’re going to kill me, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. Less than two months later, it happened. Makes you think, doesn’t it? Or perhaps it really was just a case of a far-Right nutjob resisting arrest for fraud. Cooper was certainly eccentric: among many other things, his 1991 book, Behold A Pale Horse — reportedly one of the most shoplifted titles in America, as well as one of the most commonly read in prison — claimed JFK was assassinated to prevent a secret pact with space aliens.
But whether or not his death really was a political assassination, the paranoid, colourful mindset inaugurated by his book is no longer unusual. In the course of what Venkatesh Rao calls “The Great Weirding”, the triumph of digital over print media has brought a sense of reality coming somehow unstuck. In its wake, conspiracy discourse has become so common it barely registers as such. Recent headlines on train derailments in Ohio, Texas, and South Carolina, for example, swiftly coalesced online with the Chinese spy balloon and three other mysterious “lying objects” shot down recently to become a lively new thread in the ever-evolving conspiracy narrative.
And this mindset isn’t confined to America: according to UnHerd Britain polling this week, 38% of Britons agree that “the world is controlled by a secretive elite”. This rising tide of feral hermeneutics has prompted a great deal of anxious commentary in recent years, as well as a growing corpus of (often themselves highly politicised) censorship regimes and self-appointed organisations dedicated to “fighting disinformation”. But it is a mistake to imagine that myth-making can be always “debunked”, no matter how superficially absurd its claims. And pointing out that conspiracy stories aren’t literally true misses the important sense in which, very often, they are.
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SubscribeThere is the slight problem where what seems like almost everything that is labeled as a “conspiracy theory” these days turns out to later to be true. Remember all the things lately denounced as wild conspiracies? The possibility of a lab leak, social media shadow banning, illegal domestic surveillance programs, Russiagate being a set up, widespread rioting coverups, suppressing doctors on Covid-19, Soros funded prosecutors letting violent criminals go, propaganda in news media, ignoring border enforcement etc. are now fact. Hell, just look at the latest documents the CIA was forced to release about the Kennedy Assassination. I’m sorry, what was that about Oswald being a CIA asset!? It is at the point where even if they had no involvement, everything looks very suspicious. For years I thought the old guys I used to work with who would go on and on about MK ULTRA, COINTELPRO, and the Church Commission were a little crazy. Now I am wondering if I should have listened more.
That doesn’t sound like everything at all. The lab leak theory wasn’t ever a conspiracy either, it was merely a plausible observation.
Not at all. In the US at least it was immediately denounced as a right wing conspiracy theory.
And everywhere else too.
And everywhere else too.
Not at all. In the US at least it was immediately denounced as a right wing conspiracy theory.
It is not mutually exclusive for a conspiracy theory to turn out later to have been accurate. What it means is that, prior to there being incontrovertible proof, there was a period where it was believed regardless of whether it was true. There are sporadic instances of this happening.
That doesn’t sound like everything at all. The lab leak theory wasn’t ever a conspiracy either, it was merely a plausible observation.
It is not mutually exclusive for a conspiracy theory to turn out later to have been accurate. What it means is that, prior to there being incontrovertible proof, there was a period where it was believed regardless of whether it was true. There are sporadic instances of this happening.
There is the slight problem where what seems like almost everything that is labeled as a “conspiracy theory” these days turns out to later to be true. Remember all the things lately denounced as wild conspiracies? The possibility of a lab leak, social media shadow banning, illegal domestic surveillance programs, Russiagate being a set up, widespread rioting coverups, suppressing doctors on Covid-19, Soros funded prosecutors letting violent criminals go, propaganda in news media, ignoring border enforcement etc. are now fact. Hell, just look at the latest documents the CIA was forced to release about the Kennedy Assassination. I’m sorry, what was that about Oswald being a CIA asset!? It is at the point where even if they had no involvement, everything looks very suspicious. For years I thought the old guys I used to work with who would go on and on about MK ULTRA, COINTELPRO, and the Church Commission were a little crazy. Now I am wondering if I should have listened more.
Briliant article even by MH’s standards.
Seconded, wonderful
Yup, quite outstanding. I’m saving this one to share with the people I meet who try to dismiss one’s concerns, eg re gender ideology driven by ill-concealed misogyny, homophobia and paedophilia, as a ‘conspiracy theory’.
Excellent article, Mary Harrington thinking outside the box once again. However re her statement that “Today, tales of gods, monsters, and heroism are largely treated as nonsense for kids” – Not sure I agree with this, after all plenty of adults lap up Marvel, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings etc.
How many of them take the additional step of wondering what those “myths” tell us about ourselves, though?
Not many I imagine. You can argue the toss as to whether lessons can be learned from watching Thor, rings of power etc. But perhaps the salient point is the obvious one: more and more of us are happy to vanish into a virtual world heavily abstracted from reality.
Not many I imagine. You can argue the toss as to whether lessons can be learned from watching Thor, rings of power etc. But perhaps the salient point is the obvious one: more and more of us are happy to vanish into a virtual world heavily abstracted from reality.
How many of them take the additional step of wondering what those “myths” tell us about ourselves, though?
Yes, excellent
I think Mary hit the nail squarely. A very narrow overton window, policed by keyboard-fanatics and “officialdom”. Undeniable facts plus blanket denials led to weird interpretations.
Is the ‘bill gates tracking chip’ really that far different from the vax-pass that was tracking us? The former may sound crazy, but less so when you realise that the tracking chip is technically feasible. It’s plausible that a non-techy attempt to describe the vax-pass could sound like this.
Worse, there’s evidence that we’ve been subjected to propaganda from our ‘own side’ with intelligence organisations and others stirring the pot with mis/disinformation, such as the chip, that seemed to fit the facts. I believe some of these viewpoints were planted in the msm to cloud the issue and make ‘us’ look ridiculous in the eyes of others. But do you remember the Swedish scientist who in 2021 actually developed such a chip for subcutaneous use? Not so crazy now…
I’ve been wrestling with my thoughts on this since the CT insult was thrown my way for a very reasonable observation. The way it shut down any possible progress in the discussion infuriated me. It was my brother, and we’re still not right…
I’ve tried, with limited success, to distinguish between “fishy goings on” and my interpretation of them. In the dark months of lockdown, I began to scare myself because the ‘dark’ interpretation fit very well. It still fits scarily well.
