Georg Hegel (1770-1831) who saw a world governed by individual self-interest believed that we are controlled by external forces, and are nothing but pawns in the game. Hegel believed that we do not perceive the world or anything in it directly and all that our minds have access to is the ideas of the world – images, perceptions, and concepts. For Hegel, the only real reality we know is virtual reality. Hegel believed that the ideas we have of the world are social, which is to say, the ideas that we possess individually are for the most part shaped by the ideas that other people possess. Our minds have been shaped by the thoughts of other people through the language we speak, the traditions and mores of our society, and the cultural and religious institutions of which we are a part. Hegel notes, “When liberty is mentioned, we must always be careful to observe whether it is not really the assertion of private interests which is thereby designated.”
Misinformation is not like a plumbing problem you fix. It is a social condition, like crime, that you must constantly monitor and adjust to, observes Tom Rosenstiel. Cognitive biases reflect mental patterns that can lead people to form beliefs or make decisions that do not reflect an objective and thorough assessment of the facts. For instance, people tend to seek out information that confirms pre-existing beliefs and reject information that challenges those beliefs. This bias is the tendency in all of us to believe stories that reinforce our convictions – and the stronger the convictions, the more powerfully the person feels the pull of the confirmation bias. The Federal Trade Commission has accused Facebook of breaking antitrust law by gobbling up many smaller social media start-ups and acquiring several large, well-established competitors, in what amounts to a concerted effort to build a social media monopoly.
The power elite control what you think through proxies who control information and communication, and through their lobbyists who influence what most of your politicians believe. Social computing shows that you don’t necessarily have to read people’s brains to influence their choices. It is sufficient to collect and mine the data they regularly – and often unwittingly – share online. Therefore, we need to consider setting for the digital space a firm threshold for cognitive liberty. Cognitive liberty highlights the freedom to control one’s own cognitive dimension (including preferences, choices and beliefs) and to be protected from manipulative strategies that are designed to bypass one’s cognitive defenses. The EU data protection authority has underscored if recklessly applied to the electoral domain, these activities could even change or reduce “the space for debate and interchange of ideas,” a risk which urgently requires a democratic debate on the use and exploitation of data for political campaign and decision-making.
The concept of information manipulation has largely remained the same through time; however, the speed at which it spreads and the magnitude of influence it holds today makes it very different from its historical counterpart. Today established political parties are using social media to spread disinformation, suppress political participation, and undermine oppositional parties. With every click, like and follow, we leave our digital footprints all across social media and the web. This is a fertile ground for deception – technology that leverages your online activities combined with the power of big data, super computing and artificial intelligence. Lies are always coercive for the one being lied to: Lies seek to persuade not by appealing to our freedom to choose but by compelling us via deception to narrow our field of choice. Conspiracy theories may be construed as opportunistic attributions of power that allow (relatively powerful groups) to advance their interests.
No one equivocates or dis-informs with greater conviction than the narcissist-politician, whose blatant disregard for facts can at times be mind-boggling. Trump’s opponents learned explaining and defending against the narcissist leaves you open to more abuse. When you address the content of what is being said and explain and defend your position, you endorse Trump’s right to judge, approve, or abuse you. Your reaction sends this message: “You have power over my self-esteem. You have the right to approve or disapprove of me. You’re entitled to be my judge.” People must appreciate how important emotions are in making decisions that impact on making a better world. People tend to overestimate their emotional intelligence – the ability to read, understand and respond to emotions in ourselves and others. But Trump’s schemes never would have gotten far (or even off the ground) without the participation of right-wing media executives, lawyers and pliant state officials.
Karl Popper claims democracy is representative and not directly participatory. One’s only role is to judge and dismiss the government, a device to protect ourselves against the misuse of power. People never have any real power over politics. The best one can achieve is to determine which of a few candidates will exercise political rule over them. Democracy masks the true source of power in the hands of the few. Importantly, Popper’s theory of democracy did not rely upon a well-informed and judicious public. “We (who support democracy) are democrats,” Popper wrote, “not because the majority is always right, but because democratic traditions are the least evil ones of which we know.” Popper contends that a society that tolerates intolerant ideas will succumb to the forces of the intolerant, which are inherently dangerous. The paradox: an excess of tolerance allows intolerant extreme conduct that can destroy tolerance.
