john eden

male pale and stale
its not a monolithic field. it covers quite a wide range of approaches and intentions. painting it as one big homogenous lump doesnt help.

Well nothing is a monolith if you look at it hard enough. But it is worth looking at the similarities between things too.
 

luka

Well-known member
sure, but that's not much more than a platitude ultimately. i dont think its the enemy. if it doesnt interest you dont pay attention. concentrate on how to present your ideas. marketing the revolution. ;)
 

john eden

male pale and stale
sure, but that's not much more than a platitude ultimately. i dont think its the enemy. if it doesnt interest you dont pay attention. concentrate on how to present your ideas. marketing the revolution. ;)

Well saying something a monolith and then not bothering to explain what the key differences/motivations/etc are is also a platitude but I suspect we are both just killing a bit of time on here before we go out so I will leave it there for now. ;)

It does interest me in a meta sort of way, but I'm fucked if I'm going to bury myself in a bunch of wormholes to rescue people inna white knight stylee. :D
 

luka

Well-known member
nothing wrong with having a little chat to pass the time before going out. i did point to a few differnces and motivations fwiw but ultimately its just a personal interest of mine, like rap music and literature. its not my politics.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
nothing wrong with having a little chat to pass the time before going out. i did point to a few differnces and motivations fwiw but ultimately its just a personal interest of mine, like rap music and literature. its not my politics.

You did do that and I missed them... It's late now but this has been fun, Luka. Will try some more soon.
 

droid

Well-known member
Ive said it before, and Ill say it again - conspiracy is a mindset, a way of thinking, a system of understanding - not necessarily attached to any specific event. Thats why its politically dangerous and disempowering, its a self-necrotising process, an exercise in auto-apathy.
 

luka

Well-known member
The real question is who makes the Nazis? Vigilantcitizen and prison planet aren't the reason the world is not comprised solely of radical leftists. Conspiracy attracts left and right equally. It's a non issue.
 

sufi

lala
well i think you may need to open up your minds actually - i just received this :

Are you a business man,
politician, musical,
student and you want to be
rich, powerful and be
famous in life or need a
power to achieving your
dreams. You can achieve
your dreams by being a
member of the Illuminati.
With this all your dreams
and heart desire can be
fully accomplish, if you
really want to be a member
of the great Illuminati
then you can contact
agent antonio on his
email
{antonioclassic2k2@gmail.c
om}

so, not only do the illuminati exist, you can join up just by emailing
 

sufi

lala
& secondly, and on a less trollsome note ❌

Personally i find a lot of interest in conspiracy theories, & not just from an aesthetical/anthropological "poetical weirdness" POV (tho i surely enjoy that too).
They can certainly be appreciated on a symbolic/metaphorical level as addressing stuff that is not easily approached more directly. And some of that may be unsavoury, ie "Lizards", though there's nothing inherently unsavoury in UFOlogy or cryptozoology, for example, that undermines the benefits of keeping scientific inspiration available to enthusiastic lay people.

I'm surprised Eden misses the overlap between (mainly pre-internet, the internet has disrupted this rather) indie investigative journo types with conspiranoidery. There certainly used to be a current of (stereotyped as hairy, lone wolf type) bold, intrepid investigators who delved particularly into the murk of military bases, big science, often on the fringes of peace and eco movements.
Their credentials as serious journalists were always rubbished, but they came up with scoops and worked alongside activists, and probably it's impossible to tell how far they were wasting energy chasing windmills or not, since they were often exposing stuff that wouldn’t tend to be confirmable.
This current still exists, now submerged in and part of the blossoming of conspiracy theorising on the web. I know you will say "but it's misdirected", but it isn’t _always_ misdirected, look at stuff like
these activities are worthwhile imho.

& also, it's important more generally to keep a culture of scepticism alive.
(and i don't think it's a "mindset", that's rather patronising. We modern humans have ample brain-space for multiple, even conflicting belief systems)

and finally, it's different from what eden characterised above as making people passive, though perhaps connected. That is a feature of the "post-truth" media in this era that's not restricted to conspiracy theorising - this article (pre 11/9) https://theawl.com/when-truth-falls-apart-b4667d39575b identifies it plausibly as a specific republican comms strategy. Maybe that's too specific, but it's a widespread phenomenon - this is also quite good on that this video will make you angry, but maybe that's another thread?
 

sadmanbarty

Well-known member
Personally i find a lot of interest in conspiracy theories, & not just from an aesthetical/anthropological "poetical weirdness" POV (tho i surely enjoy that too).
They can certainly be appreciated on a symbolic/metaphorical level as addressing stuff that is not easily approached more directly.

Somewhat inspired by this thread I was considering 'getting into' conspiracy theories. Obviously not in terms of actually believing them, nor in terms of mocking them, but enjoying them aesthetically as intricate thought constructs that draw from history, politics, mythology, symbolism, etc.

Anyone got any suggestions (documentaries preferably)?
 

luka

Well-known member
Somewhat inspired by this thread I was considering 'getting into' conspiracy theories. Obviously not in terms of actually believing them, nor in terms of mocking them, but enjoying them aesthetically as intricate thought constructs that draw from history, politics, mythology, symbolism, etc.

Anyone got any suggestions (documentaries preferably)?

I've put loads of links on this thread. Sufi, has just put a load of links up.... Why not start there?
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
What really sticks in my craw is when the bastards not only don't bother to hide, but actively rub it in your face.

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droid

Well-known member
Though I assumed it was self evident, I feel I should make the distinction here between an academic, aesthetic interest in conspiracy theories (which I sometimes share) and true belief.
 

droid

Well-known member
Every thought subtly rewires the brain until we have mental furrows.

If youre a copper, everyone's a criminal, if you're a doctor, everyone's a patient, if your a conspiracist, everything's a conspiracy. Thats what I mean by mindset.
 

sufi

lala
Though I assumed it was self evident, I feel I should make the distinction here between an academic, aesthetic interest in conspiracy theories (which I sometimes share) and true belief.
well yes, but that anthropological lens is generally a method of creating artificial distance to cover for voyeurism, in my experience (it's one of my faves!) or are you suggesting that if you have some sort of academia certification you are somehow immunised against the "necrotising disorder"?

bottom line: i think that you can indulge in conspiracy theorising without being a crackpot, but your extremely closed-minded post at top of page disallows that
 
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