It’s hard to broach these topics now. The conversations have been thoroughly polluted by the very effective tactics we were subjected to.
My family are entirely uninterested and want me to drop the subject, refusing neither to engage nor refute while simultaneously claiming I’m just plain wrong.
If I make any attempt, I’ll be sure to hear the words “Conspiracy Theory” fairly quickly.
Yes. You’ve left Plato’s cave, had a good look around, and tried to raise the alarm (now there’s an example of an allegorical truth that has stood the test of time!). The captives looking at the images projected on to the cave wall remain nonplussed, to say the least. The narrative control really is poisonous to human relationships because it distorts perceptions of the truth. If you don’t have a basic shared understanding of what is true, there is no basis for a meaningful relationship. It’s incredibly frustrating and, in some cases, heartbreaking.
The optimist in me says that more and more people are coming to a sense that something is seriously wrong, that the “blue team” ought no longer to be trusted even if they still prefer them to the reds, but they can’t quite put their finger on what is wrong. There’s a whispering among the captives in the cave that is getting louder – why, the Guardian’s own Larry Elliott this week wrote an opinion piece effectively declaring his support for the Great Barrington Declaration https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/12/price-britain-paid-lockdown-colossal-alternative-recession-austerity-stagnation. Welcome to the party, Larry! That would have been unthinkable two years ago.
I think we just have to keep going. Keep saying what we think, do it (through gritted teeth if necessary) with a smile on our perennially bare faces, admit it if we get things not quite right, and keep trying to remind ourselves that whatever insults are hurled at us our troglodyte friends and family – they are not the enemy. The real enemy is the one that put them in the cave in the first place. Who that might be exactly is another question.
I seem to recall a meme circulating during one of the lockdowns, regarding conspiracy theories, historically, going from theory to fact in 50 plus years until covid when the time shifted to roughly 6 months.
Yes. You’ve left Plato’s cave, had a good look around, and tried to raise the alarm (now there’s an example of an allegorical truth that has stood the test of time!). The captives looking at the images projected on to the cave wall remain nonplussed, to say the least. The narrative control really is poisonous to human relationships because it distorts perceptions of the truth. If you don’t have a basic shared understanding of what is true, there is no basis for a meaningful relationship. It’s incredibly frustrating and, in some cases, heartbreaking.
The optimist in me says that more and more people are coming to a sense that something is seriously wrong, that the “blue team” ought no longer to be trusted even if they still prefer them to the reds, but they can’t quite put their finger on what is wrong. There’s a whispering among the captives in the cave that is getting louder – why, the Guardian’s own Larry Elliott this week wrote an opinion piece effectively declaring his support for the Great Barrington Declaration https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/12/price-britain-paid-lockdown-colossal-alternative-recession-austerity-stagnation. Welcome to the party, Larry! That would have been unthinkable two years ago.
I think we just have to keep going. Keep saying what we think, do it (through gritted teeth if necessary) with a smile on our perennially bare faces, admit it if we get things not quite right, and keep trying to remind ourselves that whatever insults are hurled at us our troglodyte friends and family – they are not the enemy. The real enemy is the one that put them in the cave in the first place. Who that might be exactly is another question.
I seem to recall a meme circulating during one of the lockdowns, regarding conspiracy theories, historically, going from theory to fact in 50 plus years until covid when the time shifted to roughly 6 months.
Seconded, wonderful
Yup, quite outstanding. I’m saving this one to share with the people I meet who try to dismiss one’s concerns, eg re gender ideology driven by ill-concealed misogyny, homophobia and paedophilia, as a ‘conspiracy theory’.
Excellent article, Mary Harrington thinking outside the box once again. However re her statement that “Today, tales of gods, monsters, and heroism are largely treated as nonsense for kids” – Not sure I agree with this, after all plenty of adults lap up Marvel, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings etc.
Yes, excellent
I think Mary hit the nail squarely. A very narrow overton window, policed by keyboard-fanatics and “officialdom”. Undeniable facts plus blanket denials led to weird interpretations.
Is the ‘bill gates tracking chip’ really that far different from the vax-pass that was tracking us? The former may sound crazy, but less so when you realise that the tracking chip is technically feasible. It’s plausible that a non-techy attempt to describe the vax-pass could sound like this.
Worse, there’s evidence that we’ve been subjected to propaganda from our ‘own side’ with intelligence organisations and others stirring the pot with mis/disinformation, such as the chip, that seemed to fit the facts. I believe some of these viewpoints were planted in the msm to cloud the issue and make ‘us’ look ridiculous in the eyes of others. But do you remember the Swedish scientist who in 2021 actually developed such a chip for subcutaneous use? Not so crazy now…
I’ve been wrestling with my thoughts on this since the CT insult was thrown my way for a very reasonable observation. The way it shut down any possible progress in the discussion infuriated me. It was my brother, and we’re still not right…
I’ve tried, with limited success, to distinguish between “fishy goings on” and my interpretation of them. In the dark months of lockdown, I began to scare myself because the ‘dark’ interpretation fit very well. It still fits scarily well.
It’s hard to broach these topics now. The conversations have been thoroughly polluted by the very effective tactics we were subjected to.
My family are entirely uninterested and want me to drop the subject, refusing neither to engage nor refute while simultaneously claiming I’m just plain wrong.
If I make any attempt, I’ll be sure to hear the words “Conspiracy Theory” fairly quickly.
Briliant article even by MH’s standards.
As noted in the comments yesterday, the question in the poll wasn’t perhaps the best one. In my view, the replies reflect rising populist dissent against the elite technocrats rather than beliefs in pizzagate or lizard people.
Over the past few days we have had the vast World Government Summit in Dubai. This year’s title was ‘Shaping World Governments’. You can hardly make it more obvious what your intentions are. Elon Musk gets it; in a remote speech, he explicitly warned them about the dangers of ONE world government.
