Are you a paranoid conspiracy theory blogger? Here’s a simple test

Anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes on the internet knows it is full of grand conspiracy theories often involving fantastical cover ups. We also know many, many bloggers are out there giving over probably far too much time and credence to all sorts of conspiracy often lurching into paranoid pseudo-science…but are you one of them and how can you read the danger signs?

Run through these questions by way of a short reality check:

1) Does your belief in a conspiracy theory or alleged government cover up coincide with your own political views and prejudices? If it does, better make sure you turn up the dial on your BS detector, don’t suspend sceptical judgement just because you really wish the cover was true!

2) Do you think that everyone who disagrees with you about the conspiracy is naïve? If this is how you feel listen out for those alarm bells. Isn’t this just an easy way of knocking back evidence or dismissing opinions that rebut the conspiracy. You might be falling into the trap of believing in the theory as a faith, rather than a rational, position.

3) Take a deep breath, is the conspiracy logically plausible? The bigger the conspiracy theory gets the better the evidence needs to be and the less likely that it could ever be successfully “covered up”.

4) If there’s a conspiracy why haven’t the mainstream media covered the story? As much as some bloggers may dislike the traditional media, in most countries, and certainly globally there are tens of thousands of journalists working on stories from right or left wing perspectives, most of whom would just love to find a big cover up involving their political opponents. If you think everyone in the media, of all the different political persuasions, is involved in a cover up …it’s time to take a reality check.

5) Have you fallen into the trap of thinking evidence that disproves your conspiracy theory actually confirms your belief or that the lack of evidence makes your belief stronger because “of course there’s no evidence…it’s a cover up!” Then you are ring fencing your belief against any possibility that it could be disproved…it’s time to step away from that keyboard! You have been trapped inside a conspiracy theory.

With thanks and inspiration to a recent discussion on the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast  – which I can’t recommend too highly.

Comments

[Juvenal]

Great site. I found a similar conspiracy checklist recently:

http://bread-and-circuses.net/?p=27

I'm a Labour member who supports humanism. Keep up the good work.

[A Truman]

Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone....