Conspiracism shifts attention from solvable public problems toward endless revelation

Evidence

People are curious about what is hidden in politics—whether the private lives of public figures or the “real” story behind political events. The move from secrecy to revelation feeds this hunger. Conspiracism has this appeal. As historian Timothy Snyder cautions, the danger is that “discussion shifts from the public and the known to the secret and the unknown. Rather than trying to make sense of what is around us, we hunger for the next revelation.” The warning is particularly apt when it comes to the new conspiracism, for claims that things are not as they seem multiply wildly and opportunities to dive into the dark unknown are always right at hand in the media and via social networking. The new conspiracism, with its serial artificial crises, is exciting. It offers distraction from the tedious, frustrating, and often futile business of attending to known but difficult problems and political demands. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 93

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to work on attention economics and distraction as a political tool (e.g. Zuboff, Wu on distraction industries). — connects to: New conspiracism dissolves shared perceptions of political reality — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 373; New conspiracism weaponizes reality disputes as a demand for public assent — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 306; Conspiracism offers greater coherence than reality by excluding chance and ambiguity — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 117 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• New conspiracism dissolves shared perceptions of political reality #expands (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 373
• New conspiracism floats allegations disconnected from observable reality #corroborates (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 64
• New conspiracism weaponizes reality disputes as a demand for public assent #expands (0.80) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 306
• Conspiracism offers greater coherence than reality by excluding chance and ambiguity #qualifies (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 117