Of the groups studied who spread conspiracies they don't actually believe, the author missed one trait I believe exists among commercial conspiracists, common conspiracists, and trolls - A strong belief in pessimistic nihilism, either conscious or unconscious.
A belief in nihilism is not at all the same as being a proponent of nihilism. In fact, one cannot practically be against nihilism without believing it exists in the world.
Truth needs to exist for life to have meaning. If you perceive that truth is being fundamentally undermined, then by extension, the lives people live are deficient in meaning.
I could just be projecting, but I believe deep pessimism about life is a rational explanation for conspiracists who promote views that they themselves don't believe. How else could someone have such fundamental levels of cognitive dissonance (not acting with directly malicious intent)?
I feel like there's a growing shared interest in creating distrust broadly, in making people scared & confused & pliant & on edge. These above feel.loke specific causes...
But there's a broader interest by many, generally, in destabilizing.
Trolling is probably the closest, but i consider torlling largely for the luls and chaos. Destabilizing is about making the world indecipherable and ungovernable, about obstructing truth. It's doing anything and everything to throw a wrench into democratic societies, no matter the event of the day. It's boosting uncertainty and fear, spreading wide a tacitc belief there is a secret world beyond the facade, welcoming you for a trip into dark enlightenment.
Of the groups studied who spread conspiracies they don't actually believe, the author missed one trait I believe exists among commercial conspiracists, common conspiracists, and trolls - A strong belief in pessimistic nihilism, either conscious or unconscious.
A belief in nihilism is not at all the same as being a proponent of nihilism. In fact, one cannot practically be against nihilism without believing it exists in the world.
Truth needs to exist for life to have meaning. If you perceive that truth is being fundamentally undermined, then by extension, the lives people live are deficient in meaning.
I could just be projecting, but I believe deep pessimism about life is a rational explanation for conspiracists who promote views that they themselves don't believe. How else could someone have such fundamental levels of cognitive dissonance (not acting with directly malicious intent)?
There's definitely some Russian funding. The Tenet media indictment shows that.
> Coaxing conspiracists – the extremists
> Combative conspiracists – the disinformants
> Chaos conspiracists – the trolls
> Commercial conspiracists – the profiteers
> Common conspiracists – the attention-getters
I feel like there's a growing shared interest in creating distrust broadly, in making people scared & confused & pliant & on edge. These above feel.loke specific causes...
But there's a broader interest by many, generally, in destabilizing.
Trolling is probably the closest, but i consider torlling largely for the luls and chaos. Destabilizing is about making the world indecipherable and ungovernable, about obstructing truth. It's doing anything and everything to throw a wrench into democratic societies, no matter the event of the day. It's boosting uncertainty and fear, spreading wide a tacitc belief there is a secret world beyond the facade, welcoming you for a trip into dark enlightenment.