"This Is A Conspiracy"
In the movie The Shawshank Redemption, one cannot help but feel that justice has been served when the wrongly convicted and brutalized Andy Dufresne escapes from Shawshank Prison. Upon discovering the escaped Dufresne, the corrupt Warden, Mr. Norton, can find no reason for Dufresne’s absence. In his frustration he declares to the prison guards and to the inmate Red, “You know what this is? This is a conspiracy, one big @#$% conspiracy and everybody’s in on it.”
“This is a conspiracy.” We hear those words a lot lately. We’ve heard those words uttered in regards to November’s election. We’ve heard those words uttered in regards to the spread of COVID-19. We’ve heard those words uttered concerning the COVID-19 vaccine. We hear conspiracies concerning all kinds of things. Conspiracies are nothing new.
However, with the advent of the internet and social media there are now more venues available for the advancement of conspiracy theories allowing them to spread faster, farther and to be absorbed by more people.
This leads to asking the question of "Why are so many susceptible to conspiracy theories?" Psychologists give many varied explanations but the one constant theme is that conspiracy theories give many a way of understanding what they cannot control.
In the movie The Shawshank Redemption Warden Norton could not understand why Andy Dufresne was missing so there had to be a conspiracy. Thus, in our current national discourse one may not understand how a political leader one supported lost an election. Therefore, the only conclusion one can draw is that there had to be a conspiracy of election fraud. One may not understand all there is to understand about COVID-19 so in the mind of the understanding person there has be a conspiracy involving its spread and mitigation. Conspiracies are often offer the only answer many find to what they do not understand.
Conspiracies also are flourishing because we find ourselves living in an era of institutional distrust. Many feel duped by our political system, our financial institutions and at times, sadly to say, even the church.
Into this quagmire of misunderstanding and distrust seep the conspiracy theories. It seems that the more outlandish the conspiracy the more traction it gains in public discourse.
There are questions that we need to ask ourselves when we hear a conspiracy theory. If we ask these questions many of the prevailing conspiracy theories easily fall by the wayside.
The most obvious question that needs to be asked when one hears a conspiracy theory is the question of “who.” Who is the driving force behind the conspiracy? Who is doing the conspiring? In asking the question of “who” one need’s specificity. For example, it isn’t enough to say a “Globalist Cabal.” Who are the members of said cabal? How are they intertwined?
If the question of “who” can be answered satisfactorily, though most times it can’t, then the next question must be “why.” No one engages in a conspiracy simply for grins and giggles. So it must be asked why are those persons engaged in a conspiracy? There has to be some gain or some profit for those who are conspiring. Again, the answer needs to be specific. A simple answer such as “to take away my rights” or “they (whoever they may be) are trying to control us” doesn’t work. Why would it profit someone to take away our rights? Why would someone need to control us? In what way do the conspirators gain by achieving their goal? To honestly accept a conspiracy, one must discover a legitimate motivation for those engaging in the conspiracy.
Ultimately, we must ask the question of "what." What else must I believe in order to believe in this conspiracy? What underlying assumptions must I hold about those involved to draw these conclusions? Often, the underlying assumptions that one must make for a conspiracy theory to be true are more ludicrous than the conspiracy itself.
There is no doubt that some conspiracies take place our world. However, if one will ask the simple questions of “who,” “why,” and “what” one will soon find that many of the conspiracies hoisted about have no merit.
Great article!
ReplyDeleteWell here is a question I ask before I go believing in any Conspiracy Theory.
It is a simple question and I implore others to ask it as well.
Simply ask yourself, "Is this conspiracy theory something an idiot would believe?"
And if the answer is "Yes!", then try to avoid believing it.
Just a tip.
Great article! Is it wrong to question other people's or institutions decisions? Should we not ask why or how come? Do conspiracies exist?
ReplyDeleteBack in my college days in Atlanta in the 1950s, there was a lot of talk about conspiracies and especially about a "vast communist conspiracy." One popular Atlanta columnist once made a pertinent point about such writing. He said, basically, that it was his experience that most of the conspiracies that he heard about were not vast at all, but only "half-vast." That may be true also of most of the conspiracies we hear about today.
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