Klaus Schwab was there (naturally) declaring that the tech, including AI and biotech, is now going exponential, the world will be unrecognisable in 10 years’ time, and the masters of the technology will be the masters of the world. Of course, all the usual suspects are listed as partners, including the WEF, UN, WTO, World Bank, OECD, WHO etc.
Then in May, we have a meeting and decision on the WHO’s Pandemic Treaty, which many view as a straightforward assault on the sovereignty of individual countries, giving it the power to order global lockdowns. Hardly anybody is aware of this treaty; nothing in the MSM, but you can find it on the WHO website.
Whilst the MSM keeps a lid on it, the information is all out there; the WEF website, as Mary notes, is an eye-opener. We also have the worrying threats to our individual liberties raised by systematic AI-monitored mass surveillance, biometric digital ID, CBDCs, global vaccine passports, and personal carbon credits, all things that are coming. 15-minute cities are becoming fashionable.
Nobody is controlling it all, but there is a pervasive technocratic ideology that the ordering of the world is the business of elite interests and not something that can be left to the plebs to decide on. For them, we can present the illusion of living in a democracy, where at the next election a technocrat will replace another technocrat.
The article calls this the post-democratic era. Yanis Varoufakis calls it technofeudalism. Writers from across the political spectrum are increasingly noting that Klaus Schwab’s stakeholder capitalism, the merging of state and corporate interests, looks more than a little like Mussolini’s fascism. This time though, it looks increasingly global with the addition of the abovementioned transnational bodies.
Now that awareness is reaching critical mass the real question is: can we do anything to stop it? If so, what? The billionaires now hold almost all the cards.
Don’t forget the behind closed doors informal pre-meeting involving WHO “stakeholders” (ie big tech, big pharma, the usual crowd) 4 to 6 weeks before the World Health Assembly in May. No record, no minutes, not even an attendee list. This innovation was first agreed in 2021. This is why so many people believe secretive elites control the world. They are literally hiding in plain sight.
How do we stop it? Don’t comply. Peaceful resistance. Be willing to incur temporary inconvenience in order not to live by lies. It won’t take long for it to come crashing down because it’s all so fake and meaningless. The (perhaps well intentioned) billionaires don’t hold all the cards, but they very much want us to believe they do.
‘Hardly anybody is aware of this treaty; nothing in the MSM, but you can find it on the WHO website.’
Nothing in the MSM because those who sponsor the WEF also own vast swathes of the mainstream media.
‘Hardly anybody is aware of this treaty; nothing in the MSM, but you can find it on the WHO website.’
Nothing in the MSM because those who sponsor the WEF also own vast swathes of the mainstream media.
Another thing is for sure. If we continue to move away from in-person elections, democracy, as we know it, is over.
Because of its digital nature, we can’t even be sure if those are legit, honestly. Though I agree with the sentiment. Seems the best we can do is gather a community around ourselves that is as self sufficient as possible to weather the storm. I almost guarantee that “winter is coming”… it’s been in the works for a long time now
Have just read, again, C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength. Sadly, “Belbury” seems to be in the ascendant, for now. However, I also remember Puddleglub’s power in The Silver Chair, to break the spell by stubbornly refusing to assent to what he knew to be Fake News. Of course, he had the advantage in a Lewisian universe of not being fully human, one remembers it was the loyal animals of Narnia, being less deceived by language, who kept the faith. But we can, indeed we must, all be the little boy in The Emperor’s New Clothes.
Have just read, again, C.S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength. Sadly, “Belbury” seems to be in the ascendant, for now. However, I also remember Puddleglub’s power in The Silver Chair, to break the spell by stubbornly refusing to assent to what he knew to be Fake News. Of course, he had the advantage in a Lewisian universe of not being fully human, one remembers it was the loyal animals of Narnia, being less deceived by language, who kept the faith. But we can, indeed we must, all be the little boy in The Emperor’s New Clothes.
Because of its digital nature, we can’t even be sure if those are legit, honestly. Though I agree with the sentiment. Seems the best we can do is gather a community around ourselves that is as self sufficient as possible to weather the storm. I almost guarantee that “winter is coming”… it’s been in the works for a long time now
Pitchforks and Tumbrils come to mind!
Don’t forget the behind closed doors informal pre-meeting involving WHO “stakeholders” (ie big tech, big pharma, the usual crowd) 4 to 6 weeks before the World Health Assembly in May. No record, no minutes, not even an attendee list. This innovation was first agreed in 2021. This is why so many people believe secretive elites control the world. They are literally hiding in plain sight.
How do we stop it? Don’t comply. Peaceful resistance. Be willing to incur temporary inconvenience in order not to live by lies. It won’t take long for it to come crashing down because it’s all so fake and meaningless. The (perhaps well intentioned) billionaires don’t hold all the cards, but they very much want us to believe they do.
Another thing is for sure. If we continue to move away from in-person elections, democracy, as we know it, is over.
Pitchforks and Tumbrils come to mind!
As noted in the comments yesterday, the question in the poll wasn’t perhaps the best one. In my view, the replies reflect rising populist dissent against the elite technocrats rather than beliefs in pizzagate or lizard people.
Over the past few days we have had the vast World Government Summit in Dubai. This year’s title was ‘Shaping World Governments’. You can hardly make it more obvious what your intentions are. Elon Musk gets it; in a remote speech, he explicitly warned them about the dangers of ONE world government.
Klaus Schwab was there (naturally) declaring that the tech, including AI and biotech, is now going exponential, the world will be unrecognisable in 10 years’ time, and the masters of the technology will be the masters of the world. Of course, all the usual suspects are listed as partners, including the WEF, UN, WTO, World Bank, OECD, WHO etc.
Then in May, we have a meeting and decision on the WHO’s Pandemic Treaty, which many view as a straightforward assault on the sovereignty of individual countries, giving it the power to order global lockdowns. Hardly anybody is aware of this treaty; nothing in the MSM, but you can find it on the WHO website.
