Conspiracism targets knowledge-producing institutions rather than individual facts

Evidence

Knowledge is less a repository of settled facts than it is a process by which we come to understand the world. This process has integrity when it is disciplined and unbiased—as scientists or professionals in the news media try to be. The new conspiracist assault is expansive, and it ultimately takes aim at knowledge-producing institutions wholesale. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 242

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Conspiracists distrust mass media because those institutions brand their claims stigmatized — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 117; Stigmatized knowledge is truth-claims marginalized by official knowledge institutions — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 177; Conspiracism attacks shared modes of explanation, not just specific targets — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 24 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Countering conspiracism requires wisdom, not just factual honesty #expands (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 393
• Lie-telling presupposes a shared reality that conspiracism rejects #expands (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 162
• Conspiracism offers greater coherence than reality by excluding chance and ambiguity #qualifies (0.72) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 117