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Cass Sunstein, a Harvard law professor, co-wrote an academic article entitled "Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures," in which he argued that the government should stealthily infiltrate groups that pose alternative theories on historical events via "chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine" those groups.
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Sunstein's article.... states that "our primary claim is that conspiracy theories typically stem not from irrationality or mental illness of any kind but from a 'crippled epistemology,' in the form of a sharply limited number of (relevant) informational sources."
By "crippled epistemology" Sunstein means that people who believe in conspiracy theories have a limited number of sources of information that they trust. Therefore, Sunstein argued in the article, it would not work to simply refute the conspiracy theories in public -- the very sources that conspiracy theorists believe would have to be infiltrated.
Originally posted by LatentElement
But to actually assign a special unit, operating out of the National Security Agency to perpetuate the OS ... Is it me or does this sound exactly like something the Nazi's SS would do?
Originally posted by LostNemesis
reply to post by Alfie1
The truth is, there is no difference between the two parties here.
So yeah, the way it usually works. They only ACT like opposition when not in those back-room deals.
Originally posted by weedwhacker
These "conspiracy theories" derive from the mish-mashing together of disparate, sometimes unconnected or downright incorrect bits of information, and blending them together in some new and creative way, to distort the reality of the events.