Whilst the MSM keeps a lid on it, the information is all out there; the WEF website, as Mary notes, is an eye-opener. We also have the worrying threats to our individual liberties raised by systematic AI-monitored mass surveillance, biometric digital ID, CBDCs, global vaccine passports, and personal carbon credits, all things that are coming. 15-minute cities are becoming fashionable.
Nobody is controlling it all, but there is a pervasive technocratic ideology that the ordering of the world is the business of elite interests and not something that can be left to the plebs to decide on. For them, we can present the illusion of living in a democracy, where at the next election a technocrat will replace another technocrat.
The article calls this the post-democratic era. Yanis Varoufakis calls it technofeudalism. Writers from across the political spectrum are increasingly noting that Klaus Schwab’s stakeholder capitalism, the merging of state and corporate interests, looks more than a little like Mussolini’s fascism. This time though, it looks increasingly global with the addition of the abovementioned transnational bodies.
Now that awareness is reaching critical mass the real question is: can we do anything to stop it? If so, what? The billionaires now hold almost all the cards.
A truly wonderful piece of writing, thank you.
The politically powerful, and the relatively powerless, have long recognised the power of effective storytelling. Hence the attempt at the deceptive “Great Narrative”, but also hence folklore and, in fact, early Christianity. Stories that might be literally untrue but which have possess a high-carat allegorical truth survive and get reinforced by our underlying reality, those that do not get suffocated by it.
It’s a brilliant observation that education now disconnects one from the underlying reality of things, denies any kind of spirituality or mystique in its deceptive overstatement of the power of positivist empiricism, and teaches one to believe in simplifying, deceptive, theoretical constructs against one’s better judgment and sense. It makes me think of a lot of Paul Kingsnorth’s work on spiritual connection with the land, family, and home. Like Wild E Coyote spinning his legs in the air after he has run over a cliff, theoretical constructs can be kept going for some time if enough people keep genuinely believing in them. But sooner or later, reality invades and it all comes crashing down.
A lot of people are going to be very upset and psychologically scarred when they realise that the deceptive ideological narratives that they enthusiastically bought into – whether that’s woke social justice, net zero, zero covid, perpetual economic growth in a contingent world of limits, or whatever – turn out not to be the 24 carat gold they thought they were but instead are revealed as brittle, hollow, painted fakeries, peddled by power-greedy swindlers and honest but gullible merchants, many of whom were themselves deceived to the extent that they struggle to tell fact from fiction. It’s not going to be pleasant but the sooner people wake up and smell the coffee the better it is going to be for everyone, deceived and deceivers alike.
Your attempt to link “early Christianity” with Pizzagate and the Brothers Grimm seems like a category error. I don’t think Mary’s point is that “anything people believe that I think goes against the weight of evidence” should be lumped into one category.
If it looks like folklore and quacks like folklore, it’s folklore. The Epistle to the Romans (e.g.) does not quack like folklore.
True. Not many myths last 2000 years and inspire hundreds of millions of people to change their lives, build magnificent cathedrals to worship in and create some of the most appreciated artwork on the planet.
Fair point. I think there is a lot of allegorical, and indeed literal, truth in the New Testament. But Paul the Apostle doesn’t have a monopoly on the allegorical truth, and some folklore that is not explicitly Christian does contain important truths.
Agreed. Unless he’s including Constantine’s move to make it a state religion (and delete a good number of the books in order to skew the narrative) as “early Christianity”
True. Not many myths last 2000 years and inspire hundreds of millions of people to change their lives, build magnificent cathedrals to worship in and create some of the most appreciated artwork on the planet.
Fair point. I think there is a lot of allegorical, and indeed literal, truth in the New Testament. But Paul the Apostle doesn’t have a monopoly on the allegorical truth, and some folklore that is not explicitly Christian does contain important truths.
Agreed. Unless he’s including Constantine’s move to make it a state religion (and delete a good number of the books in order to skew the narrative) as “early Christianity”
Your attempt to link “early Christianity” with Pizzagate and the Brothers Grimm seems like a category error. I don’t think Mary’s point is that “anything people believe that I think goes against the weight of evidence” should be lumped into one category.
If it looks like folklore and quacks like folklore, it’s folklore. The Epistle to the Romans (e.g.) does not quack like folklore.
A truly wonderful piece of writing, thank you.
The politically powerful, and the relatively powerless, have long recognised the power of effective storytelling. Hence the attempt at the deceptive “Great Narrative”, but also hence folklore and, in fact, early Christianity. Stories that might be literally untrue but which have possess a high-carat allegorical truth survive and get reinforced by our underlying reality, those that do not get suffocated by it.
It’s a brilliant observation that education now disconnects one from the underlying reality of things, denies any kind of spirituality or mystique in its deceptive overstatement of the power of positivist empiricism, and teaches one to believe in simplifying, deceptive, theoretical constructs against one’s better judgment and sense. It makes me think of a lot of Paul Kingsnorth’s work on spiritual connection with the land, family, and home. Like Wild E Coyote spinning his legs in the air after he has run over a cliff, theoretical constructs can be kept going for some time if enough people keep genuinely believing in them. But sooner or later, reality invades and it all comes crashing down.
A lot of people are going to be very upset and psychologically scarred when they realise that the deceptive ideological narratives that they enthusiastically bought into – whether that’s woke social justice, net zero, zero covid, perpetual economic growth in a contingent world of limits, or whatever – turn out not to be the 24 carat gold they thought they were but instead are revealed as brittle, hollow, painted fakeries, peddled by power-greedy swindlers and honest but gullible merchants, many of whom were themselves deceived to the extent that they struggle to tell fact from fiction. It’s not going to be pleasant but the sooner people wake up and smell the coffee the better it is going to be for everyone, deceived and deceivers alike.
A bureaucratic society is a factual society, but only if those facts are approved facts. Allegory not only become unwelcome, it becomes an enemy that must be defeated. Autocratic minds dislike the very concept of ambiguity upon which allegory relies.
Covid certainly showed us that most people hate ambiguity and just want to be told what to do.
Covid certainly showed us that most people hate ambiguity and just want to be told what to do.
