Such theories tend to get more traction among election losers in society, for example, and the emphasis of conspiracy theories by elites and leaders tends to increase belief among followers who have higher levels of conspiracy thinking.[112]
Something that we can relate to as the U.S recently had a big election.
conspiracy theories as the "exhaust fumes of democracy"
Definition by Christopher Hitchens
coined the term "fusion paranoia" to refer to a political convergence of left-wing and right-wing activists around anti-war issues and civil liberties, which he said were motivated by a shared belief in conspiracism or shared anti-government views
Fusion paranoia is a term I have never heard of - so this is a new learning concept for me.
usually had little effect on history and have had unforeseen consequences for the conspirators
Interesting concept
the Watergate scandal, are usually referred to as "investigative journalism" or "historical analysis" rather than conspiracy theory.
So, it was a conspiracy theory, but after it was considered proven it could not longer be called that? Interesting concept.
Belief in conspiracy theories is generally based not on evidence, but in the faith of the believer
I feel like there are typically some evidence that is associated with the conspiracy theory, but it is always twisted in a way.
local or international, focused on single events or covering multiple incidents and entire countries, regions and periods of history.[42]
This is new information to me!
Belief in conspiracy theories has therefore become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists and experts in folklore.
Interesting!
Conspiracy theories are often commonly believed, some even being held by the majority of the population
Seen a lot on social media nowadays
John F. Kennedy, the 1969 Apollo moon landings, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as numerous theories pertaining to alleged plots for world domination by various groups both real and imaginary.[45]
Recognized conspiracy theories
Nearly all observations are explained as having been deliberately planned by the alleged conspirators
Also why people may fall into believing in conspiracies. All been planned out.
"conspiracy theory" refers to hypothesized conspiracies that have specific characteristics.
Make people feel like they have more truth behind them than they actually do
"the theory that an event or phenomenon occurs as a result of a conspiracy between interested parties; spec. a belief that some covert but influential agency (typically political in motivation and oppressive in intent) is responsible for an unexplained event"
Oxford English Dictionary definition
Conspiracy theories are a significant obstacle to improvements in public health,[16][23] encouraging opposition to vaccination and water fluoridation among others, and have been linked to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases
How?
Psychologists attribute finding a conspiracy where there is none to a mental phenomenon called illusory pattern perception.[13][14]
This is something I have never heard of and find interesting!
conspiracist ideation—belief in conspiracy theories
Definition
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation,[2][3] when other explanations are more probabl
Definition
Rather than a source to cite, it can be a source of (1) ideas, (2) links to other texts, and (3) search terms
Good thinks that wiki is here for!
Most college-level writing asks you to engage more deeply with a subject than does an encyclopedia
Wikipedia provides some basic level knowledge, but in college we need to dig deeper than this.
Wikipedia articles do not remain the same over time.
This also makes articles unreliable
anyone, regardless of background, qualifications, or expertise, can write Wikipedia articles. As a result, articles can display incorrect information.
This is a reason why wikipedia is not reliable
It is worth remembering that conspiracy theorists get paid by websites according to how many viewers they attract
Meaning they are not reliable
Conspiracy emerged as a cultural phenomenon in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries
I have noticed over the past couple years that there are also many political conspiracy theories. I have never put much time into understanding them but think they're interesting to hear about!
Wikipedia is ideal in these situations because it will allow you to find the information, as well as sources which you can research to confirm that information
Can provide helpful information to lead to other articles that may be more reliable.
It is even possible that a person might introduce completely made-up, false information as a hoax.
Views may not catch this and continue reading in assumption that the information is accurate.
some of those edits could contain vandalism or could be simply wrong and left unnoticed for days, weeks, months, or even years
The wrongful edits are usually fixed but it may take time and viewers will not know if they are reading false information.
Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any moment
Why is wikipedia unreliable?
Many of the methods described are about self-testing (e.g., thinking aloud, using writing, taking notes from memory
I like to take notes as a way of self-testing but I think that thinking out loud may also be helpful for me.
try reading short sections at a time and pausing periodically to summarize what you read from memory
I am interested in trying this!
Take the time to be introspective and honest with yourself about your comprehension
Something that would be helpful for retention and analyzing
You will be able to take stock of what you already know, what you need to work on, and how best to approach learning new material.
How this will impact my learning
Metacognition helps you to be a self-aware problem solver and take control of your learning.
Purpose of metacognition
Metacognition is thinking about how you think and learn
Definition
Summarize the text in your own words
I will focus on this more throughout the course.
Identify and reread difficult parts of the text
Even some parts of the text that I am unable to put into summary
Take breaks (split the text into segments if necessary)
Short attention span. Must break. This helps me return to the reading fully charged.
Try to infer unfamiliar words’ meanings by identifying their relationship to the main idea
This is something I commonly do, and feel like it helps me to make sense of the definition and verbiage.
Annotate and mark (sparingly) sections of the text to easily recall important or interesting ideas
I will improve on this throughout this course. Will help with retention of reading material.
Speculate about the author’s purpose for writing
Something I should start doing more often!
Preview the text to get an overview of its structure, looking at headings, figures, tables, glossary, etc.
I always do this as it helps me gauge the amount of time I will need to allocate to each sitting of reading.
This reading describes how to efficiently manage reading time - this is the purpose of the reading as it explains how to make best use of your time as a reader.