Who Is Profiting From Conspiracy Theories?
Why do you love conspiracy theories and who’s profiting from spreading them? Co-produced with @CommonSenseEducation
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What is a conspiracy theory?
Conspiracy theories are often defined as a belief that a group of people have a secret plot and are responsible for something happening. The theory part is that it’s unproven. Actual conspiracies are proven to be true with documented proof. And actual conspiracies exist--like the FBI spying on Martin Luther King. There are FBI documents that prove this. Conspiracy theories don't have actual proof; believers often point to misinformation as proof, or use the lack of proof as evidence of how good the coverup for the conspiracy is. Conspiracy theories can range from mostly harmless to super harmful ones that promote hate or deny some form of reality.
Why do people love conspiracy theories?
Conspiracy theories can provide our brains with easy answers that jive with our preconceived notions and biases. They tend to appeal to “System One” thinking--our emotions, intuition, and gut reactions. According to psychologists, conspiracy theories play into some of our innate human desires, like the desire for certainty, security, and belonging. They tend to pop up in times of crisis.
Who’s profiting from conspiracy theories?
Conspiracy theories make the perfect clickbait. They can go wild on social media-making big profits for social media companies and media creators. A lot of that money comes from ad revenue. And media creators can use their views and popularity to sell other merch and products too-profiting even more off the conspiracy theories they are pushing. And when it comes to politics, politicians can push conspiracy theories to stoke fear and gain popularity. This has been happening for a long time in the U.S. In the past it’s usually been a leader of a majority group claiming that some minority group is plotting against them. More recently, a lot of the conspiracy theories pushed by politicians are about the U.S. government and opposing political parties.
How can you prevent yourself from falling for conspiracy theories?
One way could be to just stop and think more deeply about a theory that you’ve come across, before liking or sharing. Cognitive reflection is your ability to override your emotions and gut reactions by stopping and thinking more carefully about something. Research shows that people who score high in cognitive reflection are less prone to falling for conspiracy theories on social media.
SELECTED SOURCES
The Internet Fuels Conspiracy Theories… (The Conversation)
theconversation.com/the-inter...
Why People Fall for Conspiracy Theories (FiveThirtyEight)
fivethirtyeight.com/features/...
The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories (Current Directions in Psychological Sciences)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full...
Thinking Preferences and Conspiracy Belief (Front Psychiatry)
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
The Anti-Vaxx Industry (Center for Countering Digital Hate)
252f2edd-1c8b-49f5-9bb2-cb57b...
Social Media, Cognitive Reflection and Conspiracy Beliefs (Frontiers in Political Science)
www.frontiersin.org/articles/...
TEACHERS
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Check out Common Sense Education's Digital Citizenship Curriculum: www.commonsense.org/education/
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Funding for KQED’s education services is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Koret Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, the Crescent Porter Hale Foundation, the Silver Giving Foundation, Campaign 21 donors, and members of KQED.
CHAPTERS
1:00 What is a conspiracy theory
3:30 Types of conspiracy theories
5:01 Why people love conspiracy theories
6:50 Who profits from conspiracy theories
8:44 How to not fall for conspiracy theories
#conspiracytheory #conspiracytheories #misinformation
Пікірлер: 123
What are some conspiracy theories that YOU have bought into? Or ones that you've debunked with family or friends?
@likebot.
2 жыл бұрын
I don't know if _The Algorithm_ will delete this if specific titles are used so I'll refer to dates instead, but I believe in a conspiracy theory of my own. The USA was aware of the plans for Dec 7/41 and allowed it to come to fruition in order to gain public support to join the global events of the time in order to put it to an end. Perhaps an end that arguably justifies the means.
@svenm7264
Жыл бұрын
Russian collusion was a conspiracy theory
@m.c.8877
Жыл бұрын
None. I am grateful I am not a follower . I think for myself. Everyone is different but Extremist are people that tend to have anti social personality disorder.
@nthomas36
Жыл бұрын
What about theories that became facts?, or promotion of authoritative content and censorship of information. Remember the days of Goooooooooooooogle search, when each "o" was a full page of search results?
@daniellabirch2600
Жыл бұрын
I am sad that there aren't more replies to this. During the pandemic, my mom got real deep into some ridiculous Republican conspiracy theories so much so that I can't talk to her anymore. It's so hard to shake someone out of when like you said these conspiracy theories feed on people's gut reactions and don't allow people to think critically about anything.
Lots of good points here. It’s unfortunate that the people who need to hear it most, probably wouldn’t watch because they want to believe conspiracies are everywhere.
@jonsmith3945
10 ай бұрын
Wrong. Nobody 'wants' to believe in conspiracies. What they want is the truth. We live in very deceptive times. the Covid fiasco should have taught you that. They lied about the origins of covid and lied about the vaccine.
@Lex-nx7kd
8 ай бұрын
"Remember, kids, don't forget to always trust your legacy media outlets" ☝🏼
It always bothered me how seemingly smart people could believe in totally whacked-out stuff. But after writing a paper in college about it I determined it's a lack of critical thinking skills. There's a direct correlation between conspiratorial beliefs and the lack of critical thinking skills. Critical thinking and intelligence are two different aspects of our thought process and one does not necessarily equate to the other.