A bureaucratic society is a factual society, but only if those facts are approved facts. Allegory not only become unwelcome, it becomes an enemy that must be defeated. Autocratic minds dislike the very concept of ambiguity upon which allegory relies.
For me unnerving – and, possibly, for the author as well – is humankind’s response these past three years that has effectively left each one of us exposed, defenseless and alone.
So to suggest that ‘no one (caused this)’ is patently false. We did this to ourselves. If true, then it falls on each one of us to understand that what is happening has less to do with something out there being done to us than a future we ourselves will invoke.
If so, each one of us is faced with a choice: a (Yuval) Hararian future in which the algorithm knows me better than I know myself or an (Iain) McGilchristian world rich in humanness that hasn’t been stripped of meaning and atomised into facts. The former is to capitulate; the latter is to say no.
“A future we ourselves will invoke”.
Absolutely, but i can’t agree with the limitations you place on the choices we face. There’s a human need to try to see stark choices, to try to simplify (or clarify) things, but the choices we face are as yet unknowable. They will also change over time, and i take this from the point of view that we’re still a young species, trying to work out how we came to be here and whether – if our true nature is knowable – we have the courage to come to terms with it.
In other words, i’d put the choices we tell ourselves we face in the same category as story-telling, myths and conspiracy theories.
Hi Steve. I’m less equanimous than you seem to be. These feel very much like end times to me: lab spike circulating in millions upon millions of bodies for months on end, attaching to vital organs triggering heaven-knows-what. CRISPR gene drives now passé. Surveillance technologies ubiquitous. Vaccine passports, social credit scores and CBDCs no longer academic. Geoengineering. The list seems endless. Nope. The future is closing in in us fast, and soon – if not already – it’ll be too late, as there’ll be no turning back.
I am not as disheartened as you – but I do think one of the great flaws in progressive thinking is that change leads to better things. It doesn’t always – and we are definitely in a period of accelerating technological change. Intelligent Chatbots alone are going to have all kinds of impacts – some good – many bad.
I am not as disheartened as you – but I do think one of the great flaws in progressive thinking is that change leads to better things. It doesn’t always – and we are definitely in a period of accelerating technological change. Intelligent Chatbots alone are going to have all kinds of impacts – some good – many bad.
Hi Steve. I’m less equanimous than you seem to be. These feel very much like end times to me: lab spike circulating in millions upon millions of bodies for months on end, attaching to vital organs triggering heaven-knows-what. CRISPR gene drives now passé. Surveillance technologies ubiquitous. Vaccine passports, social credit scores and CBDCs no longer academic. Geoengineering. The list seems endless. Nope. The future is closing in in us fast, and soon – if not already – it’ll be too late, as there’ll be no turning back.
“A future we ourselves will invoke”.
Absolutely, but i can’t agree with the limitations you place on the choices we face. There’s a human need to try to see stark choices, to try to simplify (or clarify) things, but the choices we face are as yet unknowable. They will also change over time, and i take this from the point of view that we’re still a young species, trying to work out how we came to be here and whether – if our true nature is knowable – we have the courage to come to terms with it.
In other words, i’d put the choices we tell ourselves we face in the same category as story-telling, myths and conspiracy theories.
For me unnerving – and, possibly, for the author as well – is humankind’s response these past three years that has effectively left each one of us exposed, defenseless and alone.
So to suggest that ‘no one (caused this)’ is patently false. We did this to ourselves. If true, then it falls on each one of us to understand that what is happening has less to do with something out there being done to us than a future we ourselves will invoke.
If so, each one of us is faced with a choice: a (Yuval) Hararian future in which the algorithm knows me better than I know myself or an (Iain) McGilchristian world rich in humanness that hasn’t been stripped of meaning and atomised into facts. The former is to capitulate; the latter is to say no.
Mary – its all true, everything you listed, although that is mere scratching the surface, it goes deeper.
And that’s why everyone should watch ‘Salty Cracker’ ReeeeRee
https://rumble.com/v29p1ms-biden-crime-family-exposed-reeeeee-stream-02-15-23.html
Although my posts always get deleted if I link to him.
Any of the dark individuals he talks of, Biden, Clause Schwab, Fink, and so on – he always mentions their habits of having unlawful relations with children and of eating them….
See Mary – it is a conspiracy theory which is now ubiquitous –
Remember the old WWG1WGA? I do miss them – and their core belief in the Elites and children – I would not doubt it. After total wealth, money means nothing, just a means to Power. And power corrupts, and the normal pleasures becomes bland to the Jaded powerful – when even the depravities have become dull – that is the last level for the evil to go….
But then I believe in Good and Evil. I believe ultimate Good exists – and that means the converse as well…
I almost believe in Lizards….
Mary’s hairdresser would like to meet you.
She will have to join the queue behind David Icke.
She will have to join the queue behind David Icke.
Mary’s hairdresser would like to meet you.
Mary – its all true, everything you listed, although that is mere scratching the surface, it goes deeper.
And that’s why everyone should watch ‘Salty Cracker’ ReeeeRee
https://rumble.com/v29p1ms-biden-crime-family-exposed-reeeeee-stream-02-15-23.html
Although my posts always get deleted if I link to him.
Any of the dark individuals he talks of, Biden, Clause Schwab, Fink, and so on – he always mentions their habits of having unlawful relations with children and of eating them….
See Mary – it is a conspiracy theory which is now ubiquitous –
Remember the old WWG1WGA? I do miss them – and their core belief in the Elites and children – I would not doubt it. After total wealth, money means nothing, just a means to Power. And power corrupts, and the normal pleasures becomes bland to the Jaded powerful – when even the depravities have become dull – that is the last level for the evil to go….
But then I believe in Good and Evil. I believe ultimate Good exists – and that means the converse as well…
I almost believe in Lizards….
Allegories are a way of promoting subversive thoughts in an abstract manner.
Allegories are a way of promoting subversive thoughts in an abstract manner.
