How to Deal With Conspiracy Theorists
Everyone has that one friend that loves spouting off nonsense. Once derided and scorned with disdain and contempt, conspiracy theorists are now lauded as political savants prescient to America’s throbbing pulse. They espouse the latest trendy fringe idea that brazenly defies logic with an alternative reality at every bated breath. From antivax spiels and shadow governments to Orwellian psyops campaigns and flat-earthers, the rogue ideological zealots can’t zip their traps until they’ve forced the enlightened ‘red pill’ down our gullets. They’re never satisfied with an official narrative while remaining steadfast in their belief of nefarious evildoers controlling our every move with authoritarian precision. There always has to be an ulterior motive – nothing is as ever as it seems, or so they say!
Maybe everyday life and plausible explanations are too humdrum for conspiracy theorists. Or perhaps Hollywood has conditioned their malleable psyches with a penchant for extravagant avant-garde plot twists. Politically promiscuous and impossible to predict, conspiracy theorists are no longer demographic anomalies or fringe idea propagandists; they’ve infiltrated and permeated the diluted mainstream conversation. Instead of brandishing their harebrained ideas with facts and well-founded arguments, media pundits encourage them with what they desire most: attention and a platform. While the cresting misinformation Renaissance peaked during the waning and meritless ‘stolen election’ claims leading up to a climatic final battle during the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, the revisionist conspiracy movement buoyed to the surface again with the darkening and swirling waters of another chaotic election cycle.
Social Media as a Willing Accomplice to Hurtful, Conniving Diatribes
Conspiracy theorists shifted into overdrive moments following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvanian campaign rally. “It’s an inside job! This is proof of a Leftist plot to steal another election,” flooded Facebook newsfeeds by the early evening. The deafening, raucous barbs exploded beyond their private echo chambers Sunday afternoon following the impromptu resignation of President Biden, ricocheting off every corner of the social media political spectrum, striking a nerve with even the most staid and reasonable minds who hinted at their hardened edges beginning to weather at the maelstrom of continuous flak of misinformation. While fact-checkers did their best to lambaste knee-jerk reactionists, the onslaught was too little to ignore, with even the more outlandish theories gaining traction in the lead-up to the Republican National Convention.
We can’t blame conspiracy theorists. Everyone loves a good story. American politics is like watching a car crash in slow motion. Every synapse firing in your brain is screaming to look away, yet we remain entranced, waiting for that next hit of dopamine as the carnage unfolds with titillating brevity. One possible explanation for their proliferation is a lack of critical thinking skills. When presented with incongruous information that doesn’t jibe with their narrowed understanding of how the world works, their brains will invariably resort to conjecture as their unlimbered frontal lobes jostle and contrive to unprecedented intellectual heights best left to seasoned scholar gymnasts who don’t fall prey to confirmation biases when presented with new, yet conflicting information.
The Rise of Clickbait
While we could all benefit from a refresher course on Google searches, online information’s growing prevalence can also be attributed to algorithms, which undoubtedly give greater credence to trendy accounts and topics; unfortunately, the outlandish panders to clout and notoriety. Conspiracy theorists are the latest familial wedge dividing families. Although reasonable minds do their best to reel-in the more damaging theories, their sheer ambiguity and traction have created a war of attrition with steadfast truth and scruples. Arguing with a conspiracy theorists is futile – they refuse to listen to logic or conform and adhere to societal norms. So, how do you steer them back closer to the mainstream? Conspiracy theorists thrive on energy and attention. They won’t disengage until they’ve vouchsafed every piece of their esoteric and toxic talking points, hoping to sow the seeds of doubt deep within your rational mind.
Ignoring conspiracy theorists only fuels their combative rage and presents a dichotomous moral conundrum: are you falling victim to your personal qualms about echo chambers by refusing to listen to contradictory information? Try to steer the conversation back to a positive tone or topic when conversing with fringe theorists. You can also validate their attention needs while preserving your sanity by recommending or guiding them to helpful well-meaning sources. If they’re still contriving for the ‘doom and gloom,’ tell them to put up or shut up. “What are you doing to protect yourself from the next war or global pandemic?” you might ask them. You could then remind them that Elephant Safe Rooms has a line of steel safe rooms and underground bunkers for every threat imaginable. They may stay unflinching in their resolve to change your mind, but they might reconsider before they lampoon you with the next far-fetched story trending on X.
