I have my own political and social biases, but I recognize when those who share my beliefs are laying it on a bit thick.
assassination after their restaurant was identified
TRUTH OR FICTION
Conspiracy theories and theorists are not going
stood a fair chance of being assaulted in immediate post-9/11 America, and the innocent owners of a pizzeria in Washington were targeted for as the headquarters of a nefarious ring of child abductors led by the Clintons.
IN THE END...
That was easy, wasn’t it? A clearly explained,
away any time soon. They’re a necessary part
rationally-detailed and chronologically-pristine chain
of our culture of dissent – dissent is good. Many
of events complete with paper trail, names, and iron-
of the greatest advances in human history were
clad references. What’s not to believe? Except none
encouraged by dissent. But dissent should never
of it is true.
mean connecting dots that aren’t there, or blindly
Harmless? Yes, because the truth is here. But conspiracy theories, the big ones, evolve and mutate organically through social media’s lack of vigilance
believing a rumour because it suits our own personal beliefs or helps us explain and make sense of a world where things sometimes just don’t make sense.
and supposed support of free speech. Pushed
That’s not dissent, that’s lunacy. I have my own
along by rampant confirmation bias, they have the
political and social biases, but I recognize when
potential to wreak irreparable harm, even cost lives.
those who share my beliefs are laying it on a bit thick. By exposing myself to both supporting and
THE POWER OF CREDIBILITY. THE FAILURE OF CRITICAL THINKING. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are an excellent example. These Tsarist-era historical document fabrications were initially intended as an inside joke for anti-Semites. They explained in excruciating detail, and quite convincingly, that a cabal of Jewish
is exposed. Sadly, it’s not nearly as entertaining as a conspiracy, but at least it’s true. And the middle ground provides that one place where fact and belief are rarely contradictory. Mulder and Scully of The X-Files said it best: the truth is out there. It just might not coincide with what you want to believe.
merchants and bankers pulled the strings on world
Because something is believable doesn’t mean it
events. In the early 1930s German schoolchildren
should be believed. And rest assured, we’ve still got
were taught this as if it was fact.
full sovereignty over the Northwest Passage.
There are other examples. Anyone with a turban
12
opposing views, the mediocre middle ground of truth
SIDEONE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
