Tag Archives: conspiracy

An Explanation For Why People Are Attracted To Conspiracy Theories

Back in March, Rachel Maddow was on the Daily Show and said something about conspiracy theories that I think is quite profound: CONSPIRACY IS EASIER TO UNDERSTAND THAN COMPLEXITY. Thought of this way, a conspiracy theory is simply another way … Continue reading

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Greg Easterbrook Looks on the Bright Side of American Life

A little reminder, from Greg Easterbrook, that life in America is actually pretty good and getting better: Since roughly 1975, when middle-class income gains began to stagnate, lifespans have improved, material living standards have risen (safer cars, nearly universal air … Continue reading

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Contingency vs. Conspiracy

A recent set of studies reminds us that we use telos and conspiracy theories to control our anxiety over what really seems to rule the world: contingency. This at Miller-McCune: A research team led by social psychologist Daniel Sullivan of the … Continue reading

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Conspiracy Bait: Greenscreens are Everywhere—and Maybe Even Coming to the News

You certainly couldn’t fake a moon landing in 1969, but I suppose that, with contemporary technology, you might almost get away with it today. In the future, will government and corporate officials—and those in our assorted propaganda industries—start using the greenscreen technology below to … Continue reading

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Suicide Bagger? Joe Stack (1956-2010)

Is this the beginnings of a creepy new form of teabagger madness: suicide baggers? It appears that a Tea Party movement sympathizer, Joe Stack, furious over unjust taxation, cracked today and crashed his small plane into an IRS office complex in Austin, Texas. Here’s his “no … Continue reading

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Conspiracy Theory Taken to a New Level: The Haiti Earthquake is Now the U.S. Navy’s Fault

This today at Reason: Both Venezuelan state-owned radio and television properties zeroed in on a secret U.S. “weapon of earthquakes” as the cause of the earthquake that struck Haiti last week causing a death toll [that] could exceed 200,000 according … Continue reading

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Holy Birther of a Nation, Batman! Is President Barack Obama’s Kenyan Birth Cerificate Not Just a Forgery, But a Hoax?

It appears so. The latest “birther document” circulating among the John Birthers as President Barack Obama’s “real” birth certificate appears to have hoax markers. In other words, somebody isn’t just forging a document, but seems to be conning the Birther Right, and … Continue reading

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Grassroot Tea Bag Parties?

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Maybe I Do Want Popcorn

Do subliminal flashings of images (like a popcorn box on a theater screen) work afterall? For years, we’ve been told “probably not.” Now there are researchers saying, “maybe so.” Not sure what to make of this, but an article on subliminal messages … Continue reading

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