When you reject objective truth for maintaining the narrative, no matter how many times reality gets in the way, that’s the time conspiracy theories begin to flourish. With social media and algorithms amplifying binary positions creating a positive feedback look. The only position is to keep on doubling down.
When you reject objective truth for maintaining the narrative, no matter how many times reality gets in the way, that’s the time conspiracy theories begin to flourish. With social media and algorithms amplifying binary positions creating a positive feedback look. The only position is to keep on doubling down.
What the author is describing – and describing very well – is a sort of crowd-sourced understanding of reality that may be less than wholly accurate in its details but still captures the Big Picture. Great column.
What the author is describing – and describing very well – is a sort of crowd-sourced understanding of reality that may be less than wholly accurate in its details but still captures the Big Picture. Great column.
Conspiracy theory as Allegory is such a great insight – the facts may not be true, but the sentiment is.
In current times there is a sense of being kettled or imprisoned, of a wall being built or placed around us, supposedly to protect us by keeping us inside and safe. I keep wondering how and when the Berlin Wall moment will happen? Do we have to wait 30 years?
Conspiracy theory as Allegory is such a great insight – the facts may not be true, but the sentiment is.
In current times there is a sense of being kettled or imprisoned, of a wall being built or placed around us, supposedly to protect us by keeping us inside and safe. I keep wondering how and when the Berlin Wall moment will happen? Do we have to wait 30 years?
Great article. The 2020 US election is a great example of this. We will probably never know if the election was ‘stolen’ through actual fraudulent election practices. However even if that didn’t happen – it was stolen in the sense that government agencies, the media, Big Tech, etc, completely inappropriately did everything in their power to harm Trump and help Biden. On a level playing field Trump would have won. So the Meta narrative is correct – or as Mary said – in the right ballpark. Epstein’s Island is a great example of how sometimes the most bizarre conspiracies turn out to be correct. The fact that our media seem to routinely lie to us and gaslight us of course fuels even more conspiracies. Trust is the glue that holds society together and all of our previously trusted institutions have seemed bent on eroding that trust in recent years.
Great article. The 2020 US election is a great example of this. We will probably never know if the election was ‘stolen’ through actual fraudulent election practices. However even if that didn’t happen – it was stolen in the sense that government agencies, the media, Big Tech, etc, completely inappropriately did everything in their power to harm Trump and help Biden. On a level playing field Trump would have won. So the Meta narrative is correct – or as Mary said – in the right ballpark. Epstein’s Island is a great example of how sometimes the most bizarre conspiracies turn out to be correct. The fact that our media seem to routinely lie to us and gaslight us of course fuels even more conspiracies. Trust is the glue that holds society together and all of our previously trusted institutions have seemed bent on eroding that trust in recent years.
There *is* a conspiracy running the world, but there’s nothing secretive about it. The whole concept of Conspiracy Theories needs to be revisited in light of many recent events. Did you see a video from the WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT (!!!) where Klaus Schwab says that whoever controls AI and synthetic biology (!!!) will be “ze master of ze world?” Call me old-fashioned, but people fighting over who will lead the effort to *synthetically modify human life* in the name of power is evil, even Satanic, in a very real and concrete sense.
Steering the argument towards the symbolic can bring interesting aspects to light, but diffuses the urgency of the situation: a perverse and highly coordinated elite gaining increasing power over the lives of all of us and using it in the unholiest of ways, all the while obscuring the truth with an unprecedented deployment of psychological warfare tactics (let’s not use the word ‘media’ anymore). Nothing theoretical, what to speak of allegorical, about that.
There *is* a conspiracy running the world, but there’s nothing secretive about it. The whole concept of Conspiracy Theories needs to be revisited in light of many recent events. Did you see a video from the WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT (!!!) where Klaus Schwab says that whoever controls AI and synthetic biology (!!!) will be “ze master of ze world?” Call me old-fashioned, but people fighting over who will lead the effort to *synthetically modify human life* in the name of power is evil, even Satanic, in a very real and concrete sense.
Steering the argument towards the symbolic can bring interesting aspects to light, but diffuses the urgency of the situation: a perverse and highly coordinated elite gaining increasing power over the lives of all of us and using it in the unholiest of ways, all the while obscuring the truth with an unprecedented deployment of psychological warfare tactics (let’s not use the word ‘media’ anymore). Nothing theoretical, what to speak of allegorical, about that.
It’s entirely characteristic of humans to invent stories to try to make sense of the world; to make it seem less random, even where those stories aren’t palatable. Mary does a fine job of outlining this characteristic. It happens on the macro level, but very much begins at the micro level of the individual stories we weave for ourselves regarding our own lives and motivations.
The way in which we navigate our way through the world involves our brain processing and selecting all the random inputs through our senses to try to establish coherence. It’s no surprise to me that this process should extend to a societal level, and where there’s upheaval in society, we’ll seek out opportunities to try to synthesise the randomness that our brains work against. This process is also the origins of religion. Yes, i know that will offend some people, but i don’t say this to be offensive.
Mary touches upon this right at the end of her article, and again, i love the way she introduces her topic by way of anecdote – the hairdresser. (As an aside, does her hairdreser subscribe to Unherd?!)
If what it means to be human involves the construction of narratives, it also contains the possibility of deconstruction. This should be recognised, and i think that what we’re witnessing is the effect of the internet upon this process. The implications are unknowable – but then again, they always have been, at every stage where new technologies arose, e.g. the printing press, with the elites du jour seeking to bring it under control.
Uncharted territory, and by the time we’ve sketched out a map, we’ve already moved on.
It’s entirely characteristic of humans to invent stories to try to make sense of the world; to make it seem less random, even where those stories aren’t palatable. Mary does a fine job of outlining this characteristic. It happens on the macro level, but very much begins at the micro level of the individual stories we weave for ourselves regarding our own lives and motivations.
The way in which we navigate our way through the world involves our brain processing and selecting all the random inputs through our senses to try to establish coherence. It’s no surprise to me that this process should extend to a societal level, and where there’s upheaval in society, we’ll seek out opportunities to try to synthesise the randomness that our brains work against. This process is also the origins of religion. Yes, i know that will offend some people, but i don’t say this to be offensive.
