<
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/29/american-conspiracy-theories-essay/>
"I have spent this year thinking and writing about the draw to conspiracy
theories, the perverse comfort they provide and the damage they can cause.
Today in the United States, we are living in an era of segregated belief, of
divergent realities, at a time when social media has brought us nearer to one
another than ever before. It is not just that there is disagreement. Certified
and recertified elections are in dispute. Viruses and their lifesaving vaccines
are in dispute. So often, facts themselves are in dispute. My focus has been on
telling intimate stories about people navigating these conflicts within their
families and communities.
Now I see a grander lesson about truth in Dealey Plaza, one I have been
circling for years. That The Truth is not something merely to be found and
disclosed, but rather that, in the broader sense, it is something that is
negotiated, something that is mediated over time through credibility and trust.
That, in the absence of those things, evidence can be so very easily overtaken
by fantasy, and stay that way."
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