@Lex-nx7kd
8 ай бұрын
Are you sure you're on the right stand?
My pet conspiracy theory is that all of human progress is the consequence of toxoplasma gondii infesting humanity starting around 20k years ago when we were domesticated by cats. The parasite is shown to change the behavior of rodents who get infested to cause them to be more reckless and get eaten by cats since that's where the parasite reproduces. In turn, in humans it pushed us to develop agriculture which allows for rodent populations to explode and create ample food for cats (which have also been weirdly popular subjects of worship by many diverse cultures, including presently where they are all over the internet).
You're so charming in explaining everything... Hope you grow much more, dude. Being a part of PBS is already a big plus. God help you with everything!
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks!! Glad you're enjoying the videos!
I had a friend who was convinced by some awful documentary films from animal planet that mermaids were real, they also thought that they learned to read people to tell if they were lieing by watching CSI so not the most intelectual guy
@JackieG8991
11 ай бұрын
My in law took Ancient Aliens extremely seriously and now they’re flat earth people. And currently dragging my sibling down with their stupidity. It pains me so much to hear my sibling let somebody manipulate them this way.
@jonsmith3945
10 ай бұрын
Your friend is not typical of conspiracy researchers.
@EaglesQuestions
2 ай бұрын
I remember that documentary. Wasn't it originally supposed to be an April Fools joke? _Intentionally_ ridiculous.
How is this channel not more popular? Heck it’s high quality KWED.
@andrewterebinov3823
Жыл бұрын
I thought they have about 500k subs and I was surprised when I saw how little subscribers this channel have. I've discovered this channel only today and I enjoy it
Great video, Myles and even better facial expressions 😂! These are good questions to reflect on.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching! Yeah, let the face do the talking...
More good stuff. Two things: engaging in arguments and hate against conspiracy theorists also pushes media profits, social and conventional. Also, while the internet has made it easier to disseminate these things, it has also made it much easier to fact check claims. And people do that a lot too! But we don’t hear about it as much because it doesn’t churn profits to stay above the noise. Keep up the good work!
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
Totally a good point! In researching this we came across a lot of claims that more Americans than ever believe in conspiracy theories, but there's not really any evidence that backs this up. Could be because of exactly what you say-- the internet's ability to quickly fact-check and squash misinformation. Here's an article you might find interesting! theconversation.com/the-internet-fuels-conspiracy-theories-but-not-in-the-way-you-might-imagine-98037
@thomasr.jackson2940
2 жыл бұрын
@@AboveTheNoise Good link. Thanks!
Hello from the Netherlands, Having a personal interest in this topic for a long time and read a lot about it, this is by far one of the best summations I have seen! Thank you for this. In my honest assessment I think conspiracy theories are a symptom of our declining mental faculties while on the other hand we need them more then ever.
I predict(hope and pray) that one of your future videos is going to go super viral and your channel will just blow up🙏🙏
Those explanations overthink it. Most people who choose to believe in conspiracy-theories do so because it makes them feel special and unique and smart for being different able to see through the imaginary lies and veil that others fall for. It's a way for people with no self-worth and no self-esteem to make themselves feel important. 😒
@themexyeti
2 жыл бұрын
Even if they are overly complicated they are usually a way to simplify the world, and by that I mean no matter the complexity the conspiracy theories give a full explanaition to a really big and really complex and chaotic world were even absurd things make big impacts so is an easy way to understood that seemingly chaos of the world. And totally agree with the rest of course.
@jonsmith3945
10 ай бұрын
You are 100% wrong. If anything, you're describing people like yourself, who feel superior for not falling for what they think are crazy beliefs. Conspiracy researchers are simply seeking the truth about the world in which we live.
@unbalancedlibra9788
Ай бұрын
Get a vaccine for a 99.9 percent survival rate virus that ends up giving you myocarditis, is that a conspiracy?
I wish I was good at talking and explaining to my sibling the harmful ideology that their partner is fueling 😭.
Very nice, very clear, very simple, thank you very much.
3:28 xD loved it btw
Thanks for the tick tock recommendation! 🙌
You earned a sub❤️
Your coloration of the brain for System 1 and System 2 thinking reinforces one of my preexisting biases. :D
I'm genuinely still confused about the bat and the ball question lmao, I guess this is why I always flunked math...
@1091Floyd21
6 ай бұрын
$1.05 is one dollar more than $0.05, right? Add both those figures together and you get $1.10
I try to make up a conspiracy much crazier than their story.
Fascinatingly helpful
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
So glad it was helpful!
If you ask people to think about who is profiting from a conspiracy, they will just come up with more, even crazier stuff!
@Lex-nx7kd
8 ай бұрын
Follow the money, for instance...?