Mary touches upon this right at the end of her article, and again, i love the way she introduces her topic by way of anecdote – the hairdresser. (As an aside, does her hairdreser subscribe to Unherd?!)
If what it means to be human involves the construction of narratives, it also contains the possibility of deconstruction. This should be recognised, and i think that what we’re witnessing is the effect of the internet upon this process. The implications are unknowable – but then again, they always have been, at every stage where new technologies arose, e.g. the printing press, with the elites du jour seeking to bring it under control.
Uncharted territory, and by the time we’ve sketched out a map, we’ve already moved on.
The brain is organised to find patterns and make associations between them. When patterns are complete and the associations are self contained it gives you a sense of fulfillment, when they are not it gives you a sense of anxiety. It motivates us to solve problems however the patterns and associations depend upon your experiences and the solutions you find depend upon the effort you make when you focus your attention to follow the associations. It can be a quick fit of the information presented to you or a deeper dig into the information available if you look for it. With the former you end up in mindsets, Mary Harrington is notable for the latter, which is much more rewarding.
The brain is organised to find patterns and make associations between them. When patterns are complete and the associations are self contained it gives you a sense of fulfillment, when they are not it gives you a sense of anxiety. It motivates us to solve problems however the patterns and associations depend upon your experiences and the solutions you find depend upon the effort you make when you focus your attention to follow the associations. It can be a quick fit of the information presented to you or a deeper dig into the information available if you look for it. With the former you end up in mindsets, Mary Harrington is notable for the latter, which is much more rewarding.
38% of Britons agree that “the world is controlled by a secretive elite”.
But supposing we alter that very slightly and refer not to a ‘secretive elite’ but to the elite hiding in plain sight — the WEF/Davos people? As the author points out, no matter who you elect, the globalist agenda keeps moving forward — white replacement (or Islamization/nigrification if you prefer), fragmentation of the working class, declining real living standards for the workers and wealth beyond the dreams of Croesus for the plutocrats.
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38% of Britons agree that “the world is controlled by a secretive elite”.
But supposing we alter that very slightly and refer not to a ‘secretive elite’ but to the elite hiding in plain sight — the WEF/Davos people? As the author points out, no matter who you elect, the globalist agenda keeps moving forward — white replacement (or Islamization/nigrification if you prefer), fragmentation of the working class, declining real living standards for the workers and wealth beyond the dreams of Croesus for the plutocrats.
Thought provoking piece, thank you. That last para is the payload.
Thought provoking piece, thank you. That last para is the payload.
Damn. This girl.
Damn. This girl.
Enjoyed the article but it would have been even more powerful to mention the deep allegorical truths in myths that teach us of human nature, show us something about our own inner worlds. I think this is true of current “conspiracies”, it’s just harder to see in the moment sometimes. We would do well to look deeper… and Carl Jung was not wrong
Enjoyed the article but it would have been even more powerful to mention the deep allegorical truths in myths that teach us of human nature, show us something about our own inner worlds. I think this is true of current “conspiracies”, it’s just harder to see in the moment sometimes. We would do well to look deeper… and Carl Jung was not wrong
The factual existence of numerous world religions confirms the hypothesis of this essay.
The factual existence of numerous world religions confirms the hypothesis of this essay.
What an excellent article. Well crafted, witty and thought provoking. Next on the agenda is the ultimate allegorical creature, the devil. What is evil, why does it hide behind our horror stories from the Gingerbread House to Epstein’s Island? How does ‘it’ reveal itself, and how do we respond? This is getting deep.
What an excellent article. Well crafted, witty and thought provoking. Next on the agenda is the ultimate allegorical creature, the devil. What is evil, why does it hide behind our horror stories from the Gingerbread House to Epstein’s Island? How does ‘it’ reveal itself, and how do we respond? This is getting deep.
When the collective unconscious experiences periods of upheaval, collective delusions often offer insight patterns to interpret – also, new systems form; the chaos point of system breakdown creates anew.
I gave up half way through. even though I am a fan of Mary’s. Yes, there are now Satanists and they are being promoted on the BBC – Good Morning Britain has such people on and tries to normalise them. Just another religion. Harmless.
I profoundly disagree. We are being gaslighted on a grand scale, in my opinion.
I don’t, as yet, really know why. But I do know that it is happening and can see that it is utterly malignant.
I gave up half way through. even though I am a fan of Mary’s. Yes, there are now Satanists and they are being promoted on the BBC – Good Morning Britain has such people on and tries to normalise them. Just another religion. Harmless.
I profoundly disagree. We are being gaslighted on a grand scale, in my opinion.
I don’t, as yet, really know why. But I do know that it is happening and can see that it is utterly malignant.
Conspiracy theories will abound where there is a desire for certainty, a desire for control and a desire to maintain positive self-image. It’s exactly the same for many forms of dogmatic religion. It’s the same psychological trigger. Certainty, potential control over others and I feel good about myself. Alluring isn’t it. It’s then reinforced by others playing on this confirmatory bias and the individual themselves gravitating to echo chambers. All of this effect is aided and quickened by social media and online technologies.
I’m always struck by the similarity between conspiracy theory advocates and a particular type of religious leader. They look to play the same notes with the minds of those craving certainty.
And yet real life is more banal, more c**k up, than those seeking absolute certainties can ever admit.
Yes, yes, yes.
Don’t you think we, like our creature AI, operate on pattern recognition, stochastic processing, actuarial prognostics etc in order to progress forward? The great human advantage, for the rational, is knowing that some degree of chaos, some terrifying random circumstances is also operating, and to accept that we inevitably must exist in kind of an x-y coordinate? (The frog in the swamp must croak loudly enough to attract a mate, but not so loudly as to attract the raptor. Human happiness seems to be just a mouse, in the magic minutes between the hawk and the owl. Prey animals must still fulfill their patterns, even though they’re not paranoid to fear an abrupt termination — some will escape, to carry on the species.) Some periods in human history seem to have involved more broken-field running than others. This may be one.
Yes, yes, yes.
Don’t you think we, like our creature AI, operate on pattern recognition, stochastic processing, actuarial prognostics etc in order to progress forward? The great human advantage, for the rational, is knowing that some degree of chaos, some terrifying random circumstances is also operating, and to accept that we inevitably must exist in kind of an x-y coordinate? (The frog in the swamp must croak loudly enough to attract a mate, but not so loudly as to attract the raptor. Human happiness seems to be just a mouse, in the magic minutes between the hawk and the owl. Prey animals must still fulfill their patterns, even though they’re not paranoid to fear an abrupt termination — some will escape, to carry on the species.) Some periods in human history seem to have involved more broken-field running than others. This may be one.
Conspiracy theories will abound where there is a desire for certainty, a desire for control and a desire to maintain positive self-image. It’s exactly the same for many forms of dogmatic religion. It’s the same psychological trigger. Certainty, potential control over others and I feel good about myself. Alluring isn’t it. It’s then reinforced by others playing on this confirmatory bias and the individual themselves gravitating to echo chambers. All of this effect is aided and quickened by social media and online technologies.
I’m always struck by the similarity between conspiracy theory advocates and a particular type of religious leader. They look to play the same notes with the minds of those craving certainty.
And yet real life is more banal, more c**k up, than those seeking absolute certainties can ever admit.
“in fact education is a positive obstacle to noticing — for in the liberal world typically reinforced by university education, normative patterns are dismissed as “stereotypes”. The proper attitude to such stereotypes is firstly to insist that they’re socially imposed and harmful, and, secondly, that they should be eliminated.“
BRAVO.
I have been thinking the same thing for at least the last 5 yrs on how institutionalised we have become. How universities have decided what’s right, appropriate and acceptable. How we have come to worship them!!! It’s alarming!!!.
Even now my friends are brainwashed and dedicated followers of the same tired principle of chosen schools, universities and like utter sheep they nod. It’s hard not to give people a good kicking for their obstinacy in not waking up and seeing the picture. We are not noticing that we are being taken on a ride by slowly building ideologies that is like a runaway train with no one ( that we can hold responsible) in the engine room.
However, as far as climate change is concerned I am absolutely convinced of its reality. For meat consumption I am also absolutely convinced that (largely but not only) vegetarianism is the way forward. These are not heavy handed propaganda. Such extensive human activity as now has NEVER existed on Earth EVER before. It’s easy to see that disrespecting nature will only set our and future generations for more pain.
Most importantly the clever way to play the game of lies is to mix truth with it. Keeping people confused is a devilish strategy. It thereby cannot make people totally alienated from a set of doctrines.
Keeping people confused about their ability and potential to impact the climate patterns of planet earth is a great example indeed. It’s actually more of a fairy tale.
I agree – the science behind the global warming crisis is unconvincing – but it does make sense as a parable about over consumption and endless growth.
I agree – the science behind the global warming crisis is unconvincing – but it does make sense as a parable about over consumption and endless growth.
Keeping people confused about their ability and potential to impact the climate patterns of planet earth is a great example indeed. It’s actually more of a fairy tale.
“in fact education is a positive obstacle to noticing — for in the liberal world typically reinforced by university education, normative patterns are dismissed as “stereotypes”. The proper attitude to such stereotypes is firstly to insist that they’re socially imposed and harmful, and, secondly, that they should be eliminated.“
BRAVO.
I have been thinking the same thing for at least the last 5 yrs on how institutionalised we have become. How universities have decided what’s right, appropriate and acceptable. How we have come to worship them!!! It’s alarming!!!.
Even now my friends are brainwashed and dedicated followers of the same tired principle of chosen schools, universities and like utter sheep they nod. It’s hard not to give people a good kicking for their obstinacy in not waking up and seeing the picture. We are not noticing that we are being taken on a ride by slowly building ideologies that is like a runaway train with no one ( that we can hold responsible) in the engine room.
However, as far as climate change is concerned I am absolutely convinced of its reality. For meat consumption I am also absolutely convinced that (largely but not only) vegetarianism is the way forward. These are not heavy handed propaganda. Such extensive human activity as now has NEVER existed on Earth EVER before. It’s easy to see that disrespecting nature will only set our and future generations for more pain.
Most importantly the clever way to play the game of lies is to mix truth with it. Keeping people confused is a devilish strategy. It thereby cannot make people totally alienated from a set of doctrines.
This article is basically a slightly different take on the lectures of Dr Jordan Paterson when he was still teaching at the University of Toronto. He focussed mainly on the Bible and Disney tales but I see a lot of underlying similarity in the message. Congratulations on extending his work to modern conspiracy theories.
This article is basically a slightly different take on the lectures of Dr Jordan Paterson when he was still teaching at the University of Toronto. He focussed mainly on the Bible and Disney tales but I see a lot of underlying similarity in the message. Congratulations on extending his work to modern conspiracy theories.
For goodness sake Mary don’t encourage them. Your final paragraph is an allegory itself. Baroque chaos? Politics was always like it is now and will remain so.
For goodness sake Mary don’t encourage them. Your final paragraph is an allegory itself. Baroque chaos? Politics was always like it is now and will remain so.
So conspiracy theories develop where people’s thought is hijacked by emotion – and both are hazily linked to reality, due to a lack of good clear information sources. Falling for a financial, medical or spiritual con is an essentially similar process – you so want something to be true, because it is emotionally satisfying, and then act as if it is so (I’m poor, I’m going to make tons of easy money with crypto: God is angry, but he’ll be made happy if I make a sacrifice: The country is really messed up, this is not my responsibility, nor that of the people I love, it must be Trump/Biden).
So conspiracy theories develop where people’s thought is hijacked by emotion – and both are hazily linked to reality, due to a lack of good clear information sources. Falling for a financial, medical or spiritual con is an essentially similar process – you so want something to be true, because it is emotionally satisfying, and then act as if it is so (I’m poor, I’m going to make tons of easy money with crypto: God is angry, but he’ll be made happy if I make a sacrifice: The country is really messed up, this is not my responsibility, nor that of the people I love, it must be Trump/Biden).