Individuals engage in motivated reasoning as a way to avoid or lessen cognitive dissonance, the mental discomfort people experience when confronted by contradictory information, especially on matters that directly relate to their comfort, happiness, and mental health. The conspiracy theory they believe in provides a framework for understanding the world and bringing order to random events, and provides them with a community of similarly disaffected thinkers who can validate one another’s anxieties and shared worldview. One of the reasons why conspiracy theories spring up with such regularity is due to our desire to impose structure on the world, and incredible ability to recognize patterns. It’s not just social media that contributes to fearmongering and the spread of misinformation: Certain advocacy groups spread conspiracy theories not because they believe in them and want to warn the public, but because they may have other agendas.
“Conspiracy theories are appealing to people in particular when they have important psychological needs that are not being satisfied, “notes Karen Douglas, University of Kent professor. The first use of the term, conspiracy theory, in its modern sense is credited to British-Austrian philosopher Karl Popper, just after the Second World War. He was one of the vanguard of thinkers then to suggest conspiracy theories developed as a form of theism, an attempt to “fill a void that has been left by the Enlightenment” and the abandonment of religion. You’re not imagining things: conspiracy theories are leaving the fringes for the mainstream to drive real-life action, from protests against coronavirus restrictions, to the rejection of vaccines, to the burning of cell towers — to possibly even murder. Social media is rife with wild, conspiracist explanations for our era’s multiple shocks. They’ve become so pervasive that we’re now used to hearing them from former U.S. president Trump.1
Conspiracy theories (CTs) are captivating because they provide explanations for confusing, emotional and ambiguous events especially when official explanations seem inadequate. Although conspiracies are frequently outlandish and implausible assertions, their power lies in the fact that they confirm what people want to believe. There still are professional news media (often public service media) who inform about and debunk CTs, sometimes with dedicated fact-checkers, as do some government websites and academics. Yet, there are also actors who actively promote CTs suiting their political or financial goals: Many Republican politicians embrace QAnon, a far-right political movement rooted in a baseless conspiracy theory that the world is controlled by the “Deep State,” a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles, and that former President Donald Trump is the only person who can defeat it. Unfortunately, many news media are sacrificing professional norms for more clicks and revenue, as well as other economic actors striving for financial gains.
Karen Douglas notes: “But I think that it is definitely the case that even if we can’t say for sure that social media has increased conspiracy theories, it’s certainly changed the way in which people access this information, the ways in which they share this information, and also I feel that in many cases, for people who do have, I guess, an underlying tendency to believe in a particular conspiracy theory or conspiracy theories in general, it’s much easier for people to find this sort of information now than it ever has been before.” Many people are convinced that ‘the information is out there’, that is, that it is easy to find – this widespread ‘folk theory’ often goes hand in hand with a lack of trust in established news media and a high self-assessment, which mostly does not correspond with their actual information literacy. Thus, global platform companies such as Google contribute to the digital (information) divide.
If a healthy democracy relies on the trust of its citizens, then conspiracy theories show what happens when that trust begins to fray,” AP reporter David Klepper wrote. Conspiracy theories are mucking up the 2024 election. Conspiratorial rhetoric has become more mainstream in the conversation,” notes Cynthia Wang. “We’re seeing candidates inviting fringe conspiratorial communities onto their platforms.” When there’s uncertainty and fear, people are going to cast about for explanations that make sense to them, even in the face of contrary facts. What’s new is a whole host of media outlets that do all they can to reinforce these false beliefs. Former President Donald Trump is going all in on his new election-related conspiracy theory: that almost every one of his legal problems have been personally orchestrated by President Joe Biden. When casting your vote in November 2024, remember the Republican Party is not the party of freedom. Its all about maintaining power.
1 https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/conspiracy-theories