._. hello you, i think you are so funny ._. i realy like your humor ._. its so good ._. please continue doing videos ._. they are so funny ._. i like pineapple on pizza :) and you on my pizza :D
Kinda shocking to me that our best tactics for these are still asking people to police themselves - ask more reflective questions and the like. I did a quick googling, and couldn't find a browser extension that, say, asked 'does this reinforce a bias?' every time I click 'like' on a video. Is there a reason something like this wouldn't work? I guess nobody would use it? I mean, FB or YT could implement this server side as an algorithm metric, even just sampling 0.5% of likes for impulsiveness would go a long way... For client side interventions, you could probably do something lazy about checking if the post has some current buzzwords and only prompt on those. Did the experts consulted mention tools like this? Or perhaps simpler interventions that seem easy to get the browser to do?
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
These are great questions! There's been a lot of talk about the responsibility of the platforms themselves (KZread, Facebook, etc) to police the proliferation of conspiracy theories-- like change up the recommendation algorithms to identify and not promote misinformation and conspiracy theories. You might find this article interesting: www.wired.com/story/youtube-algorithm-silence-conspiracy-theories/ In terms of cognitive reflection-- having a platform ask you if you've read an article before it lets you share it is an example of an attempt to get users to stop and think before sharing...
@ArtArtisian
2 жыл бұрын
@@AboveTheNoise Thank you =)
.... I mean i don't believe in conspiracy theories...or do I 🤔
do the eyebrow thing again i was drinking cereal and missed it
The first thing I would have done if owned say Twitter is to use your real name on your account, alao DOB, there has been talk of uploading photo ID due to racism, hate speech etc by these keyboard warriors, even if it gets to court the damage is done, if you can think of anything else
I'd love to check out Abby's channel, but what are her bona fide? If you guys vouch for someone, please include this information. I am sure she's super qualified, but it just makes it a lot more credible when promoting someone's work. Please, and thank you! You da best!
@AboveTheNoise
Жыл бұрын
Here is an article with more about Abbie Richards: www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2022/02/09/abbie-richards-fights-tiktok-disinformation-with-a-cup-of-tea-a-conspiracy-chart-and-a-punchline. She's a graduate student studying misinformation and climate. But tbh, her credentials are less about academic publications and credentials, and more about creating content about misinformation on TikTok. We included her because she's making interesting commentary on the popularity of conspiracy theories, but we didn't cite her research as evidence of any factual info in our video.
How dare u insult pinaple on pizza sir. Pinapples are awesome on there sir. Lol
One of my brothers has gone all the way to believing the flat earthers. It's more comfortable to his preconceived notions about creationism and humans and earth being the center of everything.
👍 video 📷 ✌️
Can you bet your life or something on it like you would lose something? We would believe it.
❤
great. Now I want pineapple pizza.
you had me until the pineapple slander; blocked and canceled #pineapplesupremacy
@marycalhoun2208
2 жыл бұрын
This
The usual ppl probably...
10:38 Don't fall too far down this rabbit hole. Even this is rife with "tinfoil hat" thinking. I once met a person who said PBS is untrustworthy because they receive grants (aka: It behooves PBS to be pro government).
@AboveTheNoise
Жыл бұрын
Well, PBS's editorial guidelines specifically require us to not be partisan - regardless of which party is in office. Check them out! www.pbs.org/about/producing-pbs/editorial-standards.pdf
@jonsmith3945
10 ай бұрын
@@AboveTheNoise Just because they claim certain standards doesn't mean they always follow them.
🐋
follow the money
Nice video, keep it up, I love watching you making a fool out of yourself!
@martin_bolha
2 жыл бұрын
Nice try
Autopilot comment because I didn't listen.
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
C'mon now...we need the watch time! lol
@Doping1234
2 жыл бұрын
@@AboveTheNoise My message does not imply I didn't watch. Who's on autopilot now? ;)
E
29 K views and only 600 likes 😂 I wonder how many thumbs 👎🏼
Downvoted for your pizza hate-speech!
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
LOL The producer of this video's favorite pizza is pineapple and jalapeños-- she feels your pain!
Is adding the label of "Conspiracy Theorist" simply a gaslighting tactic by people who are incapable of critical thinking?
@mediumchunkymads
6 ай бұрын
Seems like it's a label for people incapable of critical thinking.
@Tockin
6 ай бұрын
Wouldn’t you be incapable of critical thinking if you yourself are just taking these ideas from other people saying them? I doubt you’re the one coming up with the ideas, you’re just a blind follower.
@mediumchunkymads
6 ай бұрын
@@Tockin ha I bet you invented every idea you believe in bro never listen to anyone!
@joanbaczek2575
2 ай бұрын
Confirmation bias is not critical thinking
@kelseykjarsgaard5774
Ай бұрын
@@mediumchunkymadsit's both
#milktoast
@AboveTheNoise
2 жыл бұрын
why, thank you sir.
Joe profits….. joe momma!!!
Wow, dude… comes in making it shameful to engage in critical thinking, then first accusation is against American government
what a joke
Biden's son approves this vid
the horrors of thinking
that math problem is really weird. the only information it gives is that together, the bat and the ball are $1.10, and that the bat is one dollar more. there is no other information implying the value of either item. the actual answer to this question is x≤.10 😾
@Lex-nx7kd
8 ай бұрын
Re-check your assertion...