Expertise and Conspiracy Theories

Abstract

Judging the warrant of conspiracy theories can be difficult, and often we rely upon what the experts tell us when it comes to assessing whether particular conspiracy theories ought to be believed. However, whereas there are recognised experts in the sciences, I argue that only are is no such associated expertise when it comes to the things we call 'conspiracy theories,' but that the conspiracy theorist has good reason to be suspicious of the role of expert endorsements when it comes to conspiracy theories and their rivals. The kind of expertise, then, we might associate with conspiracy theories is largely

Metalinguistic tactics in the Hong Kong protest movement

“…Folk forensics is what people engage in when they explicitly examine the way people talk or write for 'clues' about their identity or intentions . When engaged in collectively, this practice is related to the wider phenomenon of conspiracy theorizing (Dentith 2018), and such practices are further facilitated by digital media, which allow ordinary people to share, replay, and dissect video or audio recordings of people's speech. Gies and Bortoluzzi (2014, 532) note that "online engagement with forensics amounts to a particularly intense form of participation" which possesses characteristics reminiscent of fan communities.…”

Sociālo zinātņu fakultāte. Sekcija “Dezinformācijas un sazvērestību radītie riski demokrātijai: Latvijas pieredzes pārlūkošana”. Kopsavilkumi

“…Analysis of conspiracy theories can offer an idea about how people in a specific country, region or section of the world remember and mentally represent historical events and existing lives. Trust in conspiracies is a distinct phenomenon which accompanies disinformation (e. g., Heins 2007;Sustein, Vermeule 2009;Dentith 2018;Butter, Knight 2000). The current centre of attention in such research, regarding the content of disinformation, the channels whereby it is spread and the extent to which people are influenced by it, relates to the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the Brexit situation in 2017 (e. g., Evans, Menon 2017;Kakutani 2018;Hellinger 2019).…”

“…Sazvērestības teoriju analīze sniedz zināšanas par to, kā sabiedrība konkrētā valstī, reģiona vai pasaules daļā veidojusi attiecības ar savu vēsturi, kāda bijusi tās sociālā un garīgā stabilitāte, kā tā pārdzīvojusi krīzes. Ticība sazvērestībām ir izteikta dezinformācijas pavadošā parādība (piemēram, Heins 2007;Sustein, Vermeule 2009;Dentith 2018;Butter, Knight 2000). Dezinformācijas un sazvērestības teoriju satura, izplatīšanas kanālu un ietekmes pētījumu uzmanības centrā izteikti ir Donalda Trampa (Donald Trump) ievēlēšana ASV prezidenta amatā 2016. gadā un breksits (Brexit) 2017. gadā (piemēram, Evans, Menon 2017;Kakutani 2018;Hellinger 2019).…”

You the readers will complete the list. The Castrochavismo conspiracy theory

“…In this view, conspiracy theories are not gullible knowledge or lies propagated by pathological individuals or politicians, but forms of knowledge with effects and societal significance. The aim of the social scientist should not be neither to bridge the gap between the psychological and political studies of conspiracy theories (Butter and Knight, 2015), nor to debunk them (Harambam, 2021), to demarcate between false and true beliefs (Dentith, 2018), to distinguish between real or imagined conspiracy theories or to find justifications for such beliefs. In short, we agree with Harambam (2020: 21) that the researcher’s task is to ‘write about conspiracy theories in ways that leave normative judgments to the reader and not weave them into our